Last season Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League final, beating Italian Champions Juventus, 3-1 in the final. As another season kicks off, we take a lot at 5 of the big European heavyweights who have the required quality and pedigree to prevail and get a hold of the most valuable trophy in European football: Here are the 5 Teams Who can win Uefa Champions League 2015-16.
Barcelona: The Catalans had one of their best seasons of all time as they won the La Liga, the Copa Del Ray and the UEFA Champions League as they became only the first team to ever win two ‘trebles’, following the one they had won in the 2008/2009 season.
With Luis Suarez, Neymar and the great Lionel Messi looking better than ever and leading the attack, they rightly deserve to be termed favourites.
Add the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Iniesta and Dani Alves adding even more quality, manager Luis Enrique cannot be faulted if he believes this squad can do the unthinkable, and retain the UEFA Champions League, a feat last achieved by Milan in 1990.
Bayern Munich 2014-15 Bundesliga Champions
Bayern Munich: The Bavarians were the European Champions in 2012/2013, winning the competition all guns blazing, even crushing Barcelona by a massive 7-0 aggregate score in the semifinals as they won the treble under veteran coach Jupp Heynckes.
They have won two successive league titles since then under new coach Pep Guardiola and have also added one German Cup but for a team of Bayern’s history and with players of very high calibre such as Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben, the Champions League is always the priority.
With the addition of Arturo Vidal and Douglas Costa adding much-needed competition in the ranks, the German giants are already looking prepared to be one of the leading favourites for this year’s tournament.
Real Madrid 2014-15 Team
Real Madrid: The Spanish giants were the defending champions last year and were very close to retaining their title but they lost to Juventus in the semi-final and failed to make the final against Barcelona, which would have been the biggest, if not the best El Clasico of all time.
Real are the most successful team of all-time in Europe, becoming European Champions a mind-boggling ten times and with the addition of new ‘Galactico’ Mateo Kovacic from Inter and new coach Rafa Benitez in charge, Christiano Ronaldo, Bale and co. will go all guns blazing in their search of goals and glory.
PSG: The French powerhouse lost in the quarterfinal stage last season but have slowly and steadily climbed the European tables and look set to finally fulfill all their potential, and they are rightly one of the dark horses this season.
They have a lot of proven quality in the form of Cavani, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Javier Pastore and new addition Angel Di Maria, who was the man of the match in the 2014 final match between Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid. Therefore with all of this talent and proven winners in the squad, no one can count out the French Champions.
Juventus: The Italians are one of the best teams in the world at this time, with one of the most finely balanced squads around Europe. The Old Lady Of Turin, as they are called, are also one of the most unlucky teams in Europe, having lost in six finals.
They have won twice, though, and under Max Allegri’s stewardship, they look poised for another run to the famous trophy and to prove that last season’s heroics was not a fluke.
