Champions League outright preview: Free football betting tips and odds
Our David John says big-spending PSG get the vote at 7/1 for this season's Champions League.
Cash has been king in football for some time now but when your team is under the ownership of a country then you can splash enough of it around to get the very best.
Paris St Germain have remapped the boundaries when it comes to recruitment drives and the proof of the pudding is now very much in the eating as they start a quest to become the best club side in the world in this season’s Champions League.
Eye-popping sums have been shelled out over the summer for Neymar and Kylian Mbappe (on loan this season with a purchase clause) to play alongside Edinson Cavani and Julian Draxler so an attacking force has been assembled with a value in the region of £450m.
Those in control of the purse strings will expect nothing less than a consistent flow of trophies now in the direction of the French capital with the Champions League the undoubted jewel in the crown.
An embarrassing capitulation last season from PSG against Barcelona when they somehow contrived to throw away a 4-0 first-leg advantage made it crystal clear they were not ready to sit at the top table.
So a shopping list was subsequently drawn up and the outcome was recently summed up in succinct fashion by Draxler: "We certainly got two grenades this summer."
The German’s metaphor sounds rather dangerous stuff but we get his drift – Neymar and Mbappe get a first chance to sparkle in Glasgow on Tuesday night against Celtic with very few giving the Scottish champions a prayer on their own patch at 12/1 or thereabouts.
We have owners that want to be the best and now Neymar keen to be part of the project.
Ironically, he was the man who put the final nails in the PSG coffin last season for Barca but felt a move away from the Nou Camp was perhaps his best chance to succeed in a competition he both adores and regularly rises to the occasion in.
Mbappe became the most coveted striker in the world following his exploits for Monaco while the experienced Dani Alves, who has lifted the trophy three times and turned down a move to Manchester City, purred "we have a team to compete with anybody".
Football is a fickle game as injuries or one bad night in the knockout phase can shatter any dream so PSG will need to be on their mettle from flagfall in a group that contains Bayern Munich, Anderlecht and the aforementioned Scots.
Then again, they could simply blow everyone away right across Europe on a triumphant march to glory in Kiev next spring so like a sailor in mythology being lured on to the rocks by the Sirens, the 7/1 available looks way too tempting.
Favourites Real Madrid are 4/1 for a third straight Champions League crown with the usual suspects of Bayern Munich and Barcelona bracketed in the single-figure price range as well.
The Germans scare me a little bit at the price this time with rumours of disharmony in the camp and there is never going to be much mileage in the prices when it comes to the Spanish arch-rivals due to their flashy records.
It could be time then for England’s Premier League clubs to get back in the groove with an exciting five-pronged attack.
Two well-stocked Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham embark on the journey and it is Jose Mourinho’s United who I fancy to fare best from the quintet.
The Portuguese may not have won many admirers for his policy of all but ditching the back end of last season’s Premier League campaign in favour of the Europa League but the shrewdest of operators was proven right all along by winning that and earning an immediate ticket back to the Champions League.
Their start domestically means a title challenge is very much on the agenda but Mourinho has assembled a deep squad of talent more than capable of challenging on numerous fronts.
The acquisition of Nemanja Matic is right up there with one of the best bits of business this summer while Romelu Lukaku probably only dreamt of the start he has made in front of goal as a Red Devil.
Marcus Rashford has blossomed further and David De Gea is arguably the best goalkeeper on the planet but let’s not disregard the man Mourinho himself.
The way he picked his way through the Europa League was of the highest quality and don’t let him kid you, becoming the first coach to win this with three different clubs would mean something exceptionally special to the Special One.
Manchester City have outstanding depth too and the time has come for Pep Guardiola to get hold of this bunch although the defence still needs plenty of work – a statement that can be levelled at Liverpool also.
Chelsea welcome back European football and possess the experience to thrive but Tottenham have a beastly looking group that includes Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund to go with a current phobia when it comes to playing at Wembley.
So the vote goes to United to be last man standing among the English-based fortune seekers in Europe this season.
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Posted at 1600 BST on 11/09/17.
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