Arsene Wenger Names Two Favourite Clubs To Win Champions League Trophy This Season

Former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has named Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain as his two favourites to win this year’s Champions League.

The Champions League had to be put on hold in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic globally.

However, the remaining Champions League second-leg round of 16 games will resume on Friday, with Manchester City playing Real Madrid at Etihad and Juventus hosting Lyon in Turin.

Asked to predict this year’s winner, Wenger told Europe 1:

“When you are playing a match against Atalanta or Atletico Madrid, anything can happen.

“But for me, Manchester City and PSG are the two favourites in terms of their potential.

“Aside from that, honestly, PSG, I feel they are a little bit less strong than three or four years ago.”

“In terms of their holistic setup, PSG were maybe a bit more complete 3 to 4 years ago, in all positions,” Wenger added.

“The competition was stronger as well. But I think that there has been a general decline in the quality of European football at the very, very, very highest level and they are still amongst the two or three best in Europe.

“We should not be looking for false reasons why PSG haven’t yet won the Champions League.

“Even Real Madrid did not win it sometimes during ten to fifteen years. Then they won it 3 times in a row.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool won the Champions League last year after beating Tottenham Hotspur in the final.

The Premier League champions have already been knocked out of this year’s competition after losing to Atletico Madrid.

Comments

'I Tried My Best' - Arsenal Boss Arteta Believes He Did All He Could To Include Axed Ozil

The 32-year-old did not feature for the Gunners after lockdown and was subsequently omitted from the club's 25-man Premier League squad. Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta believes he did all he could to give Mesut Ozil a fair shot before he axed the German from his squad. Ozil's name was not among Arsenal's 25-man Premier League squad that was released earlier this month, which followed the playmaker's exclusion from Arsenal's Europa League squad. As the 32-year-old enters the final months of his contract with the Gunners, it now appears likely that he has played his final game for the team. Ozil did play a part for Arsenal last season, at one point starting 10 consecutive Premier League games for the Gunners before the coronavirus lockdown in March. The playmaker did not make a single appearance for Arsenal after lockdown, however, but Arteta has still insisted he gave Ozil every chance to impress before he was omitted from his team. "What I can tell you that I...

Arteta Must Be Strong To Survive Allegri Rumours’ – Arsenal Boss Can’t Show Weakness, Says Smith

The former Gunners striker has urged an under-fire Spaniard to prove that he is the right man for the job and end links to an ex-Juventus coach Alan Smith claims it is “an open secret” that former Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri is being recommended to Arsenal amid their ongoing struggles, with Mikel Arteta told he is going to have to show no weakness in order to “survive” the rumours. The Gunners have continued to stumble out of the blocks in 2020-21, with their worst start made to a Premier League campaign. Inability to establish any kind of momentum has the north London outfit languishing in the bottom-half of the table and glancing anxiously over their shoulder at the drop zone below them. Unsurprisingly, questions are being asked of Arteta’s ongoing presence, with a rookie coach finding out the hard way just how tough life at the top can be. Arsenal have offered no indication that they are contemplating another managerial change, but Smith says potential successors – including ...

Arsenal's £72m Enigma: Arteta Right To Demand More From Mercurial Pepe

The Gunners' record signing may have scored his third goal of the season on Thursday night but his manager wants consistency across 90 minutes. Mikel Arteta’s answer was clear when asked what Nicolas Pepe needed to show in order to earn himself a regular starting spot in Arsenal's Premier League team. “Consistency,” said the Arsenal boss, when quizzed on the Gunners’ record signing, following Thursday’s night’s 4-1 Europa League win against Molde at the Emirates Stadium. It was a game that perfectly encapsulated the enigma that is Pepe. The £72 million ($95m) man was infuriating at times - especially in the first half - but just as he had done against Dundalk a week earlier, he popped up with an excellent goal. He also went on to add an assist for Joe Willock, a late strike which sealed a comfortable victory for Arteta’s side and all but booked Arsenal’s passage into the knockout stages. It was a classic Pepe performance and more evidence of why he remains such a puzzle in nort...

WELCOME TO GIST CORRIDOR

Search This Blog