Welcome in to Champions League Best Bets, brought to you by Bettor In Green, where we recap the latest Champions League action and look ahead with my favorite bets for the upcoming matches.
Recap:
It was a wild week in the Champions League with a few big wins and some surprising losses!
Manchester City were surprisingly bettered by Bodø/Glimt, with a performance so bad City players refunded ticket prices for the traveling fans.
Speaking of battering, Real Madrid beat AS Monaco at home, 6-1.
Tottenham, who are a bit of an enigma for their solid performances in Europe and terrible performances domestically, beat a 10-man Dortmund 2-0, with Dortmund failing to register a single shot or any xG in the first half.
In the big game of the weekend, Arsenal beat Inter Milan 1-3 at the San Siro, automatically clinching a berth into the Round of 16 and avoiding the upcoming playoff round.
Bayern Munich also clinched a top-8 spot, and thus a Round of 16 berth with their 2-0 victory over Union St. Gilloise.
At the other end of the table, there are 4 teams who statistically cannot progress to the next round: Frankfurt, Slavia Prague, Villarreal, and Kairat Almaty.
It was a miserable week for Best Bets, going 0-3. We lost our parlay with Man City’s loss, then lost Napoli, as they failed to beat 10-man Copenhagen, despite the man advantage. We also lost on PSG, who had 75% possession, 28 shots with 6 on target, yet still lost to Sporting CP.
Upcoming Matches:
We are down to the final matchweek for the League Phase!
This week, all 18 matches will kick off at 3:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
Some fun matches include Dortmund hosting Inter; José Mourinho’s Benfica hosting his former club, Real Madrid; 6th-place PSG hosting 7th-place Newcastle; and a must win match for Napoli, who host Chelsea.
As always, you can catch every match or the whip-around style Golazo Show on Paramount+!
Let’s get to the bets:
Best Bets:
Pick #1: 2-Leg Parlay: Bayern Munich Moneyline and Barcelona Moneyline -122 (Jan. 28, 2026; 3:00 p.m. EST):
For my first bet, I’m taking another 2-team moneyline parlay, backing European giants Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
Bayern Munich is the more risky of the two, according to the bookies. They’ve already clinched a top-8 spot and now travel to PSV Eindhoven.
While Bayern have already clinched a top-8 spot, there is still value in securing a higher position within the table, theoretically giving them an easier opponent in the Round of 16 and allowing them to be on the opposite side of the bracket of Arsenal, should Arsenal and Bayern finish 1st and 2nd, respectively.
While Bayern could rest players, they are 8 points clear in the Bundesliga and will still be prioritizing the UCL campaign. The quality and depth they have is significantly greater than PSV, who are without top-scorer Guus Til and without attacker Ricardo Pepi and a couple key defender, including Yarek Gasiorowski.
While PSV will be hungry for a win to keep their UCL hopes alive, it will be a tall order to get a result against arguably the best team in Europe at the moment.
Barcelona is a much heavier favorite, hosting Copenhagen. Barcelona need a win to make it into the top-8 and Copenhagen need a win to stay in the competition.
While Copenhagen pulled off an impressive draw with Napoli, despite being down a man, playing Barcelona at the Camp Nou when Barcelona have something important to play for will be a tough ask.
Pick #2: 2-Leg SGP: Real Madrid Moneyline and Kylian Mbappé Anytime Goalscorer +130 (Jan. 28, 2026; 3:00 p.m. EST):
Next, I’m taking a Same Game Parlay, backing Real Madrid to win and Kylian Mbappé to score anytime.
Madrid travel to Portugal to take on Benfica for this match, who have former Real Madrid manager José Mourinho at the helm.
Benfica had started to turn their dismal UCL campaign around, beating Ajax and Napoli, though they lost recently to Juventus, marking their 3rd loss in their last 5 matches in all competitions.
Admittedly, I don’t love the line movement that has already occurred with Real Madrid moneyline. However, I think they get over the line thanks to the goalscoring prowess of Kylian Mbappé.
Mbappé is currently tied with Cristiano Ronaldo for the most goals in a UCL Group Stage or League Phase, with 11. He has a chance to break that record by scoring in this match.
While it won’t exactly be the same, since the League Phase has 8 matches, rather than the 6 that used to be played in the Group Stage, it is still a record he will want to break.
Benfica need a win, plus some help from teams above them, to qualify for the next round, whereas Real Madrid need a win to guarantee their spot in the top-8.
If the reverse line movement on Real Madrid scares you away, try Kylian Mbappé to Score Anytime -165.
Pick #3: Juventus Moneyline +110 (Jan. 28, 2026; 3:00 p.m. EST):
For my final Best Bet, I’m looking at the match between AS Monaco and Juventus, backing Juventus to win.
Both clubs are currently in the 9-24 spots for the UCL, meaning they’d be into the Playoff Rounds as it currently stands.
Juventus may be able to get into the top-8 with a win, though it seems unlikely. However, they have been in strong form, with 8 wins, 2 draw, and 1 loss in their last 10 matches. They are 3-3-1 in the UCL, with their only loss coming at the hands of Real Madrid.
Kenan Yildiz looked strong at the weekend, getting a goal against Napoli. Weston McKennie and Khéphren Thuram have also impressed, each scoring in their last UCL match, a win against Benfica.
AS Monaco, on the other hand, have only won 1 match in their last 5, a Cup match against 3rd-tier Orléans. They got stomped in the UCL last time out, losing 6-1 to Real Madrid in Madrid. Their win against PSG at the end of November feels a long way off from the team that is showing up here in January.
While I rate Ansu Fati and Folarin Balogun for Monaco, I think they’ll struggle to control the midfield against Juventus and that Juventus will use that midfield control to find a way to score.
Bonus:
I also like Tottenham Hotspur Moneyline -120, as Tottenham have done well in the Champions League, despite their poor EPL form, and are playing Frankfurt, who have already been eliminated. However, I’m nervous to give it out, as it would be quite Spursy for them to lose their top-8 spot by losing to an eliminated team.
As a Tottenham supporter, I will be betting it, though.
Season Record:
League Phase: 11-10
