This was always going to be a season of shocks in the Women's Champions League, purely based on what happened in the qualifying rounds. The likes of Wolfsburg, Arsenal and Manchester United all failed to reach the group stages.
With the final round of group games to come in the near future, Bayern Munich Frauen are starring down the barrel of early elimination, while Real Madrid are already eliminated.
However, their Spanish counterparts, Barcelona Femeni have stormed Group A not dropping a single point and shipped just one goal, so they're overwhelming favourites to win back-to-back Women's Champions League titles.
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Why Barcelona are odds-on favourites in current Women's Champions League outright odds
Barcelona Femeni have shocked the Women's football scene since around 2019 when they reached their first Women's Champions League final. It did take until 2021 for them to lift their first-ever European trophy, but it was a sign of things to come as they put a halt to Lyon's run of five consecutive titles and have since bagged another which was last season.
The Catalonian giants look determined to win back-to-back Women's Champions League trophies for the first time in their history and it would be difficult to back against them. Barcelona have won all of their group games – the only side to have done so this campaign – and conceded just once during a 3-1 victory away to Eintracht Frankfurt.
It's not just the results Barcelona Femeni are producing, but the embarrassment of riches they possess. From Keira Walsh and Mapi Leon to Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati there are just world-class players all over the pitch.
How many times have Barcelona won the Women's Champions League?
Barcelona have won the Women's Champions League on two separate occasions. Their first victory came in 2021 before then adding a second last season defeating Wolfsburg 3-2 in Eindhoven.
Despite winning their first title in 2021, Barcelona's most memorable and magical victory was last season's. Barcelona were strong favourites heading into the game with Wolfsburg who were not even the best team in Germany last season, but against all odds, found themselves 2-0 down after 37 minutes.
Jonatan Giráldez's side never know when they are beaten, however, because they came roaring out and put on a stunning comeback. Within five minutes of the restart, Barcelona were back level thanks to a brace from Patricia Guijarro before Sweden's Fridolina Rolfo knocked in the winner with 20 minutes to still to play as Wolfsburg were left shell-shocked.
Is Alexia Putellas the greatest female player of all time?
Over the past few years, Putellas has undoubtedly been the best Women's footballer on the planet having picked up back-to-back Ballon d'Or trophies, but an ACL injury has now allowed teammate Bonmati to overtake her. Putellas has done some incredible things winning 19 major club honours as well as the Women's World Cup last summer, but she's not the greatest of all time.
Marta is undoubtedly the greatest female footballer of all time. The Brazilian has been a trailblazer for young footballers to chase their dreams and achieve the impossible. Marta has played in Sweden, America and Brazil making a name for herself at every single club.
The former Brazilian international has an award named after her, the ‘Marta Award' which is the female equivalent of the ‘Puskas Award' which recognises the best goal scored in a calendar year.
So, for Putellas to become the ‘GOAT' she will likely have to win a lot more trophies and inspire a whole generation, and even then it might not be enough in people's eyes for her to leapfrog Marta.
Who can realistically challenge Barcelona for the Women's Champions League title?
Lyon – (4/1)
It's always difficult to bet against a team who have won this competition eight times and even beat Barcelona in the final back in 2019 and 2022. The French giants have long been the golden standard of Women's football and are still such an attractive side for players to join.
Lyon are a very threatening side to Barcelona's hopes of winning a third Women's Champions League title. Any team that can boast a roster consisting of Wendie Renard, Danielle van de Donk, Ellie Carpenter and Kadidiatou Diani are going to be a serious contender, especially when domestically, they are yet to drop a single point, pushing away the threat of PSG.
The French giants have big game experience and know how to operate in knockout football. So, when it comes down to the business end of this tournament, it wouldn't be a shock to see yet another Lyon vs Barcelona final.
Chelsea – (6/1)
Emma Hayes has won everything at Chelsea, apart from the Women's Champions League. The soon-to-be USA Women's manager has always been desperate to win a European trophy, and this could be her last chance for a very long time.
The Blues have already booked their spot in the knockout stages of this competition and will be hoping to go one step further than in 2021 when Barcelona beat them quite convincingly.
Chelsea were certainly well placed to mount a serious challenge for the Women's Champions League. That was until Sam Kerr suffered an ACL injury ruling her out for the season, which has since put a lot of pressure on Lauren James to lead the attack.
Hayes has already made moves to replace Kerr for this season at least by recruiting Mayra Ramirez with the Colombian set to join the Blues in the coming days. Her experience and natural goalscoring ability could be what Chelsea need to threaten Barcelona and finally get over this Champions League hump.
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