Alessandro Costacurta feels that Man City, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan are the favourites for the Champions League this season.
The legendary former AC Milan defender spoke to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, via FCInterNews.
This week, Inter begin their campaign in Europe’s top club competition.
And it will be a tremendously difficult start for the Nerazzurri. They travel to England to face Premier League juggernauts Manchester City.
On paper, that will be Inter’s toughest match of the entire “league phase” of the Champions League – particularly being away from home.
Inter will have other tough matches. Teams like Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, and Monaco can certainly cause them big problems.
And the Nerazzurri will know full well that there aren’t easy matches in the Champions League.
But the match away to City will be of a particularly high standard.
Wednesday’s match between City and Inter will pit two of the teams widely viewed as realistic contenders to win the Champions League this season.
It will be a rematch of the two teams that met in the final of the 2022-23 edition of the competition.
And in the view of former Milan defender Costacurta, it will in fact be a clash of two of the favourites.
As far as his favourites, he said “I’d put Inter in the third tier.”
“Then Real in second. And Manchester City in first.”
Costacurta commented, “It’s true that Real have signed the best player in the world in Mbappe.”
“But they’ve lost Kroos, who for me was the player who gave them their equilibrium.”
Costacurta then gave his thoughts on Inter’s captain. “I’ve always admired Lautaro,” he said.
“Because even when he doesn’t score, he slides in to win the ball from the defender. He tracks back to help his teammate.”
“When someone like him, who is born to score goals, is willing to sacrifice himself like that, with the captain’s armband, it’s logical that everyone else follows.”
“In the same way, I admire Calhanoglu,” Costacurta said.
“He makes himself the extra defender.”
“That’s what convinces me about Inter, even in the Champions League,” he said. “This attitude, this mentality.”
