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Champions League returns - who are favourites and players to watch? - Published The Champions League is back - who will get their hands on the famous trophy in Madrid on 5 June next year? Paris St-Germain are aiming to win the title for the third year running as the league phase begins on Tuesday. Five English teams will try to stop them with Arsenal the favourites to better their runners-up slot from last year. We asked football experts Julien Laurens and Guillem Balague who they think will win the tournament and took a look at what the statistics said. And you can vote for who you think will be crowned champions below. Don't forget the BBC will again show highlights of the Champions League this season. From 22:00 BST on the Wednesday of Champions League weeks, there will be match highlights of every game available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, key moments in the Shorts tab on the BBC Sport app, plus a special Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One at 22:40. This week there will also be be a highlights show on Thursday on BBC Two at 22:30 with highlights from Thursday's matches dropping at 22:00. Who are the favourites? Julien Laurens: If PSG do the three-peat, it would be an incredible achievement. I don't think they will do it. I think two in a row is already special - three in a row is impossible unless you've got Cristiano Ronaldo in your team, which they don't. I think they will be close. I think they'll reach at least the semi-final, but I think going for three in a row is tough. I don't believe fully in the Jose Mourinho-Real Madrid project, so I would go for Bayern Munich and Arsenal to reach the final. They are probably the teams, other than PSG, who have deserved to be there the most in the past two seasons. To win it, I'll go for Arsenal. They have the best defence in Europe by far and that's what wins you titles. I would go for PSG to reach the last four, Bayern close runners-up and Arsenal to win it. Guillem Balague: With PSG's irregular start to the season we are seeing how difficult it is to maintain the level. Luis Enrique continues to push the team to be in the vanguard of football which is demanding, with dynamic football and relentless pressure. With the league phase considered a place to experiment and prepare for the second half of the season, there will be a time of transition and strange results before the crunch time in January onwards. As the main axis is there, I expect them to get very close to winning it again. But Barcelona are flying. They would like another centre-back and a number nine. It is what Hansi Flick wanted to get to the next level but he feels they are on the way to the top anyway. Arsenal have found a way to win regularly, and with that off their shoulders, players feel a release that will make them play better. Those three should be in the semis unless they meet before. The fourth, again draw permitting, should be Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Manchester City. Who are the players to watch? Julien Laurens: I have picked five players to watch in this year's Champions League. The first is Jude Bellingham. This is a very big season for him individually and collectively for Real Madrid under Mourinho in the number 10 role that I think suits him well. After a very good World Cup, I think that momentum will carry. I expect him to score a lot of goals and to be very strong and be decisive. Como's number 10 Nico Paz is at the heart of everything they do with the ball. It's their first time in the Champions League. Cesc Fabregas is the manager, so they're a very entertaining team, nice to watch. Paz is a special player - very much in the making - but he will be a top player very soon. Mr Champions League - Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. In the past two seasons, he's been incredible at PSG, especially last year on that left wing where he can cut inside or go on the outside, he's a threat with the right foot and the left foot, he scored some great goals, he's really good technically. I think he's in the running for the Ballon d'Or. He's one of those players that gets you on the edge of your sofa. He's the guy. Lens are back in the Champions League having pushed PSG all the way last year in Ligue 1 - and Ismaelo Ganiou is arguably their best player. A strong centre-back, 21 years old, good on the ball, very quick and physical. I expect him to leave at the end of the season for a big Premier League club. Since leaving Aston Villa to go to Roma, Donyell Malen has been incredible, scoring almost a goal per game as a lone striker for Gian Piero Gasperini's side. Roma being back in the Champions League is great and they're a very entertaining team to watch again. I think we will see Malen back to his best level. Guillem Balague: Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane is in a campaign to win the Ballon d'Or. He deserves to be in contention and I do not expect him to drop his level as Bayern's style suits him greatly. Teenager Lamine Yamal is hungry for more and has set his sights on the Champions League. Hansi Flick wants a team that defends high and passionately so he can shine. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has got another level and with PSG going far he will again rescue the team and win big games. He will be a Ballon d'Or winner soon. Shakhtar have a long tradition of converting Brazilian stars into European multimillion transfers and 20-year-old Kaua Elias could be the next one on the list. After a difficult season for Martin Odegaard last year with injuries, he has started this one very well. The Norwegian can dominate games, and his team - more confident now - will need him to do that. He seems ready to take that leadership. What do the stats say? According to Opta, last year's runners-up Arsenal are the overall favourites to win the Champions League (20.4%) although Bayern Munich, who lost to PSG in the semi-finals, are only marginally behind (20%). PSG's chances of winning a third European title in a row are 7.3%, fourth overall, while 2023 winners Manchester City are third, having been given a 12.7% chance. All five of the Premier League teams are ranked inside the top 10 for overall win probability and all have been given a more than 50% chance of reaching the last-16. When it comes to the league phase, Liverpool have the easiest draw according to Opta's power rankings while Stuttgart have the easiest run overall and Inter Milan the most favourable of the teams from pot one. Arsenal also have a relatively favourable draw. Despite drawing Real Madrid and Bayern Munich from pot one, Mikel Arteta's side also drew the two lowest-ranked sides in the competition - Sabah and Slovan Bratislava. Manchester City face the toughest fixtures of the English clubs with only five teams receiving a tougher draw overall. They have drawn two European giants from pot one in Barcelona and PSG, while 24th-ranked Napoli are a particularly difficult test from pot three. Last season, Arsenal finished top of the league phase after being given one of the easiest fixture lists according to Opta, while Bayern Munich finished second despite being handed the toughest set of opponents of all 36 sides. How will the four debutant teams get on? Guillem Balague: I love what Fabregas is doing with Como and the fact he has decided to stay despite receiving interesting offers in the past two years. He can get it wrong and nothing will happen, which gives the freedom to keep developing his ideas. He has swum against the tide and now he is very much in the train of modern football, and at the front. I expect them to reach the knock-out stages. In getting past Celtic, Austrian outfit LASK showed a big competitive level. A home win somewhere and a respectable points tally would be a fair result for their first campaign. But they probably will not qualify. Azerbaijan side Sabah are very interesting - a success based on organisation - but trips to Arsenal and Manchester United and home games against Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund is a tough introduction. They will give us one or two surprising results, but not enough to go through. Viking face Bayern, Atletico, Napoli and Aston Villa, but Norwegian football is full of clever, competitive coaches, players and teams. They could make it to the knock-outs. - Can Kane buck history and win Ballon d'Or? - Published10 hours ago - How £725 game-show winnings kick-started Champions League coach's career - Published18 hours ago - Who will be new Liverpool sporting director - and what issues do they face? - Published10 hours ago Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.
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