Chelsea can follow Paris Saint-Germain's example to win the 2025-26 Champions League, but they are not the favourites for the competition, ex-Blues midfielder Claude Makelele has exclusively told Sports Mole.
Enzo Maresca's men have travelled to Azerbaijan for Wednesday's matchday four encounter with Qarabag, where the Blues will endeavour to make it three wins on the spin in Europe after defeating Benfica and Ajax at home.
The 1-0 success over the Jose Mourinho-led former was a historic one, as Chelsea's starting XI had an average age of just 24, their youngest-ever for a Champions League match.
Despite their inexperience, Chelsea powered to the Club World Cup title this summer with a 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the final, after some of Les Parisiens' youthful stars also excelled en route to Champions League glory last season.
While Makelele believes that Chelsea are candidates for the crown, the 2001-02 UCL winner with Real Madrid believes that PSG remain the favourites, in spite of their 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
Claude Makelele: 'Of course Chelsea can win the Champions League'
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca on October 29, 2025
Asked if Chelsea are capable of winning the competition, Makelele replied: "Of course. We saw the example from Paris Saint-Germain. Many teams are young.
"Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich. They have talent. Now they have the capacity for playing this kind of game and winning.
“Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain, but they beat them in a good way. I've not been surprised by the way they play because I've been with all these young boys in Chelsea.
"I see them progress and I know they’re not afraid to play against a good team, they need to not be afraid to play against any team in this world. And I see them very excited in this competition.
"I hope they will be there because now we have many, many good teams. For me the favourites are Paris Saint-Germain. The way they play, the way they demonstrate, they beat teams away and at home.”
Are PSG really the favourites for the Champions League?
Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring against Chelsea on September 17, 2025
After PSG swept aside the competition in Europe last season - barring the home loss to Liverpool in the last-16 first leg - many understandably assumed that Luis Enrique's holders would go on to defend their crown.
However, owing to a combination of injuries and fatigue stemming from the Club World Cup, Les Parisiens have not been the same all-conquering force this season, in contrast to a brilliant Bayern Munich side.
The German champions have astonishingly won all 16 of their games in all competitions this season, getting the better of PSG on Tuesday night thanks to a double from Luis Diaz before a Joao Neves response.
Bayern's perfect record will be put to the test against Arsenal on matchday five, when Vincent Kompany's men face a Gunners side who just matched a 122-year clean sheet feat in their 3-0 victory over Slavia Prague.
Either the Gunners or the Bavarians seem better-placed to challenge for the top prize than Paris Saint-Germain at this moment in time, but as the 2024-25 season showed, write the holders off at your peril.
Claude Makelele was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of bet365, the official global partner of the UEFA Champions League.
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