Steven Gerrard names his ‘dark horse’ to win the Champions League
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Steven Gerrard says Bayern Munich are ‘better equipped’ to win the Champions League this year (TNT Sports) Steven Gerrard has named Bayern Munich as his ‘dark horse’ to win the Champions League this season. Bayern comfortably sealed their place in the Champions League quarter-final with a 10-2 aggregate victory over Atalanta, and Vincent Kompany’s side will now face Real Madrid after they eliminated Manchester City.
Gerrard, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, believes Real Madrid will eliminate Bayern Munich if they are at their best, but admits he would be unsurprised to see the Bundesliga champions go all the way. ‘It’s that stage of the competition where the big hitters, the big players, the big teams, they start flexing their muscles and if you’re not at it you can get scorelines like that where you run away with it,’ Gerrard said on TNT Sports. ‘I think the best version of Real Madrid win it, I think they go through, just how they approach the Champions League they seem to find a different level, they turn the heat up like they did against Manchester City. They’ve got everyone back fit now, Harry Kane’s in form, [Vincent] Kompany has got them well drilled, well organised, I think they’re better equipped this season than they have been in the previous four or five.’ Meanwhile, Steve McManaman believes Paris Saint-Germain, who won the Champions League last season, have yet to hit their peak form despite thumping Chelsea in the last-16 stage to set up their tie with Liverpool next month. ‘They won there last year but they need to play a lot better than they did, they hung on, Harvey Elliott got a last-minute winner, but Liverpool, if you remember going back to it, the goalkeeper [Alisson] was outstanding, probably one of the best goalkeeping performances you’ve seen in a while,’ McManaman said.
Everyone focuses on what they’ve just done to Chelsea, but if you go back two games they only just knocked out Monaco in the knockout round, they struggled against Newcastle at the Parc des Princes, it was 1-1. ‘So their form hasn’t been as good as last year but it’s whether they are hitting form now, their performances against Chelsea were excellent, they’re an outstanding team and they’re starting to peak at the right time but they’re not as dominant as they were last year, not by far.’ Gerrard added: ‘It will be a different game because PSG are obviously a lot better than Galatasaray. ‘Liverpool have to be perfect to go through to the semi-final but you’ve got to remember what happened last year – everyone be at it, everyone be all in, the fans with you, if Liverpool can find that type of level they’ll give PSG a game over the two legs.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Arrow MORE: Arne Slot sends message to PSG after Liverpool’s Champions League win Arrow MORE: talkSPORT host Danny Kelly reveals cancer diagnosis live on air Arrow MORE: Noa Lang suffers nasty hand injury during Liverpool vs Galatasaray Football Newsletter – In The Mixer Punchy analysis, transfer talk and more from Metro's football experts, sent straight to your inbox every week.