Andrew Wilsher
The 2025-26 Champions League gets underway on Tuesday with 6 matchups to look forward to. Among those taking to the pitch are Spanish giants Real Madrid, the Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund, Serie A’s Juventus and Europa League holders Tottenham. We’ve put together our Champions League best bets for Tuesday, September 16, while you can also find out all of our expert soccer picks for the rest of the week’s UCL action, along with all the big EPL and MLS matchups.
Champions League best bet: Juventus ML over Borussia Dortmund (-105)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Juventus have a remarkable record when playing their first Champions League game of the campaign at home, going unbeaten in all 14 occasions that they have started in their own backyard, and they look good to make it 15 when they host Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday. The Old Lady have won all 3 Serie A games this season, including an impressive 4-3 victory over Inter Milan last weekend, and they face a BVB team that has struggled on the road in Europe.
Dortmund have lost 5 of their 6 away games against Italian teams in Europe, including a 2-1 loss against Bologna last season. Niko Kovac’s men have had a solid start to the campaign, barring a 3-3 tie with St. Pauli, but they are yet to face a team of Juventus’ quality. Igor Tudor is doing a solid job as manager of the Old Lady and should be able to mastermind a win over their German opponents in this one.
Read our full Juventus vs Borussia Dortmund prediction
Champions League best bet: Real Madrid Win in Shutout vs Marseille (+133)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Marseille have never beaten Real Madrid in 4 attempts and the wait looks set to go on for the French raiders this week. They head to Spain for their opening encounter in this season’s Champions League and we predict a comfortable victory for the in-form Los Blancos. Real have won all 4 matches so far and Xabi Alonso’s side are finding goals easy to come by too. The Bernabeu boys are top of La Liga with a perfect record and they have scored at least 2 goals in each of their last 3 games.
Meetings with Marseille have followed a similar theme, so backing a Real Madrid to win and shut out Marseille looks the best course of action in this intriguing clash. Marseille have lost their 2 road games this season, failing to score in both, and Real should be able to continue that trend here.
Read our full Real Madrid vs Marseille prediction
