Three outsiders for the 2025 Champions League
The Champions League is up and running for the 2024/25 season, and after a few weeks of confusion, fans are warming to the new group stage format. There have already been plenty of upsets across the opening weeks of the new European season, showcasing the added unpredictability in the live football odds – anyone can beat anyone on the right day.
Indeed, the new Champions League format has meant that teams can no longer rest players, and every point matters. We’ve already seen the likes of Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich at Villa Park and Lille do the Madrid double away against defending champions Real Madrid and Diego Simeone’s Atletico.
The new season has been full of surprises, and it will be interesting to see if the same will be said come the knockout rounds. Over the years, the competition has seen some memorable underdogs rise to stardom, with the hope that the new format allows some other newcomers to go the distance and reach this year’s final in Bavaria.
That said, here we look at three outsiders who are making waves in the Champions League and could be surprise packages to win the competition. Read on to find out more.
Bayer Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso’s Bayern Leverkusen were all the talk of the town last season when they won the Bundesliga undefeated – ending Bayern Munich’s reign of dominance over German football.
Die Werkself also won the DFB Pokal and were painstakingly close to a treble but lost the Europa League final to Atalanta in Ireland.
This season, Leverkusen have started just as emphatically in Europe’s premier competition, but their biggest challenges are yet to come. A trip to Anfield to face unbeaten Liverpool is followed by Serie A champions Inter, but if Alonso’s side can show their mettle against those two, then they have every right to be considered challengers for the title.
Barcelona
It feels strange to consider a club the size of Barcelona as underdogs, but the Catalans have failed to appear in a Champions League final since they beat Juventus in 2015. This season, though, Barca are looking the real deal under Hansi Flick.
After thrashing Bayern Munich in Europe, Flick’s side dominated El Classico, winning 4-0 away to Madrid, and the German coach will be desperate to lift the trophy at the home of his former employer – having been replaced by Bayern despite winning a treble in 2020 that included the Champions League.
Barcelona have a ruthless attack, and after integrating a plethora of La Masia stars, it would be brilliant to see youth prevail in the modern game, demonstrating that buying the biggest stars isn’t always the way to succeed.
AS Monaco
Another side enjoying a resurgence, both domestically and in Europe, are AS Monaco, the 2004 Champions League finalists.
The Ligue 1 outfit are battling with Paris Saint-Germain for supremacy in France, but have also gone under the radar in the Champions League, remaining unbeaten at the time of writing.
Monaco had a great team of entertainers in 2017, reaching the semi-final with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho and Radamel Falcao, but they just fell short. However, this side under Adi Hutter are looking to go a few steps better against the odds.
The strike partnership of Breel Embolo and former Arsenal man Folarin Balogun lead the line in an unconventional 4-4-2 system that has surprised a lot of sides this season, including Barcelona, and it will be interesting to see how they perform against the Gunners and Benfica, in what will surely be defining matches in their pursuit of the knockout rounds.
Monaco are included purely because no one has been able to figure out how they will set up. Their ability to rotate positions with fluidity in games has been a thorn in the side of each opponent in Europe so far.
