Jamie Carragher and Peter Schmeichel predict the winners of the UEFA Champions League this season
Former UEFA Champions League winners Jamie Carragher and Peter Schmeichel have picked their winners for the competition in the 2022-23 campaign.
The ongoing season has reached the quarter-finals stage with Real Madrid looking to defend their title. Manchester City and Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich and SL Benfica in the respective first legs on Tuesday, April 11.
Ahead of the two first-leg clashes, Carragher and Schmeichel shared their predicted brackets for the rest of the UEFA Champions League season.
Carragher picked Manchester City to beat Bayern Munich and Real Madrid to beat Chelsea. He then picked the Cityzens to take their revenge from Los Blancos, who beat them on their way to the title last season, in the semi-finals to reach the summit clash.
In the other bracket, Carragher backed S.S.C. Napoli to beat AC Milan and Benfica to beat Inter Milan in the quarter-finals. He then backed Napoli to beat Benfica in the semi-finals.
The Liverpool legend eventually picked Manchester City to win their maiden UEFA Champions League title this season.
Schmeichel, meanwhile, has picked Bayern Munich to win the trophy this season. He backed them to beat Manchester City in the quarter-finals. The Dane picked Real Madrid to beat Chelsea but believes they will lose to Bayern in the semi-finals.
The Manchester United legend then picked AC Milan to beat Napoli and Inter Milan to beat Benfica in the quarter-finals to set up a Milan derby in the semi-finals. Schmeichel has predicted a Bayern Munich vs AC Milan final with the German side going all the way to lift the UEFA Champions League trophy this season.
Pep Guardiola on an exhausting night after Manchester City's win over Bayern Munich in UEFA Champions League
Manchester City beat Bayern Munich 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg of their quarter-final clash on Tuesday, April 11. Goals from Rodri, Bernardo Silva, and Erling Haaland secured a big advantage for Pep Guardiola's side in the tie.
After the game, the Spanish manager shared how draining the game was for him. Guardiola said (via Manchester Evening News):
"It was not comfortable. Emotionally I'm destroyed. I have 10 more years [on me] today. It was so demanding game. Now I have to relax, a day off for the guys, prepare for Leicester [City]."
He added:
"I know exactly what you have to do there. If you don't perform really well they are able to score one, two, three. I know that. The players know that. It's an incredible result, but we have to do our game with huge, huge personality."
Bayern Munich will host the second leg of the tie on Wednesday, April 19, at the Allianz Arena.