Find out how soccer betting works in the champions league with our champions league betting guide in Canada!

The UEFA Champions League is one of the most prestigious club-level soccer competitions in the world. It's held every year and features the top clubs from the top European leagues in the world.
The 2021-2022 Champions League is well underway, with only four teams remaining. The semi-finals have already begun, and they pit two English clubs against two Spanish clubs in showdowns for the ages.

Let's take a look at what's still left of the 2021-2022 UEFA Champions League, as well as how Champions league odds and soccer betting works in the Champions League. If you're new to online betting we recommend you to check out our soccer betting guide.

Semifinals Underway

The two semifinals matchups will be held Manchester City vs. Real Madrid, and Liverpool vs. Villarreal. 
Manchester City already won the first leg of their matchup with Real Madrid, with the second leg set for May 4. Liverpool and Villarreal are set to play their first leg this week, with the second leg set for May 3.
Like earlier stages of the tournament, the club that scores the most goals in the two matches combined will advance to the next round. 
The final of this version of the UEFA Champions League will be held on May 28 in Paris, France. It's a single-game, winner-take-all format for the final.

How Clubs Qualify
There are many different ways that clubs qualify for the Champions League. Automatic qualification is given to the clubs that finish in first through fourth place in the English Premier League, La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy) and the Bundesliga (Germany).
The winning club from the previous season of the Europa League and the Champions League will also receive automatic qualification, should they not already fall within the automatic qualification guideline above.
Other teams can qualify from some of the other leagues, including in France, Russia, Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey.
Beyond that, there are two different "streams" by which the remaining clubs can qualify for the Champions League. This is divided between clubs who qualify by either being the champion of their league or finishing in second through fourth.
There are five teams from each of these qualification streams, along with the 22 automatic qualifiers to make up the 32 total clubs that qualify for the Champions League.

The Tournament Structure

Once the tournament begins, it will start in group stages. It's a format of double round robin. This stage works similarly to group stages in the World Cup, where each club is awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw. Then, the winners and runner up from each group advances to the knockout stages.

Out of the group stage will come 16 clubs who will enter the knockout phase of the Champions League.  The teams that are matched up will play two matches against each other, with each club serving as the host for one leg of this round.

The total number of goals by each team are added up for each leg of the round, with the club that scores the most goals combined advancing to the next round. If the aggregate total ends up being the same for the two legs, then the club that scores more goals as the away team is the one that will advance. 

If the total is still tied at this point, then extra time equal to 30 minutes will be played. The away team rule will be applied again at this point. But, if there is still no winner solved, a penalty shootout will commence.

The Champions League proceeds this way all through the semifinals. In the finals of the Champions League, the format switches to a single match that will be held on a neutral field. Extra time will be played if the score remains tied after normal time. After the extra time, if the score is still level, a penalty shootout will determine the champion of the Champions League.

Moneylines in Champions League

If you want to bet on individual matches of the Champions League, there are a number of different analyses you should conduct.
First, check to see how important the match is for each club involved. In the group stages, one club might have already qualified to move onto the knockout stage, or one might have already been eliminated from doing so. If this happens, they might not be motivated to perform well in an upcoming match.

Likewise, in the knockout stages, if one club scored a blowout win in the first leg, they are more likely to play a conservative style of game in the second leg -- in order to preserve them moving onto the next round.
The motivation and situation are both extremely important angles to consider when betting on the champions league . It's a tournament that's unlike any other, and these are scenarios that are very important to weigh before making a bet.

Once you do that you can check if the odds for the teams match up with what you think the actual chances are for a team. This would give you a good idea whether you should be against the spread or back the underdog in the moneyline and get better odds.

Next, take a look at how even the matchup is expected to be. If it's a lopsided matchup, then it's likely that there will be a lot of goals scored. Many matches that fit that criteria will score more than 3.5 goals. If the match is between two even teams, then consider betting an under, as there are many fewer goals scored in these situations.
Betting on Futures.

Of course, one of the most popular ways to bet on the Champions League is to bet on futures. The most common future bet is which club will win the Champions League title. You can place this bet at various points before and during the tournament, though most sportsbooks will cut off this betting once the tournament advances to the lattermost stages.
This bet will work the same as other futures wagers, with each club involved getting odds assigned to them based on the likelihood of them actually winning the whole thing.

When you're analyzing this angle, take a look at clubs that not only have top talent, but whether the talent is motivated to win the Champions League and whether the talent is actually healthy. Health is a big factor in the Champions League, and unfortunately, with the tournament being drawn out over such a long period of time, injuries can happen that can dramatically affect the outcome. 

Betting on Props

Yet another option is to bet on individual props for the Champions League. One of the most popular is to wager on who will be the top goal scorer of the entire tournament.
Much like similar bets in tournaments such as the World Cup, one of the most important factors in who will actually win this title is how many games the player will be involved in. Those players whose team advances far into the tournament will play more matches and, as a result, have more chances to score goals.

So, if you're looking for players who might win the goal-scoring title, look at the clubs that you think will advance at least relatively deep into the knockout stages. The top goal scorer doesn't have to come from the club that wins the Champions League title or makes it to the final, but it's also unlikely to be someone whose team gets knocked out in the group stage.

For example, in this year's Champions League, Robert Lewandowski was leading after the quarterfinals round with 13 goals, but his club was eliminated at that point. That gave more matches to other players whose teams were still moving on.