The Champions League group stage draw on Thursday yielded several phenomenal groups, but none as competitive as Group A, which will consist of Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and Club Brugge.
City and PSG had been the two biggest favorites to lift the trophy heading into the draw due to their substantial offseason additions.
City made one major splash with a $140 million acquisition of Jack Grealish, but it's PSG that made the most substantial improvements.
Paris added Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi this offseason alone and headed into the draw as +250 favorites at PointsBet to win the 2022 Champions League.
Manchester City was second-best at +350 to win it all heading into the draw.
While City has stayed at +350 at the sportsbook, PSG's odds have lengthened to +300 as a result of their group placement.
RB Leipzig made the semifinals of this competition in 2020 and finished a commanding second in the Bundesliga last season. But their placement into this Group of Death has forced their odds in the Champions League to drop precipitously — from 66/1 to 100/1.
Fellow German club Bayern Munich saw their odds drop slightly too after they were placed with FC Barcelona, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv in Group E. Munchen are now +700, third-best favorites to lift their sixth Champions League trophy, down from +650 prior to the draw.
Chelsea had their odds shorten after their placement into a relatively easy group alongside Juventus, FC Zenit and Malmo. Juventus looks to be their only real competition in the group, and there's a distinct possibility that Cristiano Ronaldo takes off before the Aug. 31 transfer window deadline.
Chelsea's odds to repeat as Champions League winners were +850 heading into the draw but have since moved to +800.
This story will be updated as betting odds change throughout the rest of the day.
Below is the full list of Champions League groups. The group stage will begin on Sept. 14.
2021-22 Champions League Group Stage Draw
Group A
- Manchester City
- Paris Saint-Germain
- RB Leipzig
- Club Brugge
Group B
- Atletico Madrid
- Liverpool
- FC Porto
- AC Milan
Group C
- Sporting Lisbon
- Borussia Dortmund
- Ajax
- Besiktas
Group D
- Inter Milan
- Real Madrid
- FC Shakhtar Donetsk
- FC Tiraspol
Group E
- Bayern Munich
- FC Barcelona
- Benfica
- Dynamo Kyiv
Group F
- Villarreal
- Manchester United
- Atalanta
- BSC Young Boys
Group G
- LOSC Lille
- Sevilla FC
- FC Salzburg
- VFL Wolfsburg
Group H
- Chelsea
- Juventus
- FC Zenit
- Malmo
