Lamine Yamal says Barcelona are the favourites to win the Uefa Champions League after Liverpool were knocked out of the competition.
The Reds were one of the leading contenders to reach this season’s final in Munich, but were eliminated by PSG via penalty shootout in the round of 16.
The French side have been installed as the new frontrunners following their impressive performance over two legs, but Yamal argues that Barça are the new team to beat in the Champions League.
Lamine Yamal: Barcelona favourites to win Champions League
“We’re the favourites for the Champions League,” the winger told Spanish outlet SPORT.
“When the group stage ended, I said Liverpool were the favourites because they were first, and now that they’ve fallen, it’s us,”
It was PSG who dumped La Blaugrana out at the quarter-final stage last year and the two sides could meet in this season’s finale.
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Yamal says Barcelona are a different prospect under manager Hansi Flick and their “strong mentality” means they don’t fear any opponent.
“We’re a different team than last year when we lost to PSG,” the 19-year-old added. “We’re a family.”
Barcelona face Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals, the first leg of which takes place on 9 April. Should they beat the Bundesliga outfit over two legs they will come up against either Bayern Munich or Inter Milan in the last four.
They are currently top of the La Liga, ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference, after coming from two goals down to beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 at the weekend.
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