Champions League Odds: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern Remain Bookmaker's Favorites

Cue the opera music. Grab a Heineken. The Champions League is back … next Tuesday. Finally, right?

Let’s take a look at the odds floating around the 16 teams remaining who could lift the trophy with the big ears in Berlin on June 6:

Long shots

Shakhtar Donetsk (500-to-1)

If Shakhtar gets past Bayern in the Round of 16 it’s one of the more impressive sports stories of early 2015, given the club is playing 1,000 miles away from its home base due to the military campaign in Eastern Ukraine. Where Luiz Adriano, the top scorer in the Champions League this term, lands in the summer is something to file away — he came close to a Roma move last month.

Schalke 04 (400-to-1)

Under Roberto Di Matteo, the Royal Blues are up to third in the Bundesliga, but don’t forget Schalke were pummeled by Real Madrid 9-2 on aggregate in this stage last season. Schalke’s opponent on Feb. 18 in Gelsenkirchen? Real Madrid. So, yeah.

FC Basel (200-to-1)

Basel are the model, mid-tier European club at the moment. Solid youth system. Solid scouting network. Strong domestically. Dangerous in the Champions League. Drawn with Porto, Basel could advance to the quarterfinals where Paulo Sousa’s club will be a massive pain in the neck for one of the favorites to deal with.

AS Monaco (100-to-1)

If you sell James Rodríguez and loan Falcao in the same summer transfer window, you have to adjust. Monaco is now all about defense, allowing only 19 goals in 24 Ligue 1 games and just one in six Champions League group stage matches. Monaco won’t win the tournament, but if Arsenal isn’t at its best in the Round of 16, Arsène Wenger could be in for a shock at the hands of his former club.

Bayer Leverkusen (80-to-1)

Although its high-octane style is entertaining, Leverkusen landed a terrible draw in Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16.

FC Porto (50-to-1)

Porto continues to acquire talent, to sell talent and to repeat the process over and over again. It’s worth watching how far Porto goes in comparison to Juventus, since Italy’s edge ahead of Portugal in the UEFA coefficient continues to decrease.

Enigmas

Borussia Dortmund (28-to-1)

Jürgen Klopp’s team is still in danger of being relegated in the Bundesliga and, potentially, could win the Champions League. Try to figure this one out. Dortmund, a finalist in 2013, has won four of six Champions League matches this year but only five of 20 Bundesliga games. Things aren’t all bad in industrial northwest Germany, Marco Reus extended his contract through 2019 … assuming that’s not a way to drive up his transfer fee in the summer.

Juventus (25-to-1)

The Old Lady still dominates Serie A, yet can’t make much of an impact in the Champions League. At least Juve made the knockout rounds this year. With a seven-point gap ahead of Roma, Massimiliano Allegri can put all his resources into the Champions League. Juventus will hope Andrea Pirlo can dial it back to 2006, when Italy beat Germany in the semifinals of the World Cup at the Westfalenstadion. Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez are in great form, so the Italians should be able to get through Dortmund and its leaky defense.

Maybe You Can Talk Yourselves Into Taking a Flier:

PSG (28-to-1)

A year ago PSG had all the making of a legit darkhorse to win the tournament. Then Zlatan Ibrahimovic got hurt in the first leg vs. Chelsea in the quarterfinals and it crashed to earth at Stamford Bridge. A year later PSG gets Chelsea, again. But now, for all its money, PSG is sitting in third place in Ligue 1. Both Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi’s days appear numbered in the French capital, while Ibrahimovic isn’t quite 100 percent. Expect the PSG-Chelsea game, for all the money and star power, to be a typical Jose Mourinho defensive slog over two legs. Perhaps PSG can snatch it, but the window for the Parisians appeared to close last term.

Arsenal (20-to-1)

On the eve of the Champions League resumption, Arsenal is a bit in limbo. In the EPL, Arsene Wenger’s team is two points off a Champions League spot for next season (Yay! the Unofficial Fourth-Place Trophy!), in a tussle with six other teams for three spots. Without the safety net of fourth to fall back on, Arsenal probably can’t go all-out in the Round of 16 vs. Monaco. The Gunners’ depth always seems to be tested this time of year, and a prolonged campaign on two fronts might not be attainable. As a fan, I’d prefer to see Wenger push as hard as he can to win the Champions League than pursue fourth place, but feasibly that might not be possible. If, however, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Özil and Santi Carzola can click along with the team playing a more conservative style to paper over the defensive frailties, a deep run isn’t so crazy, is it?

Manchester City (14-to-1)

Now seven points behind Chelsea, the EPL ship probably sailed for Manuel Pellegrini’s side. It’d be a lot easier to back City’s chances to make a run in Europe if it didn’t face Barcelona in the Round of 16. Fortunately, City don’t resume play until Feb. 24, giving Yaya Toure a little more recovery time from the emotional triumph of the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

Firm Favorites

Atletico Madrid (16-to-1)

Atletem came wemthemn a couple memnutes of wemnnemng last season and haven’t memssed a beat after losemng Demego Costa to Chelsea. Team spemremt and self belemef memght be sportemng clemchés, but can’t be demscounted when applemed to Demego Semmeone’s team. Thems team knows how to wemn and can stand toe-to-toe wemth any club emn the world wemthout blemnkemng. Asemde from hems decemsemon to start an unfemt Costa emn last year’s femnal (the stremker lasted all of nemne memnutes), Semmeone seems to have the two-leg playoff themng femgured out.

Chelsea (7-to-1)

Mourinho certainly knows how to mix-and-match, grinding through the Champions League. Chelsea isn’t going to beat itself, so it might take running into a hot team clicking on all cylinders to knockout the Blues.

Barcelona (11-to-2)

Crisis is such a funny word in soccer. Last month Barcelona lost ONE game and it was crisis time at the Camp Nou with rumors flying around Lionel Messi’s future. Now? They’re one point off the pace in La Liga and Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar are the most-dangerous attacking trio in the world. Maybe the most-encouraging aspect of Barcelona going forward is it has only allowed 13 goals in 24 league games. Manchester City in the Round of 16 isn’t a pushover, but if Barça snatch an away goal at the Etihad, this one could become academic.

Real Madrid (11-to-4)

Following this weekend’s 4-0 thumping at the hands of Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid’s lead in La Liga is down to a point. Sergio Ramos, Pepe, James Rodriguez and Luka Modric are all injured. Yes, Carlo Ancelotti’s team possesses more individual talent than anyone in the world and still contains match winners in Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, but the fatigue of winning the competition last season, the Club World Cup, etc. might be catching up with Madrid. Even at it’s peak, Barcelona never won the Champions League back-to-back and overall it hasn’t been accomplished since 1989-90 with AC Milan. Madrid gets a bit of a lay-up with Schalke in the Round of 16, but after that the team could be vulnerable, unless Ronaldo or Bale win a round by themselves.

Slight Overall Favorite

Bayern Munich (5-to-2)

Pep Guardiola’s team returned to action following the winter break in Germany with a couple of indifferent performances, including a 4-0 loss to Wolfsburg. Bookmakers still fancy the Bavarians and so long as Bayern can trot out Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski and whatever new-fangled midfield design Guardiola wants, they’ll be a tough out … but not quite as unbeatable as the club looked in previous seasons.

Anyways, let’s marvel at David Alaba’s free kick from this weekend: