Topics: Manchester City, Champions League, Sergio Aguero, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Barcelona
Ex-Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero has named the two teams that he thinks can stop his former club from winning the 2024/25 Champions League.
Aguero, 36, is widely considered to be City’s greatest-ever Premier League player having registered 260 goals in 390 games for the club – including the winning goal on the final day of the 2011/12 campaign to hand the club their first league title since 1967/68.
He left for Barcelona in 2021 after securing five league titles, six League Cups, and one FA Cup, but the one trophy that evaded him was the Champions League. City lost against Chelsea 2020/21 final.
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Aguero, who boasts 101 Argentina caps, prematurely retired in 2021 due to heart problems, but still has an interest in football.
And he has given a prediction for this year’s Champions League.
“This is a new Champions League format, I think this year will be full of surprises,” legendary striker Aguero told Stake [via Metro].
“This format could help smaller teams to thrive and qualify to the next round. This might also complicate things for bigger clubs to qualify.
“I’ve always felt that the favourite to win the tournament is Manchester City, and then Real Madrid, but I also see a very strong Arsenal team.
“However, I do hope both Man City and Barca can conquer this edition. Even though I’ve seen City struggle in some Premier matches this season, it is the same club we know, controlling the games from start to finish.
“But to tell you my prediction, I feel that this year’s final will have two teams that no one is expecting.”
Liverpool currently top the 36-team group phase with a perfect six wins from six games record with Barcelona, Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen making up the top four teams who are most likely to progress to the round of 16 stage.
Barca’s captain Raphinha has already explained how he thinks his side will face Man City in this year’s final which will take place in Munich, Germany on Saturday 31 May.
While Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side are in a comfortable position in Europe's premier competition and will be hoping to add another win to their record when they face Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates on Wednesday 22 January.
The Gunners have never won the competition but Arteta, 42, admitted he is "motivated" to change that this season.
"I'm extremely motivated," he said when speaking to TNT Sports in September. "It's a competition that we love playing, every player loves playing and here we are again.
"Success, I think, at this level is actually to win it. But we made some bigger steps [last season] I think. We learn a lot from the experience.
"We had some great moments, some other moments that we have to do better and improve. We have to put those learnings into this season."
