The UEFA Champions League 2022 is well underway, with the final being on 28th May Saturday at the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg. The tournament first started in 1995 and has been going on since then. Over the years, it has become one of the biggest club football games, with top players from all over the world competing for a spot. Because of its popularity, the championship gets a lot of high-profile sponsorship. Not just that, but a number of fans from all over the world travel to the host city to watch their favorite teams battle it out.
So, naturally, the event also attracts many sports bettors. Professional gamblers and novice punters flock to online gambling sites to try their luck in scoring a big win for themselves. The online sportsbooks also have a lot of promotional events going on, from free wagers, bonuses to big payouts in order to attract the most punters. Here’s all you need to know to start betting on the UEFA Champions League.
The Championship Format
The championship involves 32 teams who compete in the group stage, which works on the double round-robin format. The winners and runners-up advance to the first knockout round, which is called round 16. All teams are ranked by points. For each win, a team gets 3 points. For a tie, it’s one point. And no points are given to the ones who lost. If teams are tied on points, a number of tie-breaking criteria are used.
The knockout phase involves two groups, with each having 8 teams. Once the championship progresses to the quarter-final phase, the teams aren’t separated into groups. After the semi-finals, the two teams with the highest points compete for the trophy.
The Top Teams
Currently, the team is most likely to win the 2022 URFA champions League s Paris Saint Germain. They have the most efficient players in all of Europe as of now. They signed on Lionel Messi from FC Barcelona, and the club consists of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. These players make the team unstoppable. Following closely behind is the fan-favorite Chelsea; they are the reigning Champions of UEFA. This means there are most likely to reach at least the final stages of the league. Additionally, they have Lukaku, considered the most feared striker in Europe. With him on the team, Chelsea is a tough opponent to beat.
Next up is the all-time favorite Manchester United, the most consistent team in all of UEFA’s history. The club has some stellar players, including Ronaldo, Raphael Varane, and Jadon Sancho. The rest of the players are just as great. What’s left to see is if the team will once again hold the trophy. While Man City isn’t as popular as Manchester United, it’s still one of the top teams in the UEFA league. Not to mention they were the runners-up in the last season. This season they have added Jack Grealish for a record transfer fee of 100 million pounds.
Closing off the top 5 is Bayern Munich. Considered one of the most feared teams, their striker Robert Lewandowski is an unstoppable goal-scoring machine. The team is a tough contender to face and will be a hard nut to crack this season too.
The Star Players
With football, you’d expect to see the names of Messi and Ronaldo at the top, but the top player of UEFA is currently Robert Lewandowski. He was awarded the FIFA Men’s Player Award and is one of ht best strikers of this generation. The polish footballer has scored over 300 glorious goals. Right behind him is Norweigian player Erling Haaland.
Despite being new, he’s got a record of scoring 20 goals in 16 matches. Despite being 21, he was named the UCL forward of the season last year. Number 3 is the star player of Paris Saint Germain, Kylian Mbappe. He’s the club’s main man for goal scoring and the best chance PSG has for winning this season.
UEFA Betting Lines
Understanding the betting lines is the most important factor for any new punter. Mindlessly placing bets will only lead to big losses. Here are some of the more popular betting lines.
MoneyLine
Moneyline is a simple bet that only sees the odds. Who’s more likely to win, will there be a tie, and who’s going to lose. For each of these wagers, there are specific wagering amounts and winning amounts. For example, if you wager $50 on a Moneyline bet for the winning team, you’ll get your original money back along with your loot if the prediction turns out to be true. For the underdogs, if you bet $50 for the odds of -100, you’ll win $100 plus your original amount. So generally, the wagers for the underdogs pay more, but the chances of them winning are quite low.
Totals
This betting line is also called over/under. In this betting line, you’re wagering on the combined points of both teams. The bookmaker sets the assumed total number of points beforehand. You have to guess whether the actual points will be more or less than the ones suggested by the oddsmaker.
For example, the total points are set at 3. If you bet over, the teams need to score a combined of 4 or more points for you to win. Similarly, if you bet under, the total score needs to be 3 points less than the predicted score. This betting line may seem confusing but easier to win once you get the hang of things.
Point Spread
The point spread betting line is similar to the totals, but it’s a bit trickier. Instead of looking at the combined points of each team and betting on the winner and losers, the point bet looks at each team’s points. For Example, you need to bet on the number of points that the winner will have after finishing the game. For a +1 bet, the winning team needs to win by a margin of 1 point for you to win the bet. The same goes for the -1 bet as well. But with the underdog, you’re less likely to win.
Futures Bets
Futures betting line is interesting because it doesn’t deal with the winning or losing teams. This betting line is only concerned with certain events that can happen during the game. Thus, making these bets quite random. You might be asked to bet on who will most likely score the 3rd goal. Or how many goals will be scored in total. This betting line is fun, especially for those looking to gamble recreationally.
Handicap Bets
In handicap bets, the bookmaker purposely gives the favorite team a lower fictional margin and the losing team a higher one. This margin is added to the result of the match. SO the favorite teams start at a disadvantage. You need to bet whether the favorite will win even with the disadvantage or the underdog will win because of the fictional advantage. The bet is confusing but quite fun and interesting.
Top Sportsbooks
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes is considered the Blueprint of the online gambling world that has great odds. The website itself is quite dynamic because it adapts to the latest trends in the gambling world. For your first deposit, you get 50 pounds cashback. But this welcome bonus is only valid for the next 14 days. Additionally, the website accepts payments from a number of credit/debit cards along with online payment platforms like PayPal and Kneeler. They also have a separate section dedicated to promotions where you can check out the best promos on the latest sporting events. With careful wagering, you can rake up to 100 pounds in bonuses.
Betway
Betway is another popular and trusted betting site that has been around for a while. They have great and competitive betting options on all leading sports, as well as a good selection of online casino games. Although their bonuses aren’t as great as some other major betting sites, it’s still pretty good considering they have a wider selection of sports. You’ll get good live betting options, along with many deposit/withdrawal options. The best thing, perhaps, is their mobile app that has a great interface and functionality.
UniBet
UniBet is a top European sportsbook. Upon signup with this site, you’ll get a $40 risk-free betting offer. The website itself is easy-to-navigate and has a good variety of sports betting options. Apart from the general wagers and bonuses, you’ll also get cashback through their referral program along with casino credit. With Unibet, you get many banking options to withdraw and deposit money.
William Hill
William Hill has been around for ages and is a reliable name among European sportsbooks. They also have some of the best odds for the UEFA Champions League, along with great bonuses. Since William Hill has been around for a while, a lot of seasoned bettors recommend them for their great service and good banking options. Not just that, but you also get a good signup bonus and free bets.
Some Betting Tips
Before you start placing bets, it’s better to go over some tips that’ll help you maximize your chances of placing winning bets and minimizing your losses. Here are some of the tips that’ll be helpful to you.
Place Small Wagers
New punters have this notion that to become a good gambler; you need to take big risks. But any top gambler will tell you that playing safe gets you your biggest wins. The key is to make smart wagers and small wagers. When you see the odds, you should look at the ones that offer you the best chance at winning and wager on that. Betting small amounts of money allows you to make more bets without breaking your bank.
It also helps you increase your chances of winning. Not just that, as a new punter, the best way to be efficient in betting is to bet more. You’ll only be able to do this if you make small wagers and save money.
Don’t Ignore The Futures
Among the betting lines, the ones that get overlooked the most are the futures. This betting line is great if you want to try your luck at gambling without wagering too much. The bets aren’t even directly related to the performance of the players and the outcome of the game. Hence, you get a great opportunity to bet on supposed events in the game and score big. Not to mention that future bets don’t need large amounts of money because there aren’t as serious as the other ones.
Keep Track Of Your Money
The worst thing you can do while betting is not to pay any attention to your wins and losses. This often leads to people emptying their bank accounts just to get a chance to win. Most novice bettors dive right into betting without setting a budget first. This is the most important aspect. You should always have a budget set, and you should never go over it.
The next thing you should do is keep track of how much you’ve lost and how much you won during the course of your wagering. If your losses are significant, it’s better to stop before you get frustrated can’t stop wagering.
Beware Of The Scams
With so many websites on the internet, it’s hard to differentiate the authentic ones from the fake ones. If you’re not careful, you could get scammed by illegal sites and lose a lot of money. The first thing you should do when visiting a site is to check their license and other lawfully required permits by the particular country. You’ll also need to see if the website is allowed to operate in your country because wagering on an unregistered site can not only lead you to lose money but can get in legal trouble too.
That’s not all, some websites have their license, but they use predatory ways to get more money out of their clients. For example, you might get your payouts late, or they deduct service charges that weren’t mentioned before. Sometimes, you aren’t able to withdraw your money as well. To avoid this, you need to check customer reviews, make sure there aren’t any complaints from previous clients. If you see a large number of such complaints, it’s better to stay away from such sites.
Take a look at the latest odds and wagers on the UEFA Championship only at Betting Sites Ranking. It’s an online listing website that ranks the top sportsbooks all over the world. The site also has experts that review these top bookmakers and deliver in-depth analyses of their offers and odds.
Users can also make use of the compare feature to compare wagers and bonuses offered by betting sites. Besides that, users can even lookup online casinos in their country along with the top daily bets. Head over to the site now and start placing bets.
