Jurgen Klopp believes Bayern Munich and Manchester City are the favourites to succeed Liverpool as champions of Europe after his side were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid.
Bayern won 11 matches in the spin since the Bundesliga restarted in May, winning the league title as well as the DFB-Pokal.
City, meanwhile, looked back to their best as they thumped new Premier League champions 4-0 at the Etihad on Thursday night.
Both City and Bayern aren’t yet through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Bayern lead Chelsea 3-0 in their last-16 tie, with City 2-1 up against Real Madrid after a famous win at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The competition will be finished in a World Cup-style tournament in Portugal in August, with matches beyond the quarter-finals taking place in Lisbon.
And Klopp thinks the duo are most likely to lift Europe’s most coveted trophy, even with the likes of Juventus and Barcelona still in the draw.
‘I think for me the two big favourites left in the competition are Bayern and Man City, said Klopp.
‘That would be an interesting game. Bayern played an impressive season in Germany after Hansi Flick took over [as coach from Niko Kovac]. It was really impressive what they did and these two are the favourit
‘I don’t know exactly how it could happen, if they meet in the semi-final or final or whatever, but the competition [in August] will be really interesting. It will be really new. But when you see Manchester City, the squad there… yes [they have a] massive, massive chance.
‘But even in the game against us on Thursday night, which City won deservedly, we should have scored three goals. Don’t forget that. We should have and we would have normally.
‘They have so much quality but no team in the world is perfect. City is not, Bayern is not, we are not. But you need to be nearly perfect in precise moments to win the Champions League.
‘Everybody needs luck and if you want to win the Champions League you should have your best line up ready for the final if possible, but I really think these two teams are the two favourites. I will watch it, the tournament.
‘It will be really interesting but unfortunately we have nothing, really, to do with it this year.’
Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
0 Commentaires