Real Madrid got the European season truly underway with victory in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday night.
While qualification for the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League has already commenced, it was in Helsinki this week that the continental campaign really moved up the gears.
That's because Real consolidated their 14th European Cup by securing the Super Cup for the fifth time in their history, winning 2-0 courtesy of goals from David Alaba and Karim Benzema either side of half-time.
2022/23 Champions League
However, with the Super Cup mostly ending up in the hands of the Champions League winner anyway, it can be hard to make too many inferences as to who will go onto win 'Big Ears' later that year.
After all, with the exception of Real's 'threepeat' under Zinedine Zidane between 2016 and 2018, no team has been able to retain the Champions League title since the competition's 1992 rebrand.
As such, there's good reason to think that another one of Europe's biggest clubs will dethrone Carlo Ancelotti's men over the next nine months to crown themselves as kings of the continent.
Champions League favourites
But who are the favourites to go all the way this season? Well, on the back of Real's latest piece of silverware, we couldn't resist finding out exactly that by looking at the latest odds from the bookmakers.
In particular, we turned to Paddy Power's outright odds for the 2022/23 Champions League winners to take a peek at who they consider to be the most and least likely clubs to be partying in Istanbul next summer.
From a rank outsider yet to actually qualify for the group stages to a European giant still waiting to win for the first time, be sure to check out what the odds - correct at the time of writing - consider to be this year's favourites.
25. Rangers - 300/1
Soccer Football - Champions League - Third Qualifying Round - Second Leg - Rangers v Union Saint-Gilloise - Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - August 9, 2022 Rangers' Malik Tillman celebrates scoring their third goal Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
24. Celtic - 275/1
=20. Sporting Lisbon - 150/1
=20. Marseille
=20. FC Porto - 150/1
=20. Red Bull Salzburg - 150/1
Soccer Football - Champions League - Round of 16 First Leg - FC Salzburg v Bayern Munich - Red Bull Arena Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria - February 16, 2022 FC Salzburg's Zlatko Junuzovic and Sekou Koita celebrate after the match REUTERS/Andreas Gebert
19. Bayer Leverkusen - 100/1
18. Eintracht Frankfurt - 80/1
=16. Sevilla - 40/1
=16. Napoli - 66/1
15. Borussia Dortmund - 50/1
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Cologne - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - October 30, 2021 Borussia Dortmund's Thorgan Hazard celebrates scoring their first goal wit Jude Bellingham REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO.
=11. Ajax - 40/1
=11. RB Leipzig - 40/1
=11. Atletico Madrid - 40/1
=11. AC Milan - 40/1
10. Juventus - 33/1
Soccer Football - Coppa Italia – Quarter Final - Juventus v U.S. Sassuolo - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - February 10, 2022 Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Massimo Pinca
9. Inter Milan - 25/1
8. Tottenham Hotspur - 16/1
=5. Real Madrid - 12/1
=5. Chelsea - 12/1
=5. Barcelona - 12/1
Jul 26, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; FC Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele (7) celebrates with teammates after scoring his second goal of the first half against Juventus at the Cotton Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
4. Bayern Munich - 7/1
3. Paris Saint-Germain - 6/1
2. Liverpool - 5/1
- Manchester City - 11/4
Soccer Football - Champions League Final - Manchester City v Chelsea - Estadio do Dragao, Porto, Portugal - May 29, 2021 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola walks past the Champions League trophy after the match Pool via REUTERS/Pierre-Philippe Marcou
Man City are favourites once again
Another Champions League season, another year where City are tipped as favourites.
On the back of winning four Premier League titles in the last five seasons and signing Erling Braut Haaland for good measure, most fans would agree that City are the world's strongest men's team on paper right now.
However, football matches aren't won on paper and if Real proved anything with their run to Paris last season, it's that you don't always have to be the superior team to go all the way in the Champions League.
As such, don't be surprised if a team better suited to knockout football like Chelsea or Liverpool takes the prize or perhaps even Barcelona, ranked quite highly in 5th, upset the applecart by stringing a run together.
Soccer Football - Champions League Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool - Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - June 1, 2019 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp lifts the trophy as they celebrate after winning the Champions League REUTERS/Toby Melville
And there's certainly a wild world in which potential dark horses like Spurs, Ajax, Inter or Atletico make a name for themselves by at least launching a charge to the quarter or semi-finals.
Ultimately, that's the joy of the Champions League, too, because it does reward both the world's best clubs and also provide a platform for the so-called 'lesser' contenders to spring an upset.
But who's the early frontrunner in your eyes? Let us know across our various social channels.
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