Jose Mourinho believes that Manchester City are prime contenders to win both the Champions League and Premier League this season, but expects Real Madrid to challenge them for their European crown and Liverpool for their domestic title.
City finally got their hands on the European Cup last season, winning the treble to cap off the greatest season in the club’s history.
Pep Guardiola’s side have been tipped to go all the way again in the Champions League, while they are also aiming to become the first team to win England’s top flight for four straight years.
During his recent appearance on Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE podcast, Mourinho was asked for predictions on the winners of this season’s Champions League and Premier League.
“Champions League, I would say City or Real Madrid. If somebody outside [those two] wins it, for me, it would be a great surprise,” he said.
“I would love Real Madrid to win it again for the club and for Carlo [Ancelotti]. I don’t know, Bayern Munich can do it, Paris Saint-Germain.
“Looking at potential, I think City/Liverpool for the Premier [League], City/Real for the Champions [League].”
While Mourinho did not win the Champions League in his three seasons with Madrid, he is credited with reestablishing them as a European powerhouse, ending a pitiful run of last 16 appearances with three trips to the semi-finals.
He was replaced by Ancelotti, who won the Champions League in his first season of his first spell at the Santiago Bernabeu and is now on the hunt for his fifth European Cup as a manager.
City and Madrid both kicked off their 2023/24 knockout stage campaigns earlier this week, with the former beating Copenhagen 3-1 and the latter emerging as 1-0 victors at RB Leipzig.
In the Premier League, City trail leaders Liverpool by two points, but crucially have played one game fewer than Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
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