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Real Madrid will try to win their 13th Champions League in 2018 in the final in Kiev, Ukraine. Los Blancos made history winning back to back titles for the first time in the tournament history, but their challenge is lifting the trophy for the third time in a row. Will they be able to do it? According to the bookmakers, it’s very likely.

After the Champions League draw 2017/18 for the group stage -Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and APOEL-, it’s time to have a look at the odds and see which team has more probabilities of winning the Champions League. We had a look at bet365 to see the market “To Win Outright” in the best competition of the world.

According to bet365, Real Madrid are big favourites to win again the title. The odds are 7/2 this season after winning back to back titles. In the previous years, Los Blancos were not the big favourites to win the trophy, but they beat the odds.

The second favourite is FC Barcelona with 7/1 odds. The Catalan club has the same probabilities as Bayern Munich and PSG in bet365. Leo Messi is still one of the best players of the world, but Barcelona don’t look very fit to fight for the title. Neymar’s new club PSG will try to get to the semi-finals for the first time. Ancelotti has the challenge to win another Champions League with Bayern Munich.

Champions League winner odds 2018

Obviously, these four teams are the main favourites for the trophy. After them, we can see Manchester clubs with 11/1 odds, although they aren’t able to show a great level in the Champions League in the last years. The current runner-up, Juventus, is the seventh favourite with 14/1. Then, we can see Chelsea with 16/1.

Surprisingly, Atlético Madrid, despite arriving to the last stages of the competition in the last four years, are not among the favourites to win the tournament. Simeone’s side has 20/1 odds, the same as Liverpool. Borussia Dortmund or Napoli are the outsides with 33/1.

Just for curiosity, beginner Qarabag, Maribor and Olympiakos are the weakest teams in the competition with 1000/1 odds for winning the Champions League trophy for the first time in the history.

CLICK HERE AND BET FOR THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNER THIS SEASON

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Real Madrid were the main protagonist in the UEFA Awards in the 2016/17 season. Together with the Champions League draw for the group stage, we knew yesterday the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward and player of the last season. As it was expected, Real Madrid players got all the prizes except the best goalkeeper.

This award was won by Gianluigi Buffon, runner-up in the last Champions League with Juventus. The Italian goalkeeper played a great tournament keeping clean sheets in many games, including the two matches against FC Barcelona.

Buffon was also candidate to win the award of Best UEFA Player, together with Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the prize went to Cristiano Ronaldo, a decisive player in the knock-out stage. The Portuguese was asked about the best goal of the tournament and he said: “The second one I scored to this old man”, he commented pointing Buffon. Cristiano got 482 in the votation, whereas Messi obtained 141 and Buffon 109. Toni Kroos and Luka Modric were the fourth and fifth players in this ranking.

The Portuguese star also won the trophy as the best striker of the season in Europe and he had very kind words to his team after a difficult summer: “I’m lucky for playing at Real Madrid, the best club in the world”. Cristiano Ronaldo can continue winning titles with his beloved team this season because they have the challenge to win three Champions League in a row.

Luka Modric was the winner of the award for the best midfielder of the season, beating his team mates Toni Kroos and Casemiro. Once again, Real Madrid showed that they have the best midfielder in the world.

Finally, Sergio Ramos had also his moment because he was the best defender in Europe in the last season. “The key is starting over every season”, Sergio Ramos replied after being questioned about how to win another title in Europe. Florentino Pérez, among the public, has reason to be very proud of the team he’s built.

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Champions League trophy

The Champions League draw taken place in Nice decided that Real Madrid will play in the group H together with Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and APOEL. Therefore, Los Blancos will start defending their crown against three competitive teams.

For second year in a row, Zidane’s side will face Borussia Dortmund. Last season, the German team was able to win the group drawing both games against Los Blancos. For this reason, it won’t be easy for Real Madrid to beat Borussia, although they could still lose important players in the summer transfer window like Aubameyang. Dembelé is already gone as he signed by FC Barcelona.

Besides, Los Blancos have to travel to London to face the Premier League runner up. Tottenham Hotspur will host Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium and last season they weren’t able to go through the group stage despite facing weak teams. In 2011, Los Blancos beat Tottenham in the Champions League quarter-finals after thrashing 4-0 the Spurs at home.

The third rival is APOEL from Cyprus, the weakest team in the group. Real Madrid will travel again to the Mediterranean island, as they did in the quarter-finals in 2012. There are some players with experience in the Spanish League, but Los Blancos should be able to get the 6 points in these fixtures.

Overall, it’s not an easy draw for Los Blancos as they have to face two top notch rivals in the first stage. However, as the title host, Real Madrid should go through the group and let Borussia and Tottenham to fight for the second position.

The Groups of the Champions League are:

Group A: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, CSKA Moscow
Group B: PSG, Bayern Munich, Celtic Glasgow, Anderlecht
Group C: Chelsea, Atlético Madrid, Roma, Qarabag
Group D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiakos, Sporting Portugal
Group E: Sevilla, Spartak Moscow, Liverpool, Maribor
Group F:Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Napoli, Feyenoord
Group H: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur, APOEL
Group G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, Leipzig

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Real Madrid won their 12th Santiago Bernabéu Trophy in a row after beating (2-1) Fiorentina in the party celebrating at their stadium on Wednesday. It was the XXXVIII edition of the tournament and, as it was expected, everything was happiness and good vibrations during a special evening at Bernabéu stadium.

Zinedine Zidane chose a team of youngsters to face the good Italian team, only with Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos in the starting eleven as both are banned to play this weekend against Valencia. Nacho Fernández or Lucas Vázquez were the other important players in the line-up.

It was time for the new signings to start conquering the hearts of the supporters. Marcos Llorente, Dani Ceballos or Theo Hernández played from the beginning and they showed their quality. However, it was Fiorentina who scored the first goal thanks to Veretout. Real Madrid replied quickly and Mayoral drew the game.

Also in the first half arrived the best moment of the game. Cristiano Ronaldo took the ball as a left winger and he shot into the goal to score a beautiful second goal. It was very similar to the one he scored in the Spanish Supercup. Despite the suspension, the Portuguese showed again that he’s able to make the difference.

The youngster left a positive feeling in Real Madrid supporters, showing that his club has present and future. Fiorentina didn’t create many danger to Real Madrid goal, defended in the second half by Luca Zidane. Only Gio Simeone, Atlético Madrid coach’s son, received the boos of the supporters.

Real Madrid closed their tournament with another victory in an enjoyable evening for the fans. Now it’s time to thinks seriously in La Liga and the Champions League, the next challenges for Los Blancos.

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Gareth Bale played his worst season at Real Madrid after four years in the club. The Welshman started great after a superb performance in the Euro 2016 in France, but the injuries prevented him to show a great level in La Liga and the Champions League. For this reason, we cannot give a great grade to the former Tottenham Hotspur player.

Actually, Bale’s role in the team was very controversial in the last weeks of the season. Most of the supporters asked Zidane to leave Bale on the bench and give more opportunities to Isco, who shone in the key games of the season. Finally, Bale’s injury allowed the manager to change the formation and the team was able to win both La Liga and the Champions League.

As we said, Bale started the season great, scoring two goals against Real Sociedad. However, he was losing importance in the team and last season he was only able to score 7 goals in the whole season. Obviously, the injuries were his main problem. He suffered several ankle problems, the last one at El Clásico, where he had to be substituted only after a few minutes on the pitch. Due to these problems, he missed the Champions League final at his hometown, Cardiff, where he was only able to play the last minutes.

His participation in the Champions League wasn’t great at all. He only scored two goals against Legia Warsaw in the group stage and he missed the important fixtures in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. Real Madrid supporters expect much more from the Welshman, who lead the team in his first season to win the 10th Champions League against Atlético Madrid.

During the summer, there were many rumours about Bale’s future. The winger said he doesn’t want to leave Madrid, but the possibility of Mbappé’s arrival puts him on the selling list. Will Bale improve his performance in this new season?

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Real Madrid will play this Wednesday (21:45, UK Time) the Santiago Bernabéu Trophy against Fiorentina. Los Blancos host again this tournament in summer time, where Zinedine Zidane will have the chance to use many youngsters. Besides, Cristiano Ronaldo will also be present in the game, after being confirmed his ban for the next 5 games.

Los Blancos supporters will have the chance to see their stars with cheap tickets. Florentino Pérez wants the stadium to be packed, so everybody can cheer and support Real Madrid after winning all these titles in the last months. Fiorentina is one of the best teams of Italy, so this time the rival will be very challenging.

“It’s an important game for the supporters. We want to play well, as always. This year, after the first game, we want to make things right and, especially, the players can have more minutes. The game is for this purpose”, Zidane told the club media. Therefore, we should expect to see Theo Hernández, Dani Ceballos or Marcos Llorente enjoying more minutes.

The manager also confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will play the tournament: “We are physically well and there are players, like Cristiano Ronaldo, who will play from the beginning the 90 minutes. We want the trophy to stay at home and we’re trying to play a good game”, the French coach said.

Cristiano Ronaldo cannot play the next three games of La Liga, so he needs to stay fit by participating in these friendly games: “From injustice to injustice, they will never knock me down”, the Portuguese player wrote in his social media after the ban.

Zizou also analyzed the start of the season: “We can ask everybody to continue like this. It’s a very positive start of the season, but this will last. We just started La Liga, it’s the first game and 38 matches are very tough. We’re happy about what we are doing and we can continue like this, if we keep playing well, we all can be happy”, Zidane finished.

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Zinedine Zidane is making a lot of changes in the line-up and, loyal to his style, he’s giving opportunities to all the players in the squad although we’re only in the month of August. At Riazor, Marcos Llorente could enjoy his first minutes at Real Madrid because he joined the team later in the pre-season after playing the Euro U-21 in Poland.

With Casemiro shining in the team and even scoring important goals, Llorente’s role will be supportive in the squad. Mateo Kovacic is also playing brilliantly when he has the chance -he did great at Camp Nou in the Spanish Supercup-, so Llorente will struggle to enjoy many minutes this year.

For this reason, many teams are asking about his situation. Last season, he was the player who stole more balls in La Liga playing for Alavés, and he’s one of the most promising midfielders in the Spanish football. Now, according to the Spanish newspaper Diario As, Atlético Madrid are following him and they are ready to try to sign him in the winter transfer market.

Atlético Madrid are banned to sign any player in the summer transfer window, so they’ll have to wait until January to reinforce the squad. Diego Pablo Simeone would like to sign Marcos Llorente, although they know it will be very difficult. Llorente’s release clause is set at €200M, an impossible figure for ‘Colchoneros’. They will try to negotiate with Real Madrid, but it is very unlikely that Los Blancos could sell this player.

When Real Madrid signed Theo Hernández this summer, Atlético Madrid mentioned the name of Marcos Llorente, but it was discarded quickly. If Llorente doesn’t have an important role in the team, his situation might change in the future, but right now he’s on Zidane’s plans to try to win the six titles this season for the first time in the club’s history.

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The Premier League is one of the most competitive tournaments in Europe and Real Madrid have shown that their academy is able to grow great players. This season, three strikers raised in Los Blancos ‘Factory’ will lead the attack of three great teams of the English league: Álvaro Morata, Jesé Rodríguez and Joselu.

All three players lead the attacking line of Castilla five years ago. It was the last time Real Madrid second team was promoted to Segunda División, the second step of the Spanish football. Joselu was the forward, the ‘9’, whereas Morata played on the wing and Jesé was the playmaker. Now, all will play in the Premier League and they are starting to show their quality.

Jesé Rodríguez had a very difficult season after leaving Real Madrid to play with PSG. In January he was given on loan to Las Palmas, his hometown team, but he wasn’t able to shine. Now he is playing with Stoke City and he scored the winning goal for The Potters in his debut in the competition against Arsenal.

Joselu left Real Madrid soon after being promoted to Segunda División. Since then, he played at Hoffenheim, Eintracht, Hannover, Stoke and Deportivo without finding his right place. Now Rafa Benítez recruited him to play as the centre forward at Newcastle in their return to the Premier League. So far, two games and two defeats for the former Real Madrid coach.

Álvaro Morata was supposed to stay one year more at Real Madrid after winning the Champions League and La Liga. The Spanish forward played a great season, but he wasn’t happy for the lack of opportunities. Finally, he left the club this summer and went to Stamford Bridge. In his first appearance with Chelsea, Morata scored one goal and gave one assist, although the Blues lost 2-3 at home against Burnley.

Now Los Blancos are struggling to find a replacement for the BBC. At the moment only Borja Mayoral, who also left the Spanish capital to seek fortune in Germany, can give some rest in the attacking line to their stars. However, Los Blancos have shown once again that their factory works.

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Sergio Ramos didn’t have his best debut in La Liga at Riazor. The captain made many mistakes and he was sent off in the last moment of the game. Besides, he could have seen the red card even before when he put his hand on the Schar’s face, but the referee didn’t show any card there.

Real Madrid won at Riazor (0-3) easily despite the poor performance of the captain, who will also miss the next game against Valencia for this red card. Luckily, Nacho Fernández showed again a great level, so he should be Ramos’ replacement in that game, playing with Raphael Varane as the full back pair.

With this expulsion, Sergio Ramos has seen 18 red cards in La Liga, a record in this competition. Pablo Alfaro and Xavi Aguado also saw the same number of red cards in their careers. Sergio Ramos has played 405 games in this competition.

In his career, Sergio Ramos has been sent off 23 times. 18 of them in La Liga, 3 times in the Champions League and 2 more in Copa del Rey, all of them as Real Madrid player. He also saw a red card when he played as a youngster for Sevilla B.

Sergio Ramos spoke with the journalists after the game trying to explain his acts: “There have been controversial plays. The second yellow card is strict. In the first one, Schar hit me in the cheek with the head and I put him away. I warned them that we won’t throw away the ball because they didn’t do it when Carvajal was on the ground in the first half. They chased me up for this. In the second card, I jumped over Borja Valle and I only touched him on the shoulder”, the captain explained.

Ramos also commented the differences between the referees in the country: “Referees in Europe and with FIFA are more indulgent. I like the English system, where they allow to play more”.

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Zinedine Zidane was happy after the game against Deportivo La Coruña when the team (0-3) won easily at Riazor. Los Blancos are again leading the table despite not playing with Cristiano Ronaldo as he was banned for pushing the referee in the Spanish Supercup.

The French coach analyzed the game at Riazor: “We are happy for the content of the game, but not about what happened with Sergio [Ramos]. Generally speaking, we’re happy, it’s not an easy ground and it’s a team that can put you in difficulties and they had their chances”, Zizou explained the journalists in press conference.

The second goal scored by Casemiro was a collective play, touching the ball every single player of the team: “We try to play like this and we know we have players to do it. The second goal is what we work for and we’re satisfied”.

The manager also spoke about Casemiro, again one of the best players of the team: “He has these things… He can arrive and when we are in the rivals pitch, he shows it. It’s not his first job, but I’m happy”, Zizou commented.

Nacho was the big news in the line-up and he will have to play against Valencia: “He’s always ready, focused also when he’s not playing. Suddenly, he plays and he does it very well. I’m happy because he doesn’t change”.

The coach also spoke about the transfer market, ending on the 31st of August: “No one has asked me to leave. I want the squad as it is and I hope they don’t make any changes. Until the 31st of August, everything could happen”.

Finally, Zidane didn’t want to talk about Sergio Ramos being sent off at the end of the game: “I didn’t see it. The referee saw a fault and that’s it. I lose a player and I’m not happy”, he finished.

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