Champions League games return to centre stage this weekend. Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger sees Man City and PSG as favourites for the title. The competition has been on hold since early March after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has backed Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to challenge for the Champions League title this campa. A few rounds of 16 fixtures will be concluded this weekend before the quarterfinal games will kick-off days after. Juventus will take on Lyon, while Pep Guardiola’s City host Real Madrid on Friday, August 7, and the games between Bayern Munich vs Chelsea and Barcelona against Napoli come a day after. Then, the remainder of the competition will be staged in Lisbon, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals taking place over one leg ahead of the final on August 23.
However, with more experienced teams like Bayern Munich, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, and others, Wenger believes that either Guardiola ’s men or the PSG should be classed as favourites. He told Europe1 that:
“I think that there is an overall fall in the European level of very, very, very high level and that they are still among the two, three best in Europe.” “For me, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are the two favourites (of the Champions League) on their potential.”
PSG already dumped Borussia Dortmund out of the tourney 3-2 on aggregate before the Covid-19 shutdown. The French League champions will take on Atalanta at Benfica’s Estadio Da Luz on August 12, and if they progress, they battle the winner of RB Leipzig or Atletico clash in the last four.
While Arsene puts the Ligue 1 side up in the favourites category, he says he does not think that their team is as good as it was a few seasons ago. He added:
“Afterwards when you play in a match against Atlético Madrid (potential opponent of PSG in the semi-finals) or against Atalanta, anything can happen.” “I honestly find them a little less strong than they were 3-4 years ago. In the overall structure, they were perhaps a little more complete 3-4 years ago, at all times. The competition (within the team) was also stronger.”
