Early CL 2024/25 Predictions – Bayern Munich are ones to watch
Pre-season is well and truly underway, and it won’t be long before we are talking about the return of the CL and the our CL odds. This year, things are a little different in Europe’s premier competition, with a switch from a tried-and-tested group stage to a brand-new league format.
In this new system, each team will play eight matches against different opponents, but all 36 CL teams will battle against each other in the same group table. The top 16 teams will go straight through to the knockouts, while the teams ranked 9-24 will have to play an extra preliminary knockout match to book their place in the next round. All-in-all, it should make for a fresh and exciting tournament! So, let’s take a look at some of our biggest CL predictions for the 2024/25 season.
Important Dates to Look Out For
Play-offs: August 20 – August 28. The final qualifying round will take place in late August, which is when we will finally know the identities of all 36 teams competing in the competition this year. The play-offs take place across two legs, which will be played on August 20-21 and August 27-28.
League Phase: The League Phase kicks off on September 17, 2024, and will run all the way until January 29, 2025. This is when all 36 teams will play their eight assigned matches, with points all going into the same shared league table.
League Phase Draw: The draw for the league phase will take place on August 29.
Matchday 1: September 17-19
Matchday 2: October 1-2
Matchday 3: October 22-23
Matchday 4: November 5-6
Matchday 5: November 26-27
Matchday 6: December 10-11
Matchday 7: January 21-22
Matchday 8: January 29
Knockout Phase: Once the final league match has been played on January 29, we will move towards the knockout portion of the competition. This will start with the preliminary knockouts, when the teams who finished 9th to 24th in the league table will fight it out across two legs to book their place in the round of 16 alongside the teams who finished 1st to 8th.
Preliminary Knockout Draw: The draw for the preliminary knockouts will take place on January 31.
Preliminary Knockouts: February 11-12 and February 18-19
Main Knockout Draw: The draw for the knockouts will take place on February 21.
Round of 16: March 4-5 and March 11-12
Quarter-Finals: April 8-9 and April 15-16
Semi-Finals: April 29-30 and May 6-7
Final: May 31, 2025
What Happened Last Season in the Tournament?
Last season marked the end of the traditional group stage format. We saw Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, and Barcelona top their respective groups.
In the quarter-finals, Borussia Dortmund defeated Atletico Madrid, PSG knocked out Barcelona, Bayern Munich won over Arsenal, and Real Madrid defeated Man City. It was Real Madrid and Dortmund who eventually qualified for the final, with Los Blancos lifting the trophy once again after a 2-0 victory, with goals coming from Vinicius Jr and Dani Carvajal.
But What Will Happen This Season? Our Early CL Predictions
- Real Madrid will fall at the Round of 16 stage
That’s right! We are predicting that the favourites to win the entire competition won’t even make it to the quarter-finals this year. Despite having the likes of Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Luka Modric, Federico Valverde, and a certain Mr Kylian Mbappe, we smell an early upset in the 2024/25 CL. For so many years, Real Madrid have defied expectations and clutched victories from the jaws of defeat when they simply had no right to. They have a certain unbeatable, never-say-die aura about them in European competitions, so it’s hard to look past them as clear favourites to win yet another trophy. However, Los Blancos are such heavy favourites this season, and have so many world-class players in every position, it seems scripted that they are bound to crash out unexpectedly.
- Bayern Munich are ones to watch
So, if Real Madrid aren’t going to make it back-to-back CL wins, then who is going to lift the trophy in 2025? Manchester City? Barcelona? Arsenal? Liverpool? No, no, no, no and no.
They last won it in 2020 and have only made the final twice in the last 12 years, but we are backing Bayern Munich to pull off a surprise European victory next year. And it would be a real surprise too; Bayern didn’t even win their own domestic league last season! Although Vincent Kompany’s appointment was seen as a bit of a joke, with a number of big-name managers allegedly giving Bayern a swerve, he could prove a lot of people wrong next season.
Bayern are guaranteed to sport a front-foot style of play under the Belgian legend and have already made a sensational signing in Michael Olise. Put him in a front line alongside Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane, and Serge Gnabry, and you have a pretty devastating attacking force. If Bayern can make a few more quality signings between now and the start of the season, they could have a real shot at being a dark horse in 2025.
- Aston Villa will knock out a big-name
Of course, every team is making their debut in the new CL format, but there are also four teams who have never appeared in the competition since the introduction of a group stage. Aston Villa are one of those teams, alongside Bologna, Brest and Girona. Villa earned their spot in the tournament by finishing fourth in the PL last time out, pipping the likes of Tottenham, Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea to the final qualification spot. But it was no mere fluke or flash in the pan.
Unai Emery is building something important in Birmingham, with a core group of young and talented players. Emiliano Martinez is widely considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world, having won three major international trophies over the last few years. Ollie Watkins was the hero for England in the semi-final with his goal off the bench against the Netherlands. They have also signed Amadou Onana, Jaden Philogene, Ross Barkley, Samuel Iling-Junior, and Ian Maatsen already this summer, with more signings to come.
We’re not saying the Villans will win the whole thing, but we can see them surprising a few people and making their way to the knockouts before sending one of the big teams home early.
- Kylian Mbappe vs Paris Saint-Germain
In the new format, the 36 teams will be split into four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn against two other teams from each pot, playing one at home and one away. That makes for a total of eight group phase matches for each team to play, four home and four away. As the winners of La Liga and Ligue 1, Real Madrid and PSG will both be in pot 1 for the seedings this season. That means, even though they are in the same pot, they stand a decent chance of getting drawn against each other, setting up a potential Kylian Mbappe PSG reunion.
After leaving the Parisians on a free transfer this summer, it seems only right that Madrid and PSG will go face-to-face this season, and that Mbappe will be at the centre of things. But which way will it go? It seems destined for Mbappe to either score a hat-trick against his former club or pick up an early red card against them. Whatever the case, we need to see this showdown!
Betting Strategies for the New CL Season
With a new competition format comes a new set of betting strategies. The old group stages are gone, and the new group phase is here. But what does that mean for betting on the tournament?
League Phase Betting Tips
The main change to betting will come during the League Phase. Instead of betting on teams to top their group, you will instead be betting on where they will finish in the league table. This could present some extra value thanks to the increased number of finishing positions. For example, in the old group stage, teams could finish first, second, third, or fourth. Now, teams could finish anywhere from first to thirty-sixth. If you are feeling brave enough to bet on the exact finishing position of a team, then you could get some incredible value. Alternatively, you could bet on whether a team will finish in the top eight and secure automatic qualification to the main knockouts, or whether they will head into the preliminary knockouts. Remember, consistent teams will reign supreme in this new format, across a higher number of games and a wide array of opponents.
Top Goalscorer Betting Tips
Talking of the preliminary knockouts, this could also present an interesting change to top goalscorer betting value. In previous seasons, it is often the big names who scoop the Golden Boot award – the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, that could all change this season. Starting strikers are now almost guaranteed eight games in the League Phase, which opens up the possibility of some underdogs hitting a purple patch of goalscoring form. One hat-trick against a smaller team and suddenly you are in the Golden Boot running. The top eight teams will also go straight through to the knockouts, while teams placed 9th to 24th will play in the preliminaries. That means some strikers could even play an extra game!
Let’s take a look at an example. Kylian Mbappe plays every single Real Madrid game, and they make it all the way to the final. He scores a goal every other game. That would total 12 games and six goals for the Frenchman, which would be a pretty impressive return. But someone like Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa could easily play eight league phase games, a preliminary knockout, and a knockout round match, giving him ten games in which to rack up a pretty high number of goals. Dark horse top goal scorers could have great value this season.
Knockout Phase Betting Tips
Fortunately, the knockout phase is much the same as it always was. Once you get past the preliminary knockouts, there will be a draw to decide the bracket for the Round of 16, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and the Final. Knockout phase betting depends on who you expect to win the two-legged tie and progress to the next round. Of course, betting on upsets and underdogs is always going to give you better value. But if you want to bet on a favourite, you can always add in other stuff like first goalscorer, the exact score, yellow cards, shots on target, corners and more to increase your odds.
Odds might have changed since the writing and publication of this article.
Last updated: 24.07.2024
