Chelsea’s Champions League odds with Sky Bet for 2009/10 currently stand at 8/1 but with a new manager on board in Carlo Ancelotti, who has tasted European glory on two occasions with AC Milan, they have already been a popular bet for next season’s title.
In fact, Chelsea’s Champions League odds of 8/1 have resulted in them being the second best backed team to date after reigning champions, Barcelona (5/1), with no shortage of chunky three and four figure bets on the Blues finally to clinch the only major title that has alluded them.
Sky Bet’s football betting spokeswoman, Helen Jacob, said: “After Barcelona, Chelsea represent our biggest losers in the 2009/10 Champions League betting and they have attracted three times as much money as Manchester United and Liverpool.”
Sky Bet customers must see value in Chelsea’s Champions League odds, which have been eased from an opening 6/1 to 8/1 over the past month. The drift is largely due to the contraction of the odds of Spanish giants, Real Madrid, who have been a popular bet in all competitions since signing two of the world’s greatest players, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The past five years has been the most successful period in Chelsea’s history, with Jose Mourinho guiding them to back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, yet they have been unable to land the Champions League title. Sky Bet take a look at Chelsea Champions League odds over the last five seasons.
2004-05 was a memorable season for Chelsea Champions League bettors. Chelsea went into the semi-finals against Liverpool as 13/8 second favourites behind AC Milan to lift the trophy and hot 8/15 favourites to make the final after a landmark season in the Premier League under Mourinho. The Blues had topped their group but after a goalless draw in the first leg at Stamford Bride, a goal inside the opening four minutes from Luis Garcia, still contested to this day by Chelsea fans, saw Mourinho’s men dumped out of the Champions League and sent Liverpool to Istanbul, where history would be made in their legendary match against Milan.
2005-06 saw Chelsea’s Champions League odds at 7/1 pre-tournament but they were eliminated in the knockout stages by eventual champions, Barcelona.
With consecutive league titles in hand, 2006-07 saw Chelsea’s Champions League odds for the 2006/07 competition open at 5/1 joint favourites but they were yet to prove their mettle in Europe. Once again, they clashed with Liverpool in the semi-finals, and the war or words between Mourinho and Benitez was as fierce as the on-pitch battle. Chelsea were 1/3 favourites to make the final but were eliminated by the Reds on penalties.
In September 2007, Mourinho was replaced by Avram Grant, who led Chelsea to their first Champions League final. Pre-tournament, Chelsea’s Champions League odds saw them joint favourites again at 6/1 and it was third time lucky for them against Liverpool in the semi-finals, with Drogba and Lampard hammering home in extra time of the second leg to send Chelsea into the final. Their showdown against Manchester United in Moscow would be the first all-English final in Champions League history and Chelsea were 11/10 to triumph. However, the maiden Champions League title evaded them as they lost to Manchester United in the final after extra time and penalties.
More heartache was to follow for Chelsea in 2008/09, when they were 6/1 pre-season in the Champions League betting, and were 7/2 to lift the trophy going into the semi-finals against Barcelona. The Blues were 11/2 outsiders to win the first leg at the Nou Camp and after managing to hold Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side to a draw, they went into the second leg at 17/10 with little to choose between them and Barca (6/4). By virtue of away goals, the Catalonian titans won the nail biting semi final second leg, which resulted in the Norwegian referee, Tom Henning Ovrebo, being smuggled out of the country. His failure to award Chelsea a series of penalty appeals during their defeat at Stamford Bridge resulted in a hate campaign and Chelsea’s Champions League campaign fell flat once again.
And so, Chelsea go into the new domestic season as Sky Bet’s 8/1 fourth favorites to end their European hoodoo. You can bet on Chelsea at 2/1 to win the Champions League in the next three years, the length of the contract of new manager Carlo Ancelotti, who led AC Milan to European glory twice and also tasted victory twice as a player.
To check out the latest Chelsea Champions League odds
