This season’s Champions League final will be held in Budapest (Picture: Getty)
Wayne Bridge fears it will be another season of heartache for Premier League teams in Europe’s premier club competition.
Arsenal appear to be spearheading the English challenge, but the quadruple chasers were handed something of a reality check against Bayer Leverkusen last week and are by no means certainties to qualify for the quarter finals.
Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City, meanwhile, will have to come from behind if they are to progress and Newcastle, despite creditable draw they earned against Barcelona at St James’ Park, are firmly up against it.
Holders PSG underlined their class a week ago to overpower Bridge’s former side Chelsea and Bayern Munich also sent out an ominous warning by hammering Atalanta and Bridge believes those two heavyweights are the sides to beat as the competition reaches its decisive stage.
‘I said PSG earlier, but my mind keeps changing,’ Bridge told 10bet. ‘I think Bayern Munich probably have the best setup in terms of their structure and how organised they are.
‘But you can’t write off PSG and you can’t write off Real Madrid either. That’s why I keep changing my mind.
‘Honestly, it’s just so hard to call. My mind keeps changing. I feel like I should stick with PSG because I said it earlier this morning — but I’m already thinking Bayern Munich. It will be one of those giants anyway!’
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PSG hammered Chelsea 5-2 last week (Picture: Getty)
Liam Rosenior was as upbeat and positive in his pre-match conference on Monday ahead of Chelsea’s salvage operation but Bridge fears an unlikely comeback will fail to materialise.
He said: ‘The most important thing is to not concede, which is a very tough ask because I always think PSG are going to score.
‘Look, my heart wants Chelsea to go through, but if you’re asking me honestly then I’d probably say no, they probably won’t – it’s a tough ask when you’re 5-2 down from the first leg.
Michael Olise has been in stunning form for Bayern Munich (Picture: Getty)
‘Anything’s possible in football — that’s why they call it the beautiful game. It’s a massive ask though.
‘They can’t concede goals, they need their best players on the pitch, and they’ve got to be better than they have been recently.
‘When they’ve been leading games and thrown it away or dropped points, they can’t be doing that.
‘Something must change very quickly if they’re going to go and get a result.’
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