Jose Mourinho has made a Champions League prediction that is pretty bleak for English clubs as he says that no Premier League club will reach the final.
Speaking to AFP, the Portuguese coach tipped Juventus and Barcelona to reach the UEFA showpiece.
He said: “Juventus and Barcelona are the two great candidates for the competition and will reach the final.
”All they talk about is Ronaldo and Messi but I prefer to talk about Juve and Barcelona. Juventus and Barcelona have experience, talent and a special player each. There are these special players, the teams end up becoming the best.”
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Liverpool made it to the Champions League final last season but a Loris Karius disaster class ruined the Reds’ chances of becoming European champions for the sixth time.
And this season, with four teams into the quarterfinals, the Premier League has a heightened chance of seeing one of its sides make it to the final in Madrid.
Without being biased, I feel as though Liverpool are best suited to making it all the way. The fans know what it’s like to be there and as Jurgen Klopp proved last season, he’s an expert at navigating past two-legged European ties.
If I were a betting man, I would put my money on at least two Premier League sides to make the semifinals and one to make the final.
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Sadio Mane sent Liverpool through to the last eight with a stunning brace in Munich and just as he has been in the Premier League in 2019, the Senegal star was the man of the moment for Klopp on the European big stage.
Last season, Mane scored 10 goals on the way to Kiev including one against every side he played against and a hattrick in Portugal to eject Porto.
I’m backing him for more of the same next month.