Before I start this thread, I've gotta say that this forum has been very dull ever since the end of last season. A lot of members have left and others aren't really too active nowadays.

Therefore, the topic of this thread is one everyone simply loves. Who will win the Champions League in 2018? There are a lot of hungry sides, like Manchester City for instance. Barcelona also seems to have new hope. Other teams have slightly fallen off though, like Real Madrid and Atletico.

Post your thoughts of who you think and why they will win it,

PSG. They are stronger than last year and they got the player that kicked them out Neymar while Real,Barcelona,Bayern look weaker.

Arsenal in the choice? Man, that sad. :( But seriously, PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester City and maybe Barca are favorite for me with the performance they add until now. Juventus, Bayern or Manchester United could get a shot at it if they improve. Finally, Spurs and Besiktas could surprise if they keep their current momentum and bring their very best in the latter stage of the competition. Well, thats how I see it anyway.

I'd say Barcelona because there aren't any defensive minded teams this season that are good enough to pose a threat, which is how they always get knocked out from the competition. Juventus's defense isn't as good as it was last season from what we've seen so far like their 3-0 defeat at the Camp Nou. As for Atletico, it seems like they won't even make it past the group stage. With those two out of the question, I don't really see a team that can "park the bus" effectively and stop their offensive threats.

Man City or PSG, the 2 most convincing sides in term of football.

Man City is having fun in EPL which IMO slightly tougher than League 1.

I voted Psg, but there is alot of uncertainty , I would say Bayern also have the next best shot, after that its would be close between barca , real madrid and man city

Some people voted Arsenal, nice!!

Emobot7 + Yvan21

Sorry lads, got so used to seeing Arsenal in the Champions League, completely forgot they were in Europa. Anyways let's not talk about Arsenal.

Golefty + Golazo111 + tuan_jinn

Personally, I think PSG's expectations are set way to high. They didn't really spend much on defense. In fact they didn't spend anything, they got Dani Alves. He's good but not that leader type of player PSG always needed.

I'll never forget Barcelona's comeback. The way they fought for Enrique was legendary, at the same time PSG were terrible.

@Amir_keal , you mention the comeback of Barcelona, but Psg bought the player that inspired that epic comeback, and they bought and Mbappe who was largely responsible for Monaco's success in last years champions league. Messi is always a threat, but look at their recent results against olympiacos,. I would still be surprised if PSG won UCL, a lot depends on the draws, they have a good shot because Barca/Real/Atleti/Bayern are not playing as well as they have in the past few seasons, so perhaps Juve will have a good shot aas well, i hope napoli can win their next two games and we get to see more of them in the group stage, i think they could also go far

I seriously can't take Barca comeback seriously though, especially when I learned the ref for that game was fired after a review of the game. I mean, I like Barcelona a lot, don't get me wrong, but that game was smelly as a salmon. :U

Way too early to tell who's going to win based on team's form in the group stages. How many times haven't we seen especially PSG, Man City and Pep's Bayern (now City) going through the group stages like it's nothing, just to be off form when it really matters? Last year Real Madrid played average in the group stage and finished 2nd in their group behind Dortmund. Yet they had no problem winning the cl again, where they eliminated only top quality teams with big numbers.

Man City and PSG obviously look very good at the moment, but I'm not convinced until they make it past the semis.

That's very true Pupper, but if you had to pick one team right now which would it be? :v Once they get to semis is 25% chance pretty much so it's not too much fun predicting then and looking back and seeing how wrong the prediction was (or right!) if you were to make it now :p

Haha, what I meant is, regardless of how good they have performed they are yet to perform in the knockout stages of the cl. I tought PSG was on a good run last season, until they got destroyed by Barca 6-1. I'm still not sure that won't happen again, despite buying Neymar and Mpbappe etc. All I'm saying is that I'm yet to see them deliver when it really matters. Also feel they have to "fail" first in order to win it. But I won't be too surprised if City or PSG wins it, if they can maintain their form for that long.

Too many wildcards this season so far imo :P I think either Barca or Bayern are going to win it. I will probably look so stupid in 5 months, but oh well.

PSG because they have Neymar dos Santos and he is the greatest footballer that has walked the ground of Parc des Princes stadium.

@amir

Don't ever include Arsenal in any poll of winning anything other than maybe FA cup, League cup and Community shield until board is reshuffled, manager removed and quality players are brought.

@Marcus Come on mate, Amir said himself it was a mistake, be chill. ;P As for Neymar being the greatest footballer that has walked the ground of the parc des princes, we musn't forget some other very great player has played for them before.

On current form, Man City and PSG look the favorites. I am hoping the other big teams wake up more to really make the later rounds a blast to watch.

@DarthFooty Welcome back mate, been too long since I last saw you here. :D Agree with what you said, it would be nice to see other big team dominating a bit more and showing more spirit in their game. :)

PSG look good but I fear their manager does not have what it takes. Not they come up against the likes of Juve, Barca, Real, and Bayern.

I don't think they have a very strong core in that team. They did do some awesome upgrades since last year but the core is the same.

They have the same core that fell apart against Barcelona. They're simply not mentally strong enough, even if they are good enough to win it. That along with their manager, who to me seems like a mere 'position filler'. Doesn't add nothing to the team.

Remember: Bayern has Jupp Heynckes back in charge. He's the manager with whom they won the elusive treble. They are to be feared again.

Man City? They'll bow out against a real footballing side like one of the top 4 (Juve, Bayern, Barca, Real).

I hope Real Madrid focuses on CL this year as well, and it looks like they are. If that happens to be the case, the third in a row is not out of the question.

Real Madrid vs Paris would be the best possible final.

@Amerr Unai Emery is the name of PSG manager btw and I guess you should know better than I how good he is since he managed Sevilla from 2013 top 2016. I'm pretty they signed him because he won Europa league a bunch of time but other than that, I agree there is propably a better manager out there for them. Still wouldn't want to face PSG or Manchester City right now if I was a CL team. Personally, I still think we are gonna need to wait for the knockout phase before we can be sure of how good any of those team are actually gonna be. If Zidane and Real win CL another year, I'm going to lose my mind. :D

@Emo: I'm not saying he's a bad manager. He won Europa League 3 times with Seville. I could be mistaken but I think it was 3 in a row as well. It takes something special to achieve something like that, especially considering the turn-over rate at Sevilla.

Champions League is a completely different animal though. It is where the best of the best compete. As good as he might be, I don't consider him to be one of the elite managers.

The issue I think with Manchester City and PSG is that they are currently playing some beautiful football and it's still only the first half of the season. They have peaked, the way I see it, way too early. It is incredibly difficult to keep up such a standard of football.

You know very well, I'm sure, how many times there was a favorite the first half of the season to win everything - only for them to stumble and self destruct in the business end of the season. Players get tired, they get overconfident, and that's also when usually key players start getting injured.

I remember Real Madrid in 2015. They had a 22-game winning streak across all competitions before January in Ancelottis last season. Real were favorites to win everything.

What happened? They ended up winning only the Club World Cup.

City and PGS peaked way too soon. They won't be able to sustain it.

Of course I could be wrong, but history has a way of repeating itself. Given that Emery had never managed a team of such quality, unless he starts planning and rationing players time on the field, especially the most important ones to arrive the business end of the season in the best way possible.. The scenario I mentioned is the most likely outcome.