Danny Murphy has delivered his predictions for the Champions League quarter-finals as three English sides look to book their place in the last four.
Despite losing their Premier League crown after struggling domestically this season, Liverpool have managed to get to the quarter-final stages of Europe’s elite competition.
The Reds face La Liga giants Real Madrid, who beat them 3-1 in the 2018 Champions League final courtesy of a brace from second-half substitute Gareth Bale.
Jurgen Klopp will be looking for his side to exact revenge on their Spanish opponents and ex-Liverpool midfielder Murphy thinks they will do exactly that.
‘Real’s teamsheet used to strike fear into opponents but not any more,’ Murphy told The Mail on Sunday. ‘Injuries have prevented Eden Hazard from becoming another Galactico and their best players, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos, are all in their 30s.
‘In fact, Liverpool carry the greater firepower with Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota. Modric and Kroos are still capable of dictating the tempo of games but Real boss Zinedine Zidane will be concerned about the threat of Salah and Mane, who can spring attacks in an instant.
‘Liverpool have more goals in their squad and I’d give them the edge.’
Chelsea have been dealt a more favourable draw against Porto and Murphy expects Thomas Tuchel’s side to progress.
‘Against Juventus in the last round, Pepe won plaudits for being a defensive warrior while Sergio Oliveira and Mehdi Taremi have quality going forward,’ he added.
‘But Porto were stretched at times and slightly fortunate to get through. They will be pragmatic against Chelsea but Thomas Tuchel’s side are normally hard to score against in Europe (although not on Saturday in the Premier League!) and I think have enough matchwinners.
‘Mason Mount is in amazing form, N’Golo Kante and Jorginho will control the midfield and the stage is set for Hakim Ziyech or Christian Pulisic to produce some magic.
‘Porto will try to be clever and hit Chelsea on the break but the Blues have too many threats.’
Manchester City under Pep Guardiola are still yet to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League and face a tough test against Borussia Dortmund to get past the quarters this season.
Despite having the prolific Erling Haaland in their attack, Murphy admitted he would be ‘surprised’ if the Bundesliga side beat City over two legs.
‘Dortmund have the attacking threats of Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho and you could watch some of their goals and think they are unstoppable,’ Murphy said.
‘But they are dodgy at the back and facing City, with Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan against you, is the last thing they need.
‘It looks a tasty tie but if City don’t go through I think they will be devastated. Dortmund only edged past Sevilla 5-4 on aggregate in the last round and City are better than the Spaniards in attack.
‘While Haaland is a handful, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones are better prepared than anyone to cope.
‘I’d be surprised if Dortmund can win over two legs.’
On the last quarter-final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain – a repeat of last season’s final which the German side won – Murphy said: ‘This is a phenomenal match-up between last season’s finalists but the absence of Robert Lewandowski coupled with the anticipated return of Neymar for PSG puts this tie on a knife-edge.
‘Bayern’s 1-0 win gives them a psychological edge because they know how to beat PSG and there is always a little uncertainty facing a team that has beaten you recently.
‘Of course, there is no way this game is a foregone conclusion – how could it be when PSG have Kylian Mbappe – but Bayern have attacking threats with Leroy Sane, Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman, who scored the winning goal in the final.
‘Over 180 minutes, history favours Bayern.’
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