Man City and Pep also want to repeat Real Madrid’s feat from previous years, which is successfully defending the European championship. It should be remembered that the Catalan strategist is always very good at refreshing the squad and maintaining the desire to conquer the top for the clubs he has led.
With current quality, form and experience, Man City is still the number one candidate. This comment also comes in the context that the rest of the Champions League does not have any team worthy of being considered a counterweight, making Man City afraid.
The difference
Real Madrid is considered by experts and statistics as the number two candidate. But “Los Blancos” is no stronger than last season, when they were crushed by Man City in the semi-finals.
The appearance of rookie Jude Bellingham is not enough for Real Madrid to close the difference in force with Man City. Without Karim Benzema in the squad, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are getting older, Real is really facing difficulties at many times.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team struggled to overcome Leipzig in the round of 16. They outplayed the German representative in both matches and only won thanks to individual moments of brilliance.
Real Madrid is still rated lower than Man City in the quarterfinals.
The number three candidate in the eyes of many experts, PSG, was not even highly rated from the beginning of the season. After Neymar and Messi left the team, the French representative almost renewed their attack with many young players.
New coach Luis Enrique brings a difference to PSG, in addition to the class of Kylian Mbappe, one of the most feared strikers today. However, as coach Enrique said earlier this month, PSG’s project is for the future.
They do not have high expectations for this season’s Champions League and certainly cannot compare with Man City. The same thing happens with Dortmund or Atletico Madrid, Barcelona. These teams all have much weaker forces than Man City. Their performance this season also has quite a big ups and downs.
The fact that all four of the strongest teams in this season’s Champions League, including Arsenal, Bayern, Real and Man City, fall into the same bracket in the semi-finals makes last season’s scenario easy to repeat. If Man City advances to the finals, it will be difficult for the opponents on the other side to stop them.