Champions League: Real and Barca now even bigger favourites

Real Madrid and Barcelona were fancied before the events of last night but now the Champions League is really starting to look like a two-horse race between the Spanish sides.

Reigning Champions Barcelona are the big favourites at 6/4 after sweeping through to the group stages and, with two wins in the previous three years, they will attract a lot of money even at those short odds.

Real Madrid are next at 5/2 and they are an extremely tempting proposition.

They are currently three points ahead of Barca at the top of La Liga and have played a game less than their bitter rivals.

With Jose Mourinho – who has won the Champions League with both Porto and Inter Milan – in charge, a punt on them is well worth considering.

There’s then a big gap to Bayern Munich who are third favourites at 6/1, while the English teams are even further adrift.

Chelsea have been going through a tough time of things recently and no amount of ranting from Andre Villas-Boas can hide the fact that some big changes need to be made if they are to mount a serious assault on the Champions League.

They showed signs of their former dominance in their final group game against Valencia and are currently 11/1 to win the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are out at 18/1 despite winning their group and avoiding the likes of Barca and Real in the last 16 draw.

AC Milan are also out at 18/1 while Inter Milan have drifted to 20/1.

There are plenty of good sides left in the Champions League but the biggest cheers when City and United failed to qualify – outside of Liverpool – would have come from the big Spanish sides.