At a time when the European Super League was being proposed and agreed by many of European football's top clubs, changes to the current Champions League format had also been put forward, the argument being that the group-stage format is dated and surprise qualification is becoming less of a thing. However, that certainly was not the case in 2021-22 as the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla all bowed out against the odds. Inevitably, there were also some shock individual match results, none more so than Sheriff Tiraspol remarkably getting the better of Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, and Los Blancos were recently involved in another unforeseen occurrence.
As reported by SportsBettingDime.com on the Champions League, big odds swing with Real Madrid. After losing leg 1 of the round of 16, they had odds of +3100. But after advancing to the quarterfinals over PSG their average odds are now +1300. There would have been a bigger disparity during the second leg as PSG extended their lead on aggregate, being 2-0 ahead with 30 minutes remaining, before Real Madrid pulled off a comeback which will stand the test of time. Incredibly, each of their three goals during that bizarre period of play came from Karim Benzema, the veteran forward getting one over his French compatriot Kylian Mbappe at a time when the younger of the frontman could be on his way to Spain.
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Even before the group stages got underway, you can see that there were constant fluctuations with regards to the betting odds, a combination of a team's form on the continent and in their respective domestic league. Of the Premier League clubs, Chelsea - the defending champions - have gone from being regarded as one of the favourites to an outside contender, and that is even with the likes of Barcelona - who were similar betting odds to win the competition - being eliminated in December. The higher odds is also a reflection on Thomas Tuchel's side being presented with an immensely difficult draw to reach the final for a second year in succession, the Blues needing to beat Real Madrid and one of Manchester City or Atletico Madrid.
There would not have been many people predicting that Villarreal and Benfica would make the quarter-finals of the competition, but the Spanish and Portuguese outfits will relish the opportunity to perform with minimal pressure, as was the case for the former in their last-16 tie against Juventus. In the first leg at Estadio de la Ceramica, Juve went ahead, seemingly setting the tone for the remainder of the tie and seeing Villarreal's betting odds skyrocket in the process. However, having earned a draw from the home leg, Villarreal produced one of the best European performances in their history, scoring three times in the final 12 minutes in Turin to set up a clash with an inconsistent Bayern Munich outfit. Villarreal remain out at +9000, bookmakers completely dismissing their chances of winning the competition like with the +17500-rated Benfica, but would many be surprised if one of the two make the last four? Certainly not with Villarreal, even with Bayern being at +300.
