Jamie Carragher has predicted the entire Champions League knockout stage and revealed which club he believes will win this season’s competition.
The CBS Sports pundit made his predictions prior to Tuesday night’s later Round of 16 ties, which saw Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid record thumping 6-1 and 5-2 wins over Atalanta and Tottenham, respectively.
Carragher had just watched Galatasaray defeat his beloved Liverpool 1-0, while Newcastle United were denied a famous victory over Barcelona when Lamine Yamal converted a last-gasp penalty to make it 1-1 at St James’ Park.
Carragher is widely regarded as one of football’s most knowledgable pundits and the retired defender made some bold calls with his knockout round predictions. Let’s take a closer look…
Round of 16
Manchester City
Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain are tipped to have enough to beat Chelseaover two legs, setting up a quarter-final meeting against Liverpool, who Carragher thinks will turn things around at Anfield next week.
In terms of the biggest Round of 16 clash, Carragher said: “I don’t think Real Madridcan cope with Manchester City, so Manchester City go through.” Bold call, Jamie.
Atalanta were given “absolutely no chance” of beating Bayern, which looks accurate after what happened at the Serie A side’s New Balance Arena on Tuesday.
Carragher then predicted: “Newcastle will give Barcelona problems tonight, I can assure you, but Barcelona will go through.”
On Tottenham vs Atletico, Carragher added: “Should Tottenham even be in the completion with where they are in the Premier League? They’re absolutely awful.” He’s predicting Barcelona and Atletico will meet in the quarters.
And he thinks Bodo/Glimt and Arsenal will also progress to the last eight at the expense of Sporting and Bayer Leverkusen.
Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals
Jamie Carragher predicts Champions League knockout rounds(Credit: CBS Sports)
Carragher described Barcelona as the “best attacking team in Europe” and believes they’ll have too much for Atletico. He’s expecting a mouth-watering semi-final tie with Arsenal, who are expected to breeze past Bodo/Glimt.
And on the opposite side of the bracket, Carragher thinks PSG will knock Liverpool out of the competition, setting up a semi-final tie with Bayern Munich.
He then expects PSG to reach the Champions League final for the second year in a row, while Arsenal will reach the final for only the second time in their history due to Barcelona’s high line costing them.
Final
Arsenal in the Champions League
Concluding his prediction, Carragher said: “And the winner will be… Arsenal! They’ll win the Champions League for the first time in their history.”
Micah Richards gave his predictions and also expects Arsenal to reach the final. However, he’s tipping his former club Manchester City to beat the Gunners in the final, which takes place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 30.