“I hope they don’t win” - Cristiano Ronaldo’s old prediction on Champions League favorites resurfaces after Man City, Arsenal crash out
Cristiano Ronaldo's old prediction on this season's UEFA Champions League favorites has re-emerged after Manchester City and Arsenal both got eliminated from the competition. The Portuguese recently included the Cityzens among the three clubs with the highest chances of winning the tournament.
The Champions League took a step forward this week as the second leg of the quarterfinal ties were concluded on Wednesday. Manchester City fell to a shootout loss to Real Madrid after playing out a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium (4-4 on aggregate), while Arsenal also bowed out following a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in Germany (aggregate 3-2).
Now, there's no Premier League team in the semifinals of the competition - the first time that's happening since the 2019-20 campaign. Following Manchester City's elimination, Cristiano Ronaldo's prediction from January where he claimed that the Cityzens have a good chance to win the trophy has resurfaced.
"I think Manchester City has a great chance of winning the Champions League again this season," Cristiano Ronaldo said at the time, as quoted by SportBible.
"I hope not [they don’t win], but I think they have a chance," he added.
With this season's Champions League quarterfinals now concluded, attention has switched to the next round of the competition. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will go head-to-head in the semifinals while Paris Saint-Germain Germain will lock horns with Borussia Dortmund for a chance to reach the final.
The first leg of the ties will be played on April on April 30 and May 1, while the second is slated for May 7 and May 8. It'd be interesting to see how things will pan out in this round.
Cristiano Ronaldo remains unmatched in the Champions League
Despite playing his last game in the Champions League two years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo remains unmatched in the competition and his records continue to be intact. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't be far-fetched to say that no one is touching the Portuguese icon in the next few years.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner remains the all-time top scorer of the Champions League with 140 goals to his name in 183 games. He also has the most assists in the history of the competition (48), as well as the the most goals scored in the knockout phase (67).
With his eternal rival Lionel Messi also no longer competing in the tournament, these records appear quite safe for now, although players like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Jude Bellingham might step up and challenge them in the future.