Who is the favorite to win the Champions League and will the World Cup affect the big stars? | DT SURVEY

While all eyes are on Qatar for the World Cup that will start on Sunday, November 20, from Nyon, Switzerland, at the UEFA headquarters, great news has arrived for football fans: the keys to the round of 16 of the Champions Leaguethat tournament cataloged by many as the World Cup of each year.

The Real Madrid vs. Liverpool Y PSG vs. bayern They are the stellar duels of this stage of the competition. But are not the only ones. The almost perfect machine of Pep Guardiola, the Manchester Citywill start his way before the RB Leipzig. Furthermore, the amazing benfica Y Naples They want to continue making history.

In short, in February -the month in which the round of 16 starts- the Champions will enter its decisive stage. But there are questions that are hanging around in the air of every soccer lover. That’s why, Total Sport asked seven analysts (two former soccer players and five journalists, Peruvians and foreigners) for their opinion on the three questions that we will present below:

1. Who is the favorite to win the Champions League? Why?
2. Will the stars that don’t shine in the World Cup lower their performance and affect the Champions League?
3. Will PSG with this Messi, Neymar and Mbappé finally stop faltering in the finals or will this trident not be enough?

“I have the feeling that Pep Guardiola will finally win the Champions League with the English club”

Andrew Vela, Movistar Sports journalist

1. I think it will be the year of Manchester City. Considering the direct crosses of the protagonists in the round of 16, some will stay in that instance while City -I’m not saying that RB Leipzig is easy- could be the great beneficiary. In terms of football, the additions of Erling Haaland and Julián Álvarez have gone down very well. I have the feeling that Pep Guardiola will finally win the Champions League with the English club.
2. I do not think so. It is also necessary to take into account the periods of time in which both tournaments will take place. We don’t have Champions until February of next year. What is an issue to consider are the injuries that some players are presenting to reach the World Cup, hopefully after the tournament in Qatar they will not be more serious.
3. Is not sufficient. It is still a bland team, without hierarchy, even though it has top-level players. I don’t see him being the protagonist in the last instances of this edition of the Champions League, for the moment I think there are much better prepared teams. I even see it as very difficult for him to beat Bayern Munich in the round of 16.

“For me, Real Madrid will always be a favourite”

Walter Ibanez, Uruguayan former soccer player, champion with Alianza Lima in the 2014 Inca Tournament

1. For me, Real Madrid, the most champion of the Champions League, will always be my favourite. On their side are the cups won, the hierarchy they have as a club and the top-level players that Carlos Ancelotti has on his squad. It is a cup team and they always show weight when they reach the final stages.
2. It shouldn’t affect them. I understand that the World Cup puts extra pressure on the players, especially the stars who have the burden of taking their teams to the finals or winning the tournament. But then the weather calms down and the Champions League will play again next February.
3. Everyone expects PSG to overwhelm their rivals, but it seems to me that it will not happen again. It is a team of many stars together and that sometimes works against you. Sometimes the ego inside a locker room ends up generating problems and that is more or less what is happening to them. I think they are still in the same situation, with more and more problems like what happened with Neymar and Mbappé. I even notice Messi tired and wanting to leave that squad.

“It seems to me that for a long time the relationship between the performance of a footballer in a national team is not connected to the one he has in his team”

Alexander Wall, journalist for El Tiempo Argentina and author of books such as “The Last Maradona”

1. I think the favorite is Manchester City. It is a team that has been looking to win the Champions League for a long time, but it is not given. Having been reinforced with Haaland gives him a plus and when he had to use Julián Álvarez as an alternative, it also worked out for him. That said, I think there are two teams that would be interesting to see. I wouldn’t put them as favourites, but they can pack a punch: Benfica and Napoli.
2. It seems to me that for a long time the relationship between the performance of a footballer in a national team is not connected to the one he has in his team. It depends too much on what surrounds that footballer in that team, how comfortable he is with the coach, with an idea and so on. I think there is a very good example in Messi. Leo had his 2021 with a low performance at PSG, even with frustration, however he had a great year with the Argentine team. But it seems to me that there is a good distance between that December when the World Cup ends and February when the round of 16 begins.
3. The truth is that Galtier is finding a functioning that he never had with Mauricio Pochettino. He has a very brave cross between PSG and Bayern Munich in the round of 16 and the truth is that he will depend on that cross, obviously for a logical reason. But going to Bayern in the round of 16 with how powerful the German team is, which is also always a candidate to stay with the Champions League, which also means the rival for Messi, that could lead him in another way to show that he can have a decisive match and can win it.

“If PSG wants to beat Bayern Munich, they will have to function as a team and not just rely on their three stars”

Camila Zapata, DirecTV journalist

1. I have two. In the first place Manchester City, a machine team that works in all its axes and that with the arrival of Erling Haaland can this time, finally, get the ‘Orejona’. Second, Real Madrid, who are experiencing spectacular moments guided by what is currently the best 9 in the world: Karim Benzema. They will defend the title.
2. They are separate competitions. In one you give your life for your country and in the other you defend the colors of the club to which you belong, in which you work. I am excited that the stars who stood out for years in their clubs and who today live in different situations, can now do so with their national teams.
3. I hope so. They are three spectacular footballers who have all the ability to guide any club to glory. But what a cross for eighths that they have to face. If PSG wants to beat Bayern Munich, it will have to function as a team, not just supported by its three stars.

“I am going to play it as few do. I think it is Napoli because it is the one that is playing the best”

Carlos Orejuela, Peruvian former soccer player, national champion with Alianza Lima and Universitario

1. I’m going to play it as few do. I think it’s Napoli because it’s the one that is playing the best, it was a pleasant surprise in the group stage. But you have to see how he does in strong games, against heavyweight rivals. For now he seems to be ready for everything because of what he has been showing this season, not only in the Champions League but also in Serie A.
2. I don’t think it will influence. They are two different tournaments. Playing for your national team is another pressure. Also, the Champions League will return in February, almost two months after the World Cup ends, so maybe I didn’t manage to affect the players at all.
3. I don’t see Paris Saint Germain as strong as many believe. They have three stars up, but football doesn’t just depend on them, you also have to defend. In addition, one of the most difficult rivals such as Bayern Munich, one of the great candidates, played in the round of 16.

“I see PSG as a team invaded by stellar egos that cloud their ability”

Paul Romero, Colombian journalist from “El Tiempo”

1. I lean towards Manchester City. It is the team to which I put the bet in this edition. I think it’s your time. Haaland’s arrival definitely made a difference at English and European level. City needed that scoring ability that the Norwegian has. With him and with the structure that the English team has set up, I think this time it will be his time. In addition, the big favorites are going to cross each other (Liverpool vs. Real Madrid and PSG vs. Bayern), so I think that Manchester have the clearest path to win their first Champions League.
2. I don’t see it that way. I think that the concerns come more because of the abnormality of the calendar, because of the possible injuries that may occur. But I think a star who fails to shine at World Cup level is going to look to vindicate himself in the Champions League. That without a doubt.
3. I don’t think his trident will be enough. I see PSG as a team overrun with stellar egos that cloud their ability. The Parisian team is giant at the local level, but at the European level it will still be needed. Not even having those players as spectacular as Messi, Neymar and Mbappé. Also, let’s take into account the key that comes against Bayern Munich, another great candidate to win the ‘Orejona’.

“I think that the favorite to win the Champions League, because of their goal quota and because they have several players who are sustained over time, is Manchester City”

Emiliano Nunia, journalist of Super Deportivo Radio of Argentina

1. I think that the favorite to win the Champions League, because of their goal quota and because they have several players who are sustained over time, is Manchester City. Having Haaland at that level is an advantage, plus he’s not going to suffer emotionally if his team does well or poorly in the World Cup because he won’t play it. After the influence of Guardiola in driving, Kevin De Bruyne in the field, the freshness of Julián Alvarez, are the candidates. Even in the last Champions League they were very close and now they have added something that they have not had: the goal. It seems to me that this Manchester has much more goal than other years. Afterwards, I think whoever wins the series between Real Madrid and Liverpool will be another great candidate.
2. I think so. I think that the stars that don’t shine in the World Cup, some are going to suffer. We really have to see how much it can influence, for example, if Argentina or Brazil, with Messi or Neymar, respectively, do not have a good World Cup. What happens if they don’t win the World Cup? It could be a serious blow for how they come. For me it is subject to the final result of how these teams do.
3. I think that to a certain extent it will cost PSG because I don’t see a team scaffolding that sustains it despite the individualities of Messi, Neymar and Mbappé. They don’t give me enough confidence like Manchester City, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich do. I see them one step below. And I think it will depend a lot on how Messi is, how much the World Cup affects him. And not only if he loses, but also if he manages to win the trophy. Because if he wins, will winning the Champions League motivate him, knowing that he got the only thing he needed? That is why I say that depending on the World Cup, the faces of PSG in the Champions League will be played.

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