Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has named the club he considers favorites to win the Champions League this season – and it’s not his own.
Europe’s premier club competition returns for seven matchdays of the league stage this week, with just one more round of fixtures remaining as teams jostle for as high a position as possible.
Barcelona later made a disappointing start Defeat in their opening game against MonacoThe Young Boys, Bayern Munich, Red Star Belgrade, Brest and Borussia Dortmund combined for five straight wins to finish second in the table behind Liverpool.
The Premier League side have won six out of six, the only side with a 100% record, and Flick admits Arne Slott’s men are the ones to beat.
Barca face Benfica in Lisbon on Tuesday night, with coach Bruno Lege naming the Catalans as favorites to lift the trophy in May. Flick pushed back on that prediction, commenting on the difficulty of going all the way and naming Liverpool instead.
“We’ll see in the future if (Ledge) is fit. It’s one of the toughest competitions to win. Liverpool One of my favorites,” Flick explained to reporters.
“Winning Champions League One of the hardest things in the world. We are doing well, but there are some very good teams that are also doing well.
“We are in three competitions. If you look at the results of La Liga, we are not doing well, but if you look at the (Getafe) game (on Saturday), we are doing very well. It is. It is difficult to play against Getafe. “
Barcelona’s domestic form has been in stark contrast to their European results. Only three points have dropped through their opening 12 League Going into the games, Flick’s side have won just one more of eight league fixtures, falling seven points off the pace set by Real Madrid.
However they did, Collect the Supercopa de España earlier this monthBeat Madrid for the second time this season in the final in Saudi Arabia, scoring four times in the first half alone.