Former Manchester City star Sergio Aguero has identified the two teams he believes can prevent his old club from clinching the 2024/25 Champions League title.
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Aguero, 36, is widely regarded as City’s greatest-ever Premier League player, having scored 260 goals in 390 appearances for the club – including the memorable winner on the final day of the 2011/12 season, which secured City’s first league title since 1967/68. ..Continue Reading
He moved to Barcelona in 2021 after winning five league titles, six League Cups, and one FA Cup, but the Champions League eluded him, with City losing to Chelsea in the 2020/21 final.
Aguero, who earned 101 caps for Argentina, was forced to retire prematurely in 2021 due to heart issues but remains passionate about football.
He recently shared his 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 lead the 36-team group stage with an impeccable record of six wins from six matches. Barcelona, Arsenal, and Bayer Leverkusen round out the top four teams most likely to advance to the round of 16.
Barcelona’s captain, Raphinha, has expressed his belief that his team will face Manchester City in this year’s final, set to take place in Munich, Germany on Saturday, May 31.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal squad is in a strong position in Europe’s premier competition and aims to add another victory to their record when they take on Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates on Wednesday, January 22.
Though the Gunners have never won the competition, Arteta, 42, has stated that 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.”
