Jose Mourinho says that the Champions League race is wide open
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho insisted today that the race for clubs to be crowned the kings of Europe is wide open this year.
Speaking ahead of his side’s first match in the UEFA Champions League this season, against Ajax tomorrow, the former Chelsea boss — who won the competition with Inter Milan last season — told France Football that he believes that seven teams have a strong chance of lifting most prestigious trophy in European club football.
He said that, “I feel that this edition will be very open, with six or seven clubs who will compete for the title. On this list, there are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Milan, Inter and (last season’s beaten finalists) Bayern Munich. The others are a notch below. But it is a competition in which the forecasts are not always confirmed. When I won the Champions League with Porto, nobody had bet on us.”
Mourinho added that last season’s semi-finalists Olympique Lyonnais were also in with a shout. He said that, “Lyon could be there, close the teams that I mentioned. I am convinced that Lyon made a fine operation by recruiting Yoann Gourcuff. He's a player I like very much. And I do not forget that Lyon knocked out Real Madrid last season and were semi-finalists against Bayern.”
The Portuguese coach is widely expected to help Madrid break a six-year run (of not being able to make it past the first knockout stage of the tournament) and are the favourites to progress from a group which includes AC Milan, Ajax and Auxerre.
Both Mourinho and Madrid have illustrious histories in the competition. Mourinho is among an elite band of managers, along with Ottmar Hitzfeld and Ernst Happel, to have won the title with two differenct clubs.
Meanwhile, Madrid has lifted the trophy nine times, more than any other club in the history of the Champions League and European Cup.
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