Man City surprise new UEFA Cup favourites
Manchester City became the unexpected new favourites to win the UEFA Cup following a night of upsets on Thursday evening.
Mark Hughes' big-spenders successfully negotiated their last 32 tie with FC Copenhagen, with a Craig Bellamy brace sealing a 2-1 win on the night at Eastlands and 4-3 triumph on aggregate.
But the Blues became the last British team standing in the competition following defeats to weakened sides put out by both Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur - who are challenging at either end of the Premier League table - while favourites AC Milan crashed out to Werder Bremen on away goals.
The German side rallied from 2-0 down at the San Siro to level at 2-2 through two goals from, former Bayern Munich and Chelsea striker, Claudio Pizarro, with the tie ending 3-3 on aggregate after Diego had netted a last-gasp equaliser in Germany a week ago.
Manchester-based bookmaker Betfred have now set odds of 4/1 for City to go all the way and lift the trophy in Istanbul in May, with Sky Bet offering 3/1.
CSKA Moscow, 2-0 winners on the night against Villa, completed a 3-1 aggregate win and are now available at 8/1 as second favourites with Paddy Power
While Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, who scored late on to earn a 1-1 at White Hart Lane and win the tie 3-1 overall, are 16/1 to win the trophy with the same betting firm.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.