Top Champions League Betting Sites

The Champions League is the largest and most prestigious club football tournament in Europe. Once every season, the gladiators from each of the top football leagues in Europe come together to see who will be crowned kings. The action is always sensational and the drama can be amazingly high. Naturally, this competition draws punters in by the millions and the top betting sites have some awesome bonuses associated with Champions League football. 

To grab a taste of the action for yourself, why not choose one of our recommended sites and sign up today? It takes just a few minutes and is completely free to do.

Champions League Betting Markets

The Champions League comprises the very best of the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1, and many more. Given the size and stature of this competition, it almost goes without saying that there is a considerable range of bets that you could make on the event. This goes above and beyond simply betting on who will win individual matches. We’ve covered all of the most popular Champions League betting markets in the sections below. 

Tournament Outright

The Champions League follows quite an interesting format. The initial stages of the competition are played as a round-robin, and then the qualifying teams will battle things out in the knock-out stages of the event. Both before and during the tournament, you can back who you think the eventual winner will be, and this is done through the tournament outright markets. 

Top Goalscorer

There is no shortage of games played during the Champions League, and of course, it is the goalscorers that tend to steal the headlines. This is exactly why the ‘top goalscorer’ market is particularly appealing, although it can be a little risky. This is because the longer a team stays in the competition, the more goals an individual player for that team could potentially score. 

Match Result

This is the classic market in Champions League football betting. A match result is when you bet on who you think the winner of a particular match is going to be. It’s a good idea to look at recent European form with this one, as well as having a quick glance at a side’s domestic performances in order to gauge how you think this one is going to go. 

To Qualify

This is actually a very interesting market, and it applies to both stages of the competition – knock-out and group stage. If you back a team to qualify through the group stages, this is precisely what they need to do in order for you to win your bet. Two teams will qualify from each of the groups in the Champions League. However, once the competition reaches the knock-out stage, only one team will go through to the next round. 

Some punters view this market as being more preferable to the main match result markets, especially in the knock-out stages. This is due to the fact that even if the game ends in a draw after 90 minutes, you still have the chance to win your bet.

Both Teams to Score

The clue is pretty much in the name with this one. Here you are backing a market where both teams must find the back of the net for you to win your wager. This market applies specifically to individual games. Usually, if you have two attacking teams or two teams with quite prolific goalscorers going up against each other, the both teams to score market is a good choice. 

Handicap 

In the Champions League, you’ll often get matches where there appears to be a clear cut winner before the game has even begun. The downside of this is that you’ll generally find very low odds for a favoured team to win in this situation. Here’s where the handicap market should be explored, as you can back whether a favoured team will win by more than a set number of goals. 

On the flip side, you can also back the underdog to lose by less than a set number of goals. Of course, if the underdog wins, then your handicap bet on them will still come through.

Champions League Live Betting

While the Champions League is full of enticing pre-match markets on the top sites, punters always have the option to hold-out for the live markets to open up before making any wagers. In fact, this is one of the key Champions League betting strategies used today, as you can often find much higher odds in the live markets. This does depend on what market you are betting on and how the game plays out, but it’s a great way to unearth markets with plenty of value. 

To give a quick example of how you can use this strategy to your advantage, let’s say that Manchester City were playing against RB Salzburg at home. City would be heavy favourites in the pre-match markets, but if Salzburg managed to ruffle the feathers of Manchester City and score an early goal or two, you will see that the odds on Manchester City to win will increase quite dramatically. 

At this moment, you could choose to back Manchester City for the win, at much higher odds than what was available before the game started. 

Live Streaming

At many of the best Champions League betting sites, you’ll find that there is an option to live stream some of the games. This feature is usually identified by a play button next to the game in question, and once the game kicks off, you can initiate the stream by clicking on it. Streaming is available from both desktop and mobile platforms these days, although it’s quite common for betting sites to outline a couple of pre-requirements before you can use this feature.

Most of the time, you need to either have money in your betting account or have recently placed a sports wager to be eligible to stream games. With that in mind, even if you just keep £1 in your account, you can still enjoy unlimited streaming at the top sites. 

Cashouts 

Online Champions League betting is more dynamic and fast-paced than it has ever been before, and this is something you can make the most of via the cash-out feature. Basically, once you’ve placed a bet on a game, your chosen bookmaker will likely have a cash-out value that you can monitor alongside your bet. If things are looking good, and your bet has strong potential to result in a win, the site will start to increase this cash-out value. 

You can choose to take it or leave it, but if you are feeling unsure of whether your bet will win when the full-time whistle blows, it is worth considering the cash-out option.

Accumulator bets

Accumulator bets are actually one of the most exciting forms of bets you can make in football. This kind of bet is where you combine multiple predictions into the same bet slip, and to win any cash at all, every single one of your predictions needs to be correct. As you can imagine, the chances of winning one of these bets can be incredibly small, depending on how many bets you add to the slip. On the flip side, the rewards can be absolutely huge, as the odds for each event that you select are multiplied together to produce a total potential return. To illustrate just how powerful accumulator bets can be, check out this quick example. 

Say that you wanted to bet on Manchester City to win, Real Madrid to win, and Juventus to win. If the odds were 1.6 on every single game, the total odds in an accumulator style bet would be 4.10 (1.6 x 1.6 x 1.6). If you wanted to also add in a slightly riskier bet, such as a market with odds of 2.50 or above, the odds would go significantly higher. 

Obviously, this is a riskier strategy to employ, which is why punters tend to bet smaller amounts when making accumulator bets.

Champions League bonus offers

With the Champions League being such a major competition, it is perfectly normal to find a bunch of bonuses that are tailored to this event. To check out what bonuses you are eligible for,, you’ll need to look for a section listed as ‘bonuses’, ‘offers’, or ‘promotions’. Here is where you’ll see what offers you are eligible to claim for Champions League betting, and below, we’ve identified some of the more common forms of betting promotions.

Free bets

You can usually claim free bets for Champions League games by simply meeting the pre-requirements identified by a betting site. Most of the time, you will need to stake a low value such as £5 or £10 in exchange for a free bet of equal value. These offers are generally reserved for some of the more prestigious games that take place in the event. 

Cashback incentives

Rather than receiving a free bet that you can use after placing a wager, through this kind of offer, you will simply receive your money back if your wager loses. This is a very popular way for bookmakers to offer protection for players’ bets, but usually, it is dependent on a particular scenario. 

For example, you might get your stake back if the game ends in a goalless draw, or you could get your money back if just one leg loses in an accumulator bet. The exact scenario will always be shown in the terms and conditions.

Accumulator profit boosts

Since accumulator bets are quite a risky way of betting, online betting sites will offer incentives for you to place these wagers. Accumulator profit boosts are an extremely popular way of bookmakers creating extra value for you as the end customer. Basically, if you can win an accumulator bet with a specific number of legs, the site will payout an additional amount of money on the original return. This can be anything from 5% all the way to 70%. 

Champions League betting on mobile

Once you’ve created an online betting account with the top sites, you will be able to access your account from your mobile device. Now, this can be through one of two platforms – either a native app for iOS or Android and a mobile site. Generally speaking, you will find that native apps are much more desirable, both in terms of functionality and performance. There’s also the convenience of simply pulling your phone out of your pocket, opening up the app, and placing a bet in seconds. 

Champions League betting tips

As with all kinds of sports betting, anything can happen in the Champions League markets, and despite what some people might tell you, there is no such thing as a ‘sure bet’. With that said, we do have some Champions League betting tips for you to follow, and these are specifically designed to improve your chances of betting successfully. 

Apply Champions League bonuses where possible

Since the Champions League is an event that attracts a whole range of bonuses, you may as well use them. If you are presented with the chance to grab free bets or play for profit boosts, it is important that you use these offers to your advantage. After all, bonuses are a great way for punters to balance the scales with online bookmakers. 

Pay attention to the situation

The Champions League combines a round-robin format with a knock-out stage, and given the format, it’s important to monitor the situation when making your predictions. For example, if Real Madrid wins their first leg 6-0 against a lower-ranked team, it is likely that the manager will put out their B team for the return fixture to give their top players a rest. With that in mind, you probably wouldn’t then go and back Real Madrid for the win.

Bet on the live markets

Comparatively, live markets regularly offer better value than what you’ll get in the pre-game markets. This is because certain situations can cause the odds to fluctuate quite drastically, and it is these fluctuations that provide players with the opportunity to lock-in enticing bets.