Lionel Messi will not be winning the Champions League this season, thanks to a defeat in Madrid which left the Paris Saint-Germain star and his teammates bearing the brunt of their fans' frustration, but the competition remains open with the star identifying five top contenders.
Messi and Neymar were booed by PSG fans during the weekend match against Bordeaux, prompting the likes of Luis Suarez and Cesc Fabregas to speak out, while the Parc des Princes was targeted with graffiti. “Football has no memory whatsoever… it’s a shame. Always with you brothers,” Monaco midfielder Fabregas said.
Mauricio Pochettino's side had taken a 1-0 lead to the Bernabeu, and extended their aggregate lead over Real Madrid when Kylian Mbappe scored, but Karim Benzema's hat-trick secured a comeback described as "magic" by Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti. It realised Messi's worst fears of suffering another Champions League humiliation, but the result leaves the Spanish league leaders among the favourites to lift the Champions League trophy. Messi includes them amongst his contenders having outlined the sides he viewed as PSG's biggest threats earlier in the season.
"Everyone says that we are the big favourites and I will not deny that we are one of the candidates by name, but we still need things to be a really strong team," Messi told Marca before the last-16 loss. "We have to finish consolidating ourselves as a team and we have the advantage of having great players to achieve it. But we are not the only ones, there are other great teams that are candidates. The Champions League is a very difficult competition, that makes it so beautiful and special.
"The best teams are there and it's getting more and more complicated," he added, admitting his team was among the favourites before their eventual elimination. PSG have still yet to win the Champions League, with their closest call coming in 2020 when they were narrowly beaten by Bayern Munich in the final.
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Messi last won the Champions League back in 2015, as part of a Barcelona team which beat Juventus 3-1 in Berlin. However, his former club suffered a group stage elimination and Juve are not among the five clubs the Argentina named as leading contenders.
"Today, Liverpool is doing very well, it has once again been the Liverpool that won the Champions League. Then there are City, Bayern, Madrid, Atlético," he said.
"There are many teams that can fight for this Champions League, which is one of the most even and competitive in recent years because there are several teams that can opt to win it," Messi added. City, Bayern, Liverpool and Real Madrid have all booked their spots in the last eight after coming through tests of varying difficulty, but Atletico Madrid still need to get the better of Manchester United after a first-leg draw with the English club at the Wanda Metropolotano.
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