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I'm in the same line of thoughts with you even though I cannot also rule out the fact that the big clubs are there to make their efforts too and they are also trained to take the trophy home. Nevertheless, narrowing down the predictions to only the big English or La Liga clubs is not just enough because if we were to follow the same line of thoughts, we would have written off clubs Like Dortmund which actually got to the final position against Madrid in the last season. So, Champions league should be bigger than those thoughts.
The thing with champions league games is the fact that the prediction sometimes is done according to the performance of the team at the moment and how experience team has in the Champions League competition how ever the elite teams seem to be more favored in the champions league predictions because of the level of players they have got in the team when compared to the players of other teams. If you look at how the prediction is actually done the big teams in every league is picked to be on a stand out but when the group stages is passed, the possibility of teams that should get to the semi finals or finals is easily predicted based on the performance of the teams but sometimes a small club can get to the finals as a result of their form in the champions league competition.
Dortmund had a poor performance in the German league last season but their performance in the champions league was different and it took them to the finals even though they lost against the Real Madrid team but next Champions league is on the way I believe the prediction will also be made according to the form of the team, the champions league experience and the performance of the team in the champions league games.
Injury factors and card accumulation can actually also affect each Champions League contestant chances of going further. Apart from that, mentality plays a quite big role, where the Champions League has a very different level of intensity and pressure from domestic competitions. Dortmund last season performed surpass expectations, they were lucky to be on a path that was relatively easier.
In general, not many teams can be as lucky as Dortmund, where they managed to show a different performance when playing in the Champions League. Meanwhile, I don't yet fully understand in detail the new format of the Champions League next season, the course of the competition will probably provide a thorough understanding of all the new formats.
I would put Madrid and City as the two favorite clubs to win next season, both of which look very dominant. We hope that next season Champions League final can take place in an ideal form, bringing together elite teams. Dortmund looks like it will have difficulty reaching the final, they have changed managers and parted ways with several experienced players.