Ex-Barcelona defender Gerard Pique believes Manchester City and Real Madrid are “favourites” to win the Champions League this season.
Both clubs have won the competition over the past two seasons and, speaking to Express Sport, Pique said that it is hard to look past the two teams:
“I think Real Madrid and City are both favourites for the teams that they have and the players And also I think they are the last two champions, I think they are the favourites.”
“Liverpool with a new coach are in tier two of being the favourites. I think City and Madrid are first and then there is a second tier where you have Liverpool, PSG, Arsenal, Barcelona will be there, Bayern Munich.”
The bookmakers agree with Pique
Pep Guardiola’s side are the marginal favourites at the bookies, with the likes of Bet 365 having them as short as 2/1 while Betfair have their odds at 11/4. Real, meanwhile, are between 3/1 and 7/2 at most bookmakers.
The likes of Arsenal (8/1), Bayern Munich (12/1), Barcelona (12/1), Liverpool (14/1) and Paris Saint-Germain (20/1) are significantly less fancied, with their long odds suggesting they could fall short.
Who will City face in the Champions League?
The Premier League champions were given a pretty kind draw. They start off their campaign with probably their second toughest fixture of this season’s competition, hosting Serie A champions Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium.
However, they then face Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava away before taking on Sparta Prague at home. In November, they travel to Portugal to play Sporting Lisbon prior to their home fixture versus Feyenoord.
They close out the league phase of the tournament with two difficult matches against Juventus (a) and Paris Saint-Germain (a) and a kinder home tie versus Club Brugge (h).
Find out who is in Manchester City’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here
