A few months into the 2026-27 season, the lineup of Champions League favourites looks much as it did before the campaign kicked off. Most sportsbooks agree that Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are the favourites (in order of likelihood). But which team looks best equipped to lift European football’s most prized trophy?
PSG
Almost every pundit in the world would have predicted Paris Saint-Germain to be top of Ligue 1 after 9 games, and so it was. But it took them several weeks: surprise team of the season Rennes briefly topped the table and city rivals Paris FC also started strongly.
Even if the first two months were not as smooth as normal (largely due to two 1-1 draws to start the league season), PSG were soon looking like their normal selves. Over six games from mid-October, they beat Manchester City, Strasbourg, Barcelona, Lyon, Le Havre, and Villarreal, scoring 24 goals and conceding six.
Barcelona
Barcelona started the season perfectly, winning their first nine league games and attackers Raphina and Lamine Yamal both early contenders for the LaLiga golden boot.
But their first league defeat of the season was cause for concern in a league where any dropped points might mean a dropped title, with Atletico and Real Madrid both chasing. That brings us to another Champions League contender.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid’s season looked far more positive once they had beaten their fiercest rivals, Barcelona, away in the first Clásico of the season. Kylian Mbappé scored two, meaning he’d scored seven goals in four matches (plus an assist).
One of those goals came against Roma in a dramatic 4-3 comeback, where Madrid showed once again they could never be counted out in Europe. Beating Barcelona didn’t put them top of LaLiga, but over the last decade Madrid have often performed their best in the Champions League.
On sportsbooks like GoldBet (https://goldbet.com.gh/sportsbook/live/zoom-soccer), which features zoom soccer as well as soccer, the biggest sides are often clear favourites even when playing away from home. For example, before Real Madrid travelled to AEK Athens, they were priced at around 1.23, showing the perceived superiority of Europe’s giants.
Arsenal
Aside from a 3-0 thumping away to Brighton, Arsenal started the Premier League season in imperious form. That single loss seemed to reinforce Mikel Arteta’s principles: Arsenal went back to focusing on restricting opposition chances. On 1 November, they won at Anfield for the first time in 14 years and didn’t allow Liverpool a single shot on target.
Arsenal fans may find extra hope in the fact that none of their attackers are yet firing to their full capability. If Bakayo Saka, Hai Havertz, or Viktor Gyökeres can add more goals to the back six or seven’s solidity, then Arsenal will be even harder to beat. They drew away at Bayern Munich in what was arguably their trickiest Champions League league phase fixture.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane recently won the Ballon d’Or. He started the season in much the same way as he finished the last, making over one goal contribution per game (4 goals and 6 assists in his first 8 appearances in all competitions).
Bayern’s attack of Kane, Michael Olise, and Luis Díaz is regarded as one of the best in the world, but it was not quite enough to take them to the final last season. Bayern lost a wild semi-final first leg to PSG 5-4. Their attack was on fire but Bayern’s defence couldn’t cope with the pace and invention of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé.
The club spent €50.00m on left-back Nathaniel Brown in the summer. Brown is regularly playing but not an automatic starter, and only appeared from the bench during Bayern’s 2-0 victory away at Atletico.
Takeaway
So far, no major surprises. The Champions League favourites are who everyone suspected. The odds may shift more after the league phase when the draw for the first knockout round is announced.
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