Frank Leboeuf has named his three favourites to win the Champions League this campaign and snubbed the holders Chelsea.
Thomas Tuchel guided the Blues to their second Champions League title last season and they look set for the quarter-finals after beating Lille 2-0 in the first leg of their last-16 clash.
Leboeuf doesn’t see the London club as one of the favourites to lift the Champions League trophy, however, and is tipping Liverpool, Man City or Bayern to be crowned the best team in Europe instead.
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Like Chelsea, Liverpool also have one foot in the quarter-finals after beating Inter 2-0 last month, while Jurgen Klopp’s side have enjoyed a good domestic run to move to within six points of City with a game in hand.
Man City thrashed Sporting Lisbon 5-0 in a huge win in the first leg of their knockout match and produced another impressive display to beat United 4-1 in Sunday’s Manchester derby.
Bayern, meanwhile, look set to claim a 10th straight Bundesliga title after storming nine points clear at the top of the league table, although they were held to a 1-1 draw by RB Salzburg in their first-leg tie.
Asked to name his favourites to win this year’s Champions League, Leboeuf told BritishGambler: ‘Liverpool, Man City or Bayern Munich.
‘Man City are dying to win the Champions League – I think if you asked every City fan if they would rather win the league or the Champions League, they would all say the Champions League.
‘I think that Liverpool can win the Champions League and you only have to look at their history in the competition.
‘Chelsea might have a recent history with the Champions League, winning twice within the last 10 years, which is fantastic for the club, but Liverpool have the history from when I started following football, with players like Keegan, Dalglish and Fairclough.
‘I worked with Stevie Nicol, and he talked about the Champions League being in their genes, being in their blood. He talked about the Champions League when they were losing 3-0 at half-time and came back; he said because the Champions League is in their genes.
‘And that’s why you can never say Liverpool is about to lose, and you can never say that Liverpool aren’t able to win the Champions League.’
