There are five German teams in the 2022/23 Champions League. Those betting on the success of them will hope for a better time than last season. Just one team made it to the knockout stages.
That was of course Bayern Munich but they lost in the quarter finals to Villarreal. Will 2022/23 see them knocked out at that stage for the third season in a row? They did win the Champions League in 2019/20 but getting to at least the semi-finals this time around will be their aim. If losing Robert Lewandowski this summer, the odds on them doing that will lengthen, according to the offers from the bookies in the UK.
Bayern will be drawn in Pot 1 and the odds are they may end up facing teams from the UK. Pot 2 contains RB Leipzig so they can’t meet Bayern. Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham are all in the second pot.
Now considering Liverpool and Chelsea are both recent winners of the Champions League, that means Bayern might face a tough task to win their group if drawn against them. You can bet that one of those English Premier League sides would have been in Pot 1 but for Eintracht Frankfurt being placed in that pot due to their Europa League win.
It’s not just an English team that Bayern Munich could face in the group stages. Celtic are in Pot 4 thanks to the ban on Russian teams. Rangers, who lost to Frankfurt in the Europa League final might also be possible opponents if they can make it through the qualifying rounds.
Bayern beat Chelsea on their way to winning the 2019/20 Champions League. However, they were beaten by Liverpool in the last 16 of the 2018/19 competition. The odds are new signing Sadio Mané would love to see his new team take on the Reds.
Borussia Dortmund are another Bundesliga team who are due a deep run in the Champions League. Those who decided to bet on them last season held their heads low when Dortmund couldn’t even make it out of their group. Nor did they do that well in the Europa League.
They reached the final in 2012/13 but haven’t got past the last eight in the Champions League since. Their last quarter final appearance was in 2020/21. On that occasion, it was the current English Premier League champions Manchester City who beat them. Dortmund will be in Pot 3 and could well be drawn against City again.
The odds on Dortmund having to face a British side are high. There’s those three English clubs in Pot 2 and also Celtic in Pot 4. Dortmund begin life without Erling Haaland and the odds are that Jude Bellingham might also be leaving.
The arrival of Sebastian Haller looks a good signing. West Ham fans might not think so but he returned to better form when on loan at Ajax last season. Karim Adeyemi should also be backed to do well after arriving from Red Bull Salzburg.
Bayer Leverkusen are also in Pot 3 and that also means they will have a tough draw. The odds are an English side will be faced. They finished third in the Bundesliga last season but their last appearance in the Champions League wasn’t a memorable one. In the 2019/20 season, Leverkusen failed to make it into the knockout stages.
2002 saw Leverkusen lose in the Champions League final but subsequent seasons have been disappointing for them. Betting on them reaching a second Champions League final in the 2022/23 season doesn’t look advisable.
The signing of Adam Hlozek from Sparta Prague looks promising but hardly likely to make his new team European champions.
RB Leipzig will have mixed feelings if they are drawn against an English side. In 2019/20, they beat Tottenham on their way to making it to the semi-finals. They upset the odds in that two-legged tie but have failed to repeat that deep run since then.
The past two seasons have seen them draw teams from Manchester. They have managed to beat both United and City at home but it’s been a different story on their travels. Leipzig lost 5-0 at Old Trafford and last season, 6-3 at the Etihad. Another season facing City is possible for Leipzig.
The fifth and final German team in the Champions League is Eintracht Frankfurt. They finished 11th in the Bundesliga but won the Europa League. That takes them into Pot 1 of the Champions League, 42 years after reaching the European Cup final.
Don’t bet on them repeating that deep run. They might be given the opportunity to get revenge on Chelsea for beating them in the Europa League semi-finals in 2018/19. Rangers, You can bet sides in the other pots won’t mind drawing Frankfurt from Pot 1.
