Champions League Futures Preview - England favored to rule Europe again

England has played a large part in the UEFA Champions League over the past four season, as a Premiership side has reached the finals in all four seasons, coming away with a pair of wins. Last season, Manchester United captured their third Champions League title with a thrilling shootout win over Chelsea in an all-English final, and a repeat of that would not surprise anyone in the slightest.

England are the favorites to host the winning team at +160, and their foursome of United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool could be considered the top crew of contenders in the world. Chelsea has made big improvements to catch United in both the Premiership and Europe, and five-time European champions Liverpool can never be counted out. Portuguese teammates Cristiano Ronaldo of United, and new Chelsea signing Deco, figure to be the players to watch from England.

Spain's La Liga clubs are rated at +250 to take home the trophy, headed by last year's league champions, Real Madrid, who hold the Champions League record with nine. However, they have not won since 2001-02, and were dropped in the first knockout stage last season. Meanwhile, Barcalona has just sold Ronaldinho, which means all eyes will now be on Theirry Henry. Villarreal and Atletico Madrid are longshots, at best.

Italy is next at +350, and the big news from that country is the move of Ronaldinho to AC Milan, but more surprisingly, Milan are not even in the competition due to last season's fifth-place finish in Serie A. City rivals and league champions Inter Milan will lead the Italian cause, and new boss Jose Mourinho will try to win his second Champions League trophy in the last six seasons. Juventus also returns to the Champions League after their demotion to Serie B, and then promotion followed by a third-place finish in Serie A.

Germany is the darkhorse at +800, and it is all about four-time champions Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Werder Bremen, Hamburg and Schalke 04 will not play a huge role in the competition, so the hopes of the country rest with Bayern, with the forward duo of Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski leading the way.

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