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Paris Saint-Germain boss Ancelotti sees Barcelona & Real Madrid as Champions League favourites
Sep 6, 2012 7:10:00 PM
The 53-year-old thinks the Spanish giants will be the ones to beat this year, but believes that his countrymen could also lead Manchester City and Zenit St Petersburg to glory
Paris Saint-Germain head coach Carlo Ancelotti believes Barcelona and Real Madrid are the favourites to win this season's Champions League, but also backed some of his fellow Italians to get the best out of their respective sides.
The Liga giants both reached the semi-final stage last time around and will be pushing to go at least one step further this year.
However, Ancelotti does suspect that Pep Guardiola's absence at Camp Nou makes the Catalan club more vulnerable than in previous years.
"Two clubs stand out: Barcelona and Real Madrid," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Barcelona are strong even without Guardiola in charge, but they seem less aggressive and slightly less focused in defence now. They look more vulnerable than in previous seasons."
And the ex-AC Milan boss believes Italian-coached clubs Zenit St Petersburg and Manchester City could also be ones to watch this season.
"Zenit, coached by [Luciano] Spalletti, and Manchester City, coached by [Roberto] Mancini could surprise people," the former Serie A coach added.
"Even though City have been drawn in a tough group, with Real Madrid."
Backed by his Parc des Princes owners, Ancelotti has embarked on quite the spending spree this summer, signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Lucas Moura among others.
"I thank them [the owners] for having done that," the Italian continued. "I'll do everything I can to get them to win trophies.
"Our objective is clear: winning the league in France, getting through the group stage of the Champions League and then, who knows?"
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Live!
Champions League final - LIVE!
German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle it out at Wembley for European glory. Get involved by sending us your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook! Hosted by Mark Doyle.
6:11 PM BST
Right, allow me to redirect you back to Twitter because Goal's Carlo Garganese has just logged on for a live Q&A session, so start tweeting him your questions.
6:08 PM BST
Dortmund are keen: They've already arrived at Wembley. Former Dortmund defender Christoph Metzelder can understand his old side's desire to get to the ground as early as possible. "This is the most horrible time ahead of the match," he told Sky Germany. "The tension is huge on the way to the stadium until you can finally warm-up and get on the pitch."
However, former Bayern boss Ottmar Hitzfeld says it doesn't matter when Dortmund arrive, they're still not going to lift the Champions League tonight: "Bayern has to win the title; it's just their time. They won't let a third final in four years slip away from them."
However, former Bayern boss Ottmar Hitzfeld says it doesn't matter when Dortmund arrive, they're still not going to lift the Champions League tonight: "Bayern has to win the title; it's just their time. They won't let a third final in four years slip away from them."
6:02 PM BST
Now back to our man, Jay Jaffa, who is outside the ground:
"I've just had a chat with a man called Helmut. As you will see from the photo, Helmut arrived here by bicycle ... He said: 'It took me 10 days. I didn't see the sun once: it was raining, powerful winds, horrible, but I made it. I rode 554 miles to get here but ... I don't have a ticket.'
"Ouch! I feel for Helmut, he looks absolutely drained and I reckon he was relying on the gift of charity as his way in, but alas it is yet to find him."
"I've just had a chat with a man called Helmut. As you will see from the photo, Helmut arrived here by bicycle ... He said: 'It took me 10 days. I didn't see the sun once: it was raining, powerful winds, horrible, but I made it. I rode 554 miles to get here but ... I don't have a ticket.'
"Ouch! I feel for Helmut, he looks absolutely drained and I reckon he was relying on the gift of charity as his way in, but alas it is yet to find him."
5:53 PM BST
Just a reminder that our Champions League quiz is still going on over on Twitter, so there's still time to get involved. Another cracking question from quizmaster Chris Myson:
In this year's competition, five Barcelona players have completed more passes than anyone else - name them!
In this year's competition, five Barcelona players have completed more passes than anyone else - name them!
5:50 PM BST
The whole sporting world is watching tonight. Indeed, not even the glitz and glamour on offer in Monte Carlo will get in the way of F1 driver Nico Rosberg watching the Champions League final. His mother might, though! Clad in a Bayern jersey with his name on the back, Rosberg was interviewed by Sky Sport Germany earlier and explained that his sole focus at the moment is finding somewhere to watch the game, given his Dortmund-supporting mother is threatening to disown him. "I might have trouble getting into the house!" he admitted.
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