[ad_1]
Rio Ferdinand has backed champion Bayern Munich to retain the Champions League, but hopes that the English teams will move into the knockout stages.
Liverpool, which won the trophy in 2019, are joined by 2012 winners Chelsea and Manchester City, who are still awaiting their first Champions League title after being eliminated in the quarter-finals in the past three years.
However, they will not be joined by two-time champion Manchester United after their loss to RB Leipzig on Tuesday saw them eliminated in the group stage.
And while he jokingly suggested that he hadn’t been able to sleep as a result of his former club’s departure, Ferdinand insists that last season’s Hansi Flick 3-pointers are still the team most likely to win the Champions League in 2020- twenty-one.
“I put the Bayern Munich favorites, but I would have Liverpool close to second favorites,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“It’s great to see that there are great teams there, the English guys are there, except for Manchester United, disappointingly.”
When asked by host Gary Lineker how he still felt about United’s elimination, Ferdinand continued with an ironic reply: ‘Devastated, I haven’t slept, look at the bags under my eyes.
But I think the English teams are going to deepen the tournament, I think they have some real quality, Bayern and possibly PSG are the only threats.
‘If they [Bayern] I have no injuries, I think they will continue and will do it again, with the experience they have in that team and the explosiveness they have in the wide areas. ‘
Frank Lampard’s Chelsea only won the competition once, when he was a player, but he looked in excellent shape this season and topped Group E.
Former defender Ferdinand admitted that the Blues may be contenders after spending £ 220 million on transfers this summer, but that their chances will have to be reassessed once the knockout stages begin in 2021.
When asked if Chelsea could be a dark horse, Ferdinand added: ‘They could be. It is a team that is beginning to consolidate, you can see that Frank has done good business so far in the transfer market.
‘Get through the Christmas and New Years period and see how the team is building in injury and form.
“When the Champions League restarts again, we will have to reconsider our expectations for certain teams because form and injuries play a big role.”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
[ad_2]
