Jamie Carragher makes his Champions League winner pick for after quarter-final draw
Jamie Carragher has encouraged Napoli to aim for victory in the Champions League following an exciting quarter-final draw that took place on Friday.
The team, which has made it to the last eight for the first time in their history, will be up against their Italian rivals AC Milan. If they win, they will face one of Inter Milan or Benfica in the semi-finals.
Given their strong performance in Serie A, where they are 18 points clear at the top, Napoli is now regarded as the favourites to progress to the final from their side of the draw.
Carragher believes that the underdogs have the potential to win the competition and create a remarkable story.
“I’d love Napoli to win the Champions League,” tweeted Carragher after Friday’s draw.
Interestingly, Napoli have been fortunate to avoid facing tough opponents like Chelsea, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid on their side of the draw. In contrast, Chelsea will have to compete against the reigning champions, and Manchester City will need to defeat the Bundesliga holders, Bayern, to keep their hopes of winning alive.
Under Spalletti’s leadership, Napoli is currently experiencing a dream campaign.
They finished at the top of their Champions League group, even ahead of Liverpool, and went on to face Eintracht Frankfurt in the round of 16. They comfortably beat the German team with a 5-0 aggregate score.
Napoli is not typically regarded as one of Europe’s glamour teams, having won only nine major titles throughout their history, with their last Serie A triumph dating back 33 years. Nevertheless, the team has a distinct charm and romantic appeal.
The iconic Diego Maradona spent seven years at Napoli, during which time he played a pivotal role in leading them to their only two Serie A titles to date. He also contributed to their success by helping them win the UEFA Cup in 1989, which was considered a significant accomplishment at the time due to the difficulty of qualifying for the European Cup.
During Maradona’s time at the club, the Champions League was known as the European Cup and was only open to league champions and European Cup holders. As a result, other big-name European clubs would frequently compete in the UEFA Cup and the now-defunct Cup Winners Cup.
Since Maradona’s departure from Napoli in 1992, the Italian club has been waiting for many years to return to the top of European football. Carragher is hopeful that Napoli can stage an impressive comeback by winning the Champions League this season.
“Yeah I think Napoli right now are the form team,” Carragher told CBS Sports ahead of Friday’s draw. “I would love to see them win it, an outsider behind the big teams you expect to win it. But I think this could be the season of Manchester City.”
Even before the draw took place, Micah Richards, Carragher’s colleague at CBS Sports, expressed his belief that Napoli could go all the way in the Champions League this season.
He added, “I think Napoli. Napoli with their form have been brilliant. In terms of stand-out favourites, it’s difficult. You just think at the end of the season, teams are going to get better but on form I think Napoli.
“They really stand-out to me. If I was a betting man and I was putting money on right now in terms of form, I would pick Napoli because when I watch them, they’re dynamic, they defend well, they attack well. But over the course of the season, teams are going to be in form, they might lose a bit of form but right now I’d say Napoli.”
Jamie Carragher makes his Champions League winner pick for after quarter-final draw
