Interesting groups with difficult tasks for some of the favourites, yet also what looks to be fairly easy groups for others, that is the result of the champions league group stage draw. Current title holders Inter face Werder Bremen, Tottenham and Twente in Group A, which should see heavy fighting for the top two spots. Barcelona as the top contender for the title should have no problems to advance from Group D against Panathinaikos, Kopenhagen and Rubin Kazan.

Things could become really interesting in Group E, which includes favourite #2 Real Madrid, AC Milan, Ajax Amsterdam and AJ Auxerre from France. This years runner-up Bayern Munich is favoured to take down Group E against AS Rome, Basel (Switzerland) and Romanian champions CFR Cluj.

Group B should be very difficult to call, as it includes Olympique Lyonnais, Benfica Lisbon, FC Schalke 04 and Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Manchester United clashes with Glasgow Rangers in Group C, which also includes FC Valencia and Turkish champion Bursaspor.

An interesting Group F was drawn for Chelsea with French champions Olympique de Marseille, FC Spartak Moscow and first-timer and big underdog MŠK Žilina from Slovakia. Last, but not least, it`s Arsenal in Group H against Shaktar Donetzk, Portugals SC Braga and Partizan Belgrade.

Odds on the first group stage fixtures on September 14 and 15 are already available from your favourite online football bookmakers like Bet365, Ladbrokes, William Hill or SportingBet. Longterm odds on the next Champions League winner are also already active.

The World-Cup qualification phase is behind us and all the usual suspects capable of winning this mega event, made it to South Africa. Also, all the former World Champions will compete; Uruguay held off a scare from Costa Rica and France eliminated a very unfortunate Irish team due to an incredible hand play by Thierry Henry.

The international football bookmakers rank reigning European Champ Spain together with 5-time winner Brazil as the top of the list with odds around 5.50 (9/2). These two are followed by England (7.50 or 13/2), Argentina (10.00 or 9/1) and Germany at 13.00 (12/1).

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The football bookmakers would currently pay out 14.00 (13/1) for the Netherlands and an always very dangerous Italy. The Top 10 list is completed by France and Portugal with odds around 17.00 (16/1) and the Ivory Coast at 25.00 (24/1).

Behind these 10 top contenders, matters quickly become kind of improbable. While Chile, Serbia, Ghana and Paraguay with sportsbetting odds of around 40.00-60.00 (39/1 – 59/1) might have a very slim chance to win this event, behind these four, there are no less than nine more teams coming it at odds of around 100-to-1, these are: USA, Cameroon, Denmark, Mexico, Nigeria, Australia, Greece, Uruguay and host nation South Africa.

Anyone of these teams winning the FIFA Football World-Cup 2010 would certainly be a major sensation by itself, but if any of “the rest” actually wins it all, then that would rank as one of the most stunning “Cinderella”-victories in sports history for all time. Here the “candidates”:

Switzerland: around 150-to-1
Japan and Slovenia: up to 250-to-1
South Korea, Slovakia and Algeria: 300-to-1
New Zealand, Honduras and North Korea: up to 2000-to-1 (!!)

The FIFA World Cup Final Draw will be held on December 4 in Cape Town (19.00 local time/18.00 CET). Once the draw is complete, some teams winning odds might either go up or down, of course, depending on the group opponents. Especially at World-Cups in the past, there were rather “easy-breezy” groups for the favourites, but also groups containing 4 really strong contenders.

For the first time ever in any competition, Inter Milan and FC Chelsea meet in an official match. This should get interesting, given that Inter`s Coach Jose Mourinho and Chelsea counterpart Carlo Ancelotti cannot really be called friends. The odds offered by best football bookmakers like Ladbrokes, Bet365 or Victor Chandler can`t really agree on a favourite here:

Bet365 Odds on Inter – Chelsea: 2.70 (17/10) – 3.10 (21/10) – 2.75 (7/4)
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Inter drew the last 3 (!) matches in the Italian Serie A, most recently with a 0:0 at home against Sampdoria. Chelsea beat the Wolverhampton Wanderers 2:0 in the Premiership after eliminating Cardiff City 4:1 from the FA-Cup.

Most likely lignups:

Inter: Julio Cesar – Maicon – Lucio – Samuel – Zanetti – Cambiasso – Muntari – Thiago Motta – Sneijder – Eto’o – Milito

Chelsea: Cech – Belletti – Terry – Carvalho – Ivanovic – Mikel – Ballack – Cole – Lampard – Drogba – Anelka

Champions League last 16 Knockout Round:

Milan vs. Manchester United, first leg 2:3
Olympique Lyon vs. Real Madrid, first leg 1:0
Porto vs. Arsenal, first leg 2:1
Bayern Munich vs. Fiorentina, first leg 2:1

VfB Stuttgart vs. FC Barcelona
Olympiacos vs. Girondins Bordeaux
CSKA Moscow vs. FC Sevilla
Inter Milan vs. Chelsea

Current odds by Bet365 to win this years Champions League favour Barcelona at 11/4, followed by Chelsea at 9/2, ManU (5/1), Real Madrid (11/2) and Arsenal, Inter & Bayern Munich (all at 12/1). Biggest longshot to win it all is Stuttgart at 150/1.

The final Champions League clash is getting nearer and nearer. On May 27, Manchester United will try to achieve what hasn`t been done so far in the “new” Champions League era, that is to defend the title. 3 teams have so far reached the final 1 year after winning the Champions League, but so far all three have lost (*).

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Currently, there is no real betting favorite in this matchup as Manchester and Barcelona are offered around 13/8 odds on the win in regulation. A draw after 90 minutes stands at about 11/5 at the moment. Here are the current odds on Barcelona vs. ManU from select bookmakers:

BET365: UK odds: 13/8 – 23/10 – 13/8 ___ decimal: 2.63 – 3.30 – 2.63
LADBROKES: UK odds: 11/8 – 11/5 – 8/5 ___ decimal: 2.38 – 3.20 – 2.60
UNIBET: UK odds: 17/10 – 11/5 – 17/10 ___ decimal:2.70 – 3.20 -2.70

Manchester United and FC Barcelona have had nine official matches so far, with three wins for ManU, two for Barça and four draws. Here are the results from those previous encounters:

1984 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarterfinal:
Barcelona – Manchester United 2:0
Manchester United – Barcelona 3:0 –> United won 3-2 on aggregate

1991 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final:
Barcelona – Manchester United 1:2

1995 Champions League group stage:
Manchester United – Barcelona 2:2
Barcelona – Manchester United 4:0 –> Barcelona advanced, ManU was out

1999 UEFA Champions League group stage:
Manchester United – Barcelona 3:3
Barcelona – Manchester United 3:3 –> ManU advanced, Barcelona was eliminated

2008 Champions League semifinal:
Barcelona – Manchester United 0:0
Manchester United – Barcelona 1:0 –> United won 1-0 on aggregate

(*)
AC Milan won in 1994 (4:0 against Barcelona), lost in 1995 (0:1 against Ajax Amsterdam)
Ajax Amsterdam won in 1995 (1:0 over Milan), lost in 1996 (2:4 against Juventus – penalty shootout)
Juventus won in 1996 (4:2 over Ajax), but lost in 1997 to Borussia Dortmund with 1:3

The first legs of the UEFA Champions League round of the last 16 are behind us, time to have a look at what the football bookmakers think about the chances of the remaining 16 teams to win the Champions League this year.

Let`s have a look at the results first. Aside from Germany`s Champion Bayern Munich`s 5:0 away win over Sporting Lisbon, all other 7 matches were pretty close. There were five draws and three 1:0 wins. So predicting who will join almost-certainly qualified Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals is not an easy task.

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Currently favored to win it all is Spain`s FC Barcelona at odds of around 11/4 (3.75 decimal odds – +275 USA odds) – Barcelona managed to draw 1:1 away with Olympique Lyon of France and is surely favored to gain entry into the next round at home.

Next in line is Manchester United with odds around 4/1 (5.00 or +400) to defend the title. ManU is facing Inter Milan at home, after drawing 0:0 in Italy. Currently ranked third is FC Chelsea with odds of around 7/1 (8.00 or +700). Chelsea won 1:0 at home against Juventus and has to defend that narrow lead in Italy now.

Moving onto favourites #4 and #5 now. These spots belong to FC Liverpool (9/1 – 10.00 – +900), which managed a strong 1:0 win in Spain against Real Madrid. The Reds should be able to hold onto that lead at home and join Bayern Munich, which currently offers odds of 10/1 (11.00 – +1000) to win Champions League title #5 for them. Next in line is Arsenal London after their 1:0 win at home against AS Rome, you can back Arsenal currently at around 13/1.

Other teams odds to win the Champions League this year:

Inter Milan: 14/1 – 15.00 – +1400
Juventus: around 25/1 – 26.00 – +2500
Real Madrid: 28/1 – 29.00 – +2800
AS Rome: 35/1 – 36.00 – +3500
FC Porto: up to 50/1 – 51.00 – +5000
Villareal CF: 50/1 – 51.00 – +5000
Atletico Madrid: up to 60/1 – 61.00 – +6000
Panathinaikos Athens: around 65/1 – 66.00 – +6500
Olympique Lyonnais: around 65/1 – 66.00 – +6500
Sporting Lisbon: Bet365 offers 10.000 to 1 (!)

The UEFA Champions League schedule:

Tuesday, March 10:

Liverpool against Real Madrid
Juventus against Chelsea
Bayern Munich vs. Sporting Lisbon
Panathinaikos Athens vs. Villareal CF

Soccer betting tips and predictions

Wednesday, March 11:

Manchester United vs. Inter Milan
Porto FC against Atletico Madrid
AS Roma versus Arsenal London
FC Barcelona vs. Olympique Lyon