Sky Bet, UK pay-television broadcaster BSkyB’s online gambling affiliate, has confessed to having a “disastrous” first night of the 2013-14 Uefa Champions League football club competition.
Punters enjoyed a successful night after many of the short-priced favourites won. Last year’s winner, German team Bayern Munich, started the 2013-14 edition of the competition with a 3-0 home win against Russian side CSKA Moscow.
Elsewhere, English Premier League teams Manchester United and Manchester City recorded wins against Bayer Leverkusen and Viktoria Plzen respectively, while Spanish Liga giant Real Madrid also comfortably saw off Galatasaray 6-1 in Turkey.
Italian Serie A winner Juventus was the only short-priced favourite not to win, drawing 1-1 with Danish side FC Copenhagen.
“Six of the seven best-backed sides winning meant it was a disastrous first night for us,” SkyBet’s Joe Petyt said. “With the exception of Juventus, all of the short-priced favourites went in and we’ve got some big liabilities rolling over to Wednesday, where we’ll want the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan and Schalke to slip up.”
Following Tuesday night’s results, Sky Bet has cut Real Madrid to 5-1 to win the competition.
Manchester City has also been cut to 12/1, ahead of local rival Manchester United at 14/1. Chelsea, winner of the 2011-12 edition of the competition, has the shortest odds of any English team at 9/1. Defending champion Bayern Munich remains the favourite with Sky Bet at 7/2.
