Lamine Yamal showed how high Arne Slot's Liverpool are regarded as he installed his Barcelona side as the new favourites to win this season's Champions League
Lamine Yamal
Lamine Yamal has been impressed with Liverpool this season(Image: Alvaro Medranda/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal has underlined how high Liverpool are regarded despite the toughest spell of Arne Slot’s reign so far. It has been a bruising month for the Reds, who were knocked out of the Champions League on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain side before losing the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle, ending hopes of a trophy treble.
It has still been a mightily impressive first season for Slot, who is on course to deliver the league to Anfield for just the second time in 35 years. Liverpool impressively topped the Champions League group stage, with many observers tipping the Reds for continental glory before running into a strong PSG side.
Those observers include Yamal, who has now installed Barca as the new favourites for the Champions League following the Reds’ last-16 exit. The teenager told Spanish outlet SPORT: "We are favourites to win the Champions League now that Liverpool are out of the competition.
"We are not afraid of any team, we are a family. And we’re not the same as one year ago against PSG [who beat Barca 6-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals in 2024].
“When the group stage ended, I said Liverpool were the favourites because they were first, and now that they’ve fallen, it’s us.”
Lamine Yamal
Yamal has boldly named Barcelona as the new Champions League favourites
Barca will face Borussia Dortmund in the last eight while PSG go up against Aston Villa. The other ties see Arsenal vs Real Madrid and Bayern Munich against Inter Milan.
Yamal comments indicate how highly Liverpool are thought of on the continent and most clubs will hope to avoid the Reds in next season’s competition. Slot and the players not on international duty are now enjoying a breather for the resumption of their Premier League title charge in the Merseyside derby on April 2.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot
Arne Slot still has reason for optimism after a tough spell(Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Robbie Fowler says it would be a “phenomenal achievement” if Slot can deliver the Premier League in his first season. Speaking following the Wembley defeat to Newcastle, he said: “The last week was not what we wanted but I think [Slot has] been a phenomenal manager for the club.
“Every Liverpool fan will forgive losing the Champions League and League Cup as, other than a catastrophic development, Liverpool are going to win the Premier League and for a manager to come in and do that is a phenomenal achievement. To sit here and say Liverpool haven’t missed Jurgen is quite an unbelievable statement considering Jurgen took them to the very top table again.”
Fowler is set to manage North of England FC against their Southern counterparts, led by Harry Redknapp, in an inaugural charity game on June 1 at The Valley, home of Charlton.