Former Liverpool star Didi Hamann names his favorites to win the UEFA Champions League this season
Liverpool legend Dietmar Hamann has chosen Bayern Munich as his favorites to win the 2022 UEFA Champions League. The Bavarians have joined AC Milan, Benfica and Chelsea in the quarterfinals.
Bayern secured an impressive 2-0 (3-0 aggregate) victory over PSG in the last 16 on Wednesday (March 8). Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry were on the scoresheet for Julian Nagelsmann's side. They beat one of the tournament's favorites that boasted the likes of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
Hamann has tipped the Bundesliga giants to go all the way and lift the trophy in June. He told Sky Germany:
"For me, Bayern are one of the favourites for the title, if not the top favourite. If you want to win the Champions League this year, you will have to beat Bayern Munich."
Hamann touched on Bayern's victory over PSG. He was particularly impressed by the way the Bavarians controlled proceedings:
"You can hardly play better than Bayern did against Paris Saint-Germain. The way Bayern defended at the back and controlled the game overall was really good."
Bayern really held PSG scoreless over two legs 🧱 https://t.co/8oODXBweAi
There are still four more Round of 16 second leg fixtures to take place. Last season's winners Real Madrid face Liverpool at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday (March 15). They are in control of that tie, leading 5-2 from the first leg. Napoli are 2-0 in their encounter with Eintracht Frankfurt. The Bundesliga side head to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on the same day.
Meanwhile, Manchester City are tied at 1-1 with RB Leipzig heading into the second leg at the Etihad on Tuesday (March 14). Inter Milan are in the driving seat in their clash with FC Porto, holding a 1-0 lead as the two sides will battle at the San Siro on the same day.
Bayern will be wary of the likes of City and Madrid. The two European heavyweights faced one another in the semifinals last season. Los Blancos lifted the Champions League soon after.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits he was a bit surprised by Roberto Firmino's decision to leave
Firmino has decided to leave Liverpool after seven memorable seasons at Anfield. He has won the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the League Cup. The Brazilian forward has scored 108 goals and provided 79 assists in 354 appearances across competitions.
The veteran striker's contract expires at the end of the season and he will become a free agent. Firmino's decision to depart the Reds took Klopp by surprise. He told reporters (via BBC Sport):
"Surprised? Yes, a little bit - it could go two ways and it went one. And I respect that a lot. But it's completely normal in this kind of long relationship that we have and Bobby has with the club."
Roberto Firmino wants to end his Liverpool career strong 💥 https://t.co/mm4xmo7FCO
Firmino is still having an impact in the ongoing season. He has scored 10 goals and contributed five assists in 27 games. The Brazilian put the icing on the cake with Liverpool's seventh goal in their 7-0 destruction of Manchester United last Sunday (March 5).