Top 5 contenders to win the Champions League – can Liverpool retain their crown?

The Champions League starts up again soon, but who will win this year’s edition of Europe’s top club competition?

Here are the teams we think should be the top five contenders for the trophy as we head into the second half of this season’s tournament, and you can take a look at the most recent soccer betting resources at SportsBettingDime, especially if you want to find out what are the updated odds for the winner of this season’s Champions League.

Liverpool

Last season’s winners, and runners-up the year before that, this is a competition that has brought Liverpool a lot of joy in recent times.

Of course, for now the Reds’ main focus will be continuing their remarkable form in the Premier League, which sees them sit a whopping 19 points clear at the top of the table and surely heading for their first title in 30 years.

It remains to be seen if Jurgen Klopp’s side can maintain these ridiculously high standards they’ve set themselves, but their pace, energy and the quality of their football makes them the team everyone will surely want to avoid as the competition goes on.

Manchester City

Given that their title hopes are almost certainly already over, Manchester City will probably put a lot into their European exploits this term.

Pep Guardiola has twice won this trophy as Barcelona manager, and he’ll be desperate to prove he can do it without the help of Lionel Messi.

City, however, don’t have much history in this competition and have continued to under-achieve in the biggest games down the years, so it could be a big ask for them to go all the way, especially as they generally look a weaker side than in the last two years.

Real Madrid

You can never rule out Real Madrid in the Champions League, with the Spanish giants winning the trophy four times out of the last six seasons.

Zinedine Zidane may not have Cristiano Ronaldo anymore, but it looks like he’s starting to rebuild this Madrid side, with a strong defence turning their fortunes around this season.

Juventus

Can Juventus finally do it? It seems only a matter of time after their recent dominance of Serie A and their appearances in the finals of 2014/15 and 2016/17.

Of course, Juve also now have Cristiano Ronaldo, who was a major force behind Real Madrid’s success in the competition up until last season.

It’s shaping up to be a more competitive title race in Serie A this year, so that could prove a distraction, but Juventus will surely be one to watch between now and May.

Paris Saint-Germain

PSG managed to keep hold of Neymar this summer so they undoubtedly remain one of the best squads in Europe.

Like Man City, this is a wealthy club with plenty of talent, but with that comes great expectation and they’re yet to really live up to their potential at this level.

Will this finally be the year it comes together for PSG in the Champions League? With a bit of luck, they certainly have it in them to go all the way.