Cape Town - Former
Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves believes the Bundesliga
champions are the front-runners to claim the UEFA Champions League title
this season.
Die Roten are chasing a treble of trophies. They have already secured their sixth consecutive Bundesliga title, are in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, and take a 2-1 lead into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Sevilla.
Hargreaves, who played for the Bavarians between 2000 and 2007, has backed his former club to go all the way in Europe, especially with the experienced leadership of manager Jupp Heynckes to guide them.
"He’s used all his experience at this level, he’s a great man manager and all the players love him,” Hargreaves told BT Sport when asked about Heynckes.
"Bayern aren’t now giving teams as many chances as they did under Guardiola. Under Pep they were so dominant offensively, had so much possession, so high up the pitch. When they lost in previous years to Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid a lot of the goals were on the counter attack.
"This Bayern team won’t suffer that same issue anymore. They play a bit more reserved now, they are built differently. It suits the Champions League because all the remaining sides play exceptional attacking football but offer up chances for the opposition.
"Bayern are the only team left that will play a bit more cautiously, they are perfectly built for knockout football. Nobody will want to play them and I don’t see anyone beating them over two legs."
Kick-off is at 20:45. (SA time)