Peter Schmeichel does not believe any of the three remaining English clubs will reach the Champions League final this season.
The former Manchester City and Manchester United goalkeeper claims that Real Madrid will knock out both Chelsea and City, while Bayern will progress past both Villarreal and Liverpool to reach the showpiece event in Paris next month. Schmeichel’s explanation for why City won’t go all the way is that he fears they will be distracted by their attempts to win the Premier League:
“There is too much going on between Liverpool and Man City. Too much pressure. Real Madrid and Bayern are so far ahead in their leagues, they can rest players, they can prepare for this. Man City and Liverpool can’t.”
Considering Real Madrid have not looked like a team capable of beating City, it is a puzzling prediction from Schmeichel. They may have won against Paris Saint-Germain in the last round but they have recently lost 4-0 to Barcelona at home. They also still have to negotiate a difficult tie versus Chelsea.
Schmeichel is backing Bayern to win the whole thing, which is fair enough, but dismissing City’s chances of reaching the final is very surprising.
