Fourteen-time winners of the competition, Real Madrid have been placed below the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League winner odds. Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti, however, is unbothered.
Reigning European kings Real have been placed below Bayern Munich, PSG, and Manchester City by the bookies, despite beating the latter two on their way to success in the 2021/22 season.
Ancelotti doesn’t pay too much attention to the bookies’ snub, claiming that his team were farther behind in the odds last season.
“I’m not surprised they put us so far behind in the bookmakers. I see it as a good sign, last year they gave us even less of a chance in the stats. This year we have improved, we have a bit more… I think it’s going to be the same as last year, we are going to compete until the end and hopefully, we can compete all the way to the final,”
he said, per ESPN.
A shock loss against Sheriff Tiraspol aside, Real Madrid cruised through the group stage of the 2021/22 Champions League. They beat Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk on two occasions and got their revenge on the Moldovan side in the return fixture, progressing to the knockout stages as the group winners and with a goal difference of +11.
Los Blancos knocked out PSG in the round-of-16, coming from 2-0 behind to beat them 3-2 across two legs. Chelsea nearly put the record holders out of the competition in the quarterfinals, overturning a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 lead, only for Rodrygo and Karim Benzema to rescue them late on.
A sensational flurry of goals at the end of the second leg helped Real Madrid rescue their hopes of winning the 14th title in the semi-finals against Manchester City, and Benzema sent them through with a goal in extra-time. Liverpool were beaten in the final, Vinicius Jr scoring the only goal of the game.
