Ferdinand: 'Man City are only afraid of Bayern and Napoli'
"Man City may want to avoid touching Bayern, Napoli, but they will not be bored with all the remaining opponents," Ferdinand commented on BT Sport on March 15.
According to the former Man Utd midfielder, in addition to the team's combat experience, coach Guardiola also has a number of outstanding individuals "who can hurt any team in the world of football".
On March 14, Man City crushed Leipzig 7-0 in the second leg of the 1/8 Champions League round to enter the quarterfinals with a total score of 8-1. In particular, Erling Haaland attracted the most attention with five goals and destroyed a series of Champions League records. And Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan scored the remaining two goals to help Man City create their biggest victory in the Champions League.
Last week, Bayern eliminated another strong candidate, PSG, to reach the quarterfinals. After winning 1-0 at Parc des Princes, "Gray Lobster" won 2-0 in the second leg at home to continue with a total score of 3-0. The army under Julian Nagelsmann has won every match since the beginning of the Champions League 2022-2023 season. Before two matches against PSG in the round of 16, they won all six group stage matches against Barca, Inter and Viktoria Plzen.
Napoli also made a strong impression in the 1/8 round when defeating Frankfurt with a total score of 5-0 to enter the quarterfinals of Europe's number one tournament for the first time. Previously, in the group stage, they were also ranked above experienced rivals Liverpool. Compared to the rest of the rivals in the Champions League, Napoli also has a great advantage and a more comfortable mentality thanks to being leading in Serie A with an 18-point difference.
Commenting with Ferdinand, Owen Hargreaves also praised Man City above all, but the former England midfielder also saw Napoli as an annoying obstacle to the ambitions of Man City or any of the remaining teams. He said: "If we keep playing like now, Man City will not have to worry about the opponent, whether it is Benfica, Milan or Inter. However, Napoli will be a big danger."
According to Hargreaves, Napoli is being underestimated before the quarter-final draw. "They are one of the best clubs in Europe right now and play beautiful football. Seriously, Napoli can win the Champions League," he emphasized.
Besides Man City, Bayern, Napoli, the Champions League quarter-finals also have Chelsea, Milan, Benfica, Inter and Real. The draw will take place today, March 17, after the second leg of the 1/8 round of the Europa League and Europa Conference League close.
According to the supercomputer of FiveThirtyEight, Man City is the strongest candidate with a 33% chance of being crowned. Following are Bayern (23%), Real (14%), Napoli (11%), Benfica (7%), Chelsea (6%), Inter (4%) and Milan (2%).
