John Terry believes Spanish giants Real Madrid are favorites to win the UEFA Champions League this season.
The former Chelsea defender said this while helping to carry out the last-16 draws on Monday afternoon in Nyon, Switzerland.
Terry won this competition with Chelsea back in 2012 when they defeated Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
“Team wise you have to look at Real Madrid. They’ve been fantastic for the past seven, eight years and are always there. ” Terry said while asked by who is backing.
[Jude] Bellingham is an incredible individual and Carlo [Ancelotti] is a great man manager. I think they’ll go a long way.
In the last-16 draw, Real Madrid, who finished the group stages with six victories in six, have been drawn against RB Leipzig with the first leg in Germany in February next year.
The Carlo Ancelotti’s side are the record UEFA Champions League winners with 15 trophies on their name. Their last came in 2022 when they defeated Liverpool 1-0 in France.
The other last-16 match-ups will see Napoli take on Barcelona in the Derby de Maradona.
Inter Milan will face off with Atletico Madrid, which means that Los Colchoneros’ boss, Diego Simeone, will return to the Guiseppe Meazza stadium, where he played for the Nerazzurri between 1997 and 1999.
Arsenal will face Porto while defending champion Manchester City will play surprise package Copenhagen.
The first legs will take place across February 13-14 and 20-21 next year, with the return matches across March 5-6 and 12-13.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16 DRAW
-Porto v Arsenal
-Napoli v Barcelona
-PSG v Real Sociedad
-Internazionale v Atletico Madrid
-PSV Eindhoven v -Borussia Dortmund
-Lazio v Bayern Munich
-Copenhagen v Manchester City
-RB Leipzig v Real Madrid
