Didi Hamann has named Liverpool and Bayern Munich as his two ‘favourites’ to win the revamped Champions League.
Premier League leaders Liverpool are the only team to boast a perfect record in the Champions League after six games.
The Anfield club, who won this competition in 2019, beat Girona 1-0 on Tuesday night to continue their sensational run both domestically and in Europe.
Liverpool have opened up a four-point gap at the top of the Premier League table and could extend that number to seven if they win their game in hand over second-placed Chelsea.
Bayern Munich were also in European action on Tuesday night and thumped Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 to climb to eighth – the final spot that will secure automatic qualification to the knockout stages.
Bayern made a slow start to the season under new manager Vincent Kompany but now look set for a deep European run and a Bundesliga title, currently sitting six points clear of their domestic rivals.
‘My Champions League favourites at the moment are Liverpool and Bayern Munich, but I think the Milan clubs could pose a threat too,’ Hamann told Genting Casino.
‘Barcelona have fallen off a bit and Arsenal are capable, but how they lost to Bayern last year was really disappointing for them.
‘Liverpool and Bayern have been there and done it before, we don’t know what might happen between now and the final but Liverpool are the most impressive.’
Hamann also believes Liverpool’s healthy lead at the top of the Premier League will prove to be beneficial to their Champions League campaign.
‘Liverpool’s Premier League lead will help them in the Champions League, as will avoiding having to compete in a play-off game which will mean that they have two less fixtures than Real Madrid might,’ he added.
‘Liverpool will probably be able to rest some players for the last couple of Champions League games too which will help their rhythm. There is a long way to go but Liverpool are very well placed.’
While Arne Slot’s side continued their brilliant run against Girona, the Anfield boss admitted he was ‘far from pleased’ about several aspects of the performance.
‘If you ask me about all the six games, I’m really pleased with all the results,’ he said.
‘I’m really pleased with the five games, the way we played. I am far from pleased about the performance tonight.’
Asked what aspects he was unhappy with, Slot added: ‘A lot but especially two things.
‘If you play against a team who has such a good idea about football and know how to bring the ball out from the back like some other teams we faced recently, like [Manchester] City or Real Madrid, then you have to be so intense if you want to make it difficult for them.
‘But if every time you are waiting a few seconds and then if you do press, you are so easily out-played as this team can cause you problems and this is what they showed during the whole Champions League campaign, except for PSV Eindhoven away.
‘I almost feel sorry for them because they deserve so much more in this campaign than the three points they have now.
‘And every time we lost the ball we were not aggressive enough, almost every time they just went all the way to our goal.
‘We had hardly any control in the game. Maybe the second half was better – I’m trying to be positive.’
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