Ex-Liverpool striker Michael Owen believes that the Champions League will either be won by his former club or Manchester City this season.
The BT Sport pundit says he has watched almost every side in Europe’s top competition this year and he has come to the conclusion that the two teams are heavy favourites to lift the trophy in May:
“I see the Champions League as Liverpool’s or Manchester City’s. You can make a case for someone like Chelsea or Bayern Munich, but I can’t. City and Liverpool are the best two teams in the world by some stretch at the moment and I can’t see any other team winning it.”
“I can’t believe that Liverpool, before they kicked off against Inter in the first leg, were third favourites. I’ve watched virtually all the Champions League this season, I have covered it for BT and I simply don’t know how that can be.”
“If they are not favourites, they should be second. You can make a case for Manchester City but Liverpool’s pedigree over the years suggests that there is nothing between the two sides. Liverpool have had more success than Man City in Europe in recent years, so I would make the case that they are the favourites.”
Liverpool and City do look well placed to make it through to the quarter-finals, but there are a lot of matches still to play. Anything can happen over a two-legged knockout tie, and there could well be a few surprises on the way to the final in Paris.
Out of the teams still in the running, you’d have to think that the likes of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Chelsea and perhaps even Ajax will have a say in proceedings. Liverpool and City are undoubtedly, though, the two sides to beat.
