Liverpool’s domestic rivals Manchester City and Chelsea will be hoping they get paired with the Reds in today’s Champion League quarter-final draw, reckons a former Premier League player.
Although Liverpool have by far the greatest pedigree in the competition among the English clubs, having lifted the European Cup on six occasions, opposed to Chelsea’s one and Manchester City never having won it, Craig Burley reckons Jurgen Klopp’s side’s recent struggles mean they are currently not feared in the Champions League like they have been in the past.
Despite the reigning Premier League champions being 25 points adrift of leaders Manchester City in the table, they put their troubles at home behind them to cruise through to the last eight of this season’s Champions League with a 4-0 aggregate win over RB Leipzig after two matches in the Hungarian capital city of Budapest.
Liverpool have reached two of the last three finals – winning in 2019 – but Burley still doubts their credentials and the Express quote him as telling ESPN FC : “The only difference is the experience of Bayern Munich, we know they've been over the course before. Man City and PSG for all the millions and billions spent have still got to prove that.
“I don't see Liverpool in there. Unless Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and the rest of the treatment room make a miraculous recovery.
“I really don't see how an inexperienced back-line are going to handle some of the best attacks in Europe. I really don't see Liverpool as a threat.
“Maybe I'll have to eat my words on that, but I don't think so, not if you're going to be playing the young lads we've seen at centre-half.
“Look at the teams, you want Porto, no disrespect but Juventus were poor and should have knocked them out.
“You look at the teams who have got problems defensively, those are the teams you want to play, I think.
“Porto, Dortmund are weaker defensively and this season Liverpool are certainly weaker defensively, there's no doubt about that, the amount of games you've lost.
“Those are the teams I think at the moment the others want to play. Not a doubt about that.”
