Man City And Liverpool On UEFA Champions League Final Collision Course

Friday’s UEFA Champions League draw was good news for Liverpool and Manchester City, who have dominated English football over the last five years and look likely to face off in this season’s UEFA Champions League final at the Stade de France.

Liverpool were handed one of the best draws, if not the best, and they will come up against Benfica in the quarter-finals. They will hope that Villarreal can pull off an upset against Bayern Munich, who they will face in the semi-finals if the quarter-final ties go the way of the favourites.

Reds Better Than Bayern

Jürgen Klopp’s men will fancy their chances of victory against the Bavarian side should that last four matchups materialise. Bayern have picked up only three wins in their last seven games in all competitions.

The 2020 European champions have allowed Dortmund into the Bundesliga title race and are a slightly less balanced side than the two best in England at present. Julian Nagelsmann’s men have only kept one clean sheet in their last nine matches.

This means that Liverpool are likely to emerge from their half of the draw and book their spot in Saint-Denis, where there is a good chance they will come up against the usual adversaries.

City have had their slip-ups in the Premier League, but are still best-positioned to win it and have the best squad in Europe at present. There is no other manager at present who has a squad with as much depth as Pep Guardiola’s.

Citizen’s Road To The Final

City are certainly a better team than the inconsistent Atlético Madrid, who they will come up against.

However, La Liga leaders Real Madrid are likely to edge Chelsea in a tie that is arguably the pick of the quarter-finals. There is little to choose between Carlo Ancelotti’s side and his former club on paper, but with the turmoil that the Blues are in at present, their preparation is likely to be affected by off-field issues.

Manchester City remains a more balanced team than Los Blancos and have been a marginally better team than Liverpool over the course of the season.

City thus should go down as UEFA Champions League favourites with Liverpool a close second.

If anyone is going to get in the way of a second successive all-English final and a third in four seasons, it is going to take an almighty effort.

Leonard Solms

Leonard Solms is a sports journalist who features regularly on various local and international platforms including ESPN, New Frame, FARPost, Tagged Online and Careers Magazine, as well as this one. He enjoys the occasional bet and the most important tip he can give you is to bet within your means.