The wait is finally over and later on this week, the Champions League will finally make its grand return. It has been a long five months without the most prestigious club competition on the planet but alas, we made it.

This Friday, Manchester City will welcome Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium to open the proceedings and Juventus and Lyon will face each other at the same time over in Italy. The Citizens are still very much the favourite in this tie, having dispatched Los Blancos 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg.

The day after, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea will have a mountain to climb in order to somehow overturn Bayern’s 3-0 victory and will have to do it on enemy territory. But when exactly is the Champions League final and where will it be held?

UEFA have now officially confirmed the final will be staged at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica on 23 August, with all the games, from the round of 16 and all the way to the final, being played at 21:00 CET, which is 8 pm UK time.

Who are the favourites for the Champions League?

Initially, and especially after such a dominant domestic campaign, not many would be willing to bet against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. However, the Reds are already out after Atletico Madrid had shocked them both home and away to progress past the reigning champions.

Without Liverpool, the stage is now primed for Manchester City to take over. Guardiola has set his gaze on that trophy, the only crown to have eluded him for years across his managerial stints apart from the golden Barcelona team, and one the Citizens crave the most.

However, we shouldn’t look past Bayern Munich that easily since the Bavarians have been one of the most dominant forces throughout last season and have looked like one of the best teams on the planet for a while now.

But, there is an added caveat in there somewhere – their season had ended much sooner than their rivals’. Will match fitness have a big role to play in their chase of European glory?