Barcelona star Lionel Messi thinks that Juventus are a heavy favorite to win the Champions League this season because of the addition of Cristiano Ronaldo. He also thinks that Real Madrid’s strength has diminished with the departure of the Portugal captain.
Messi said, “Obviously they (Madrid) are one of the best teams in the world, they have great players and squad, but yes the departure of Cristiano from the squad makes them less strong. It makes Juventus a clear favourite to win the Champions League due to the squad they had before and now with him on top. I was surprised by his decision, I did not think he would go from Madrid nor that he would go to Juventus. There were so many teams and I heard less about Juve but it is a very good team.”
Lionel Messi also said that Barcelona are aiming to lift the Champions League this time after back-to-back quarter-final exits in the last three seasons. He said, “It is necessary because we have had three years where we have gone out in the quarter-finals and the last was the worst of the lot due to how it happened. We are concentrating on this because it is possible, we have a squad where we can fight for this competition.
In other years the Champions League evaded us, in the Guardiola era with Inter and Chelsea, due to small details. Each year the competition is more even with clubs investing more money to compete and bring in players. The two Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Madrid, us, PSG and several Italian clubs.”
