MANCHESTER CITY have a 24 per cent chance of winning the Champions League for the first time this season, according to research.
Incredibly, FiveThirtyEight’s data crunching shows Pep Guardiola’s side have virtually a one in four chance of scooping a maiden European crown ahead of reigning champs Bayern Munich, Premier League holders Liverpool and Spanish giants Barcelona.
Manchester City celebrate beating Marseille as they progress into the Champions League knockout stageCredit: EPA
Bayern Munich lifted the Champions League last seasonCredit: AFP OR LICENSORS
The Citizens comfortably topped their group to progress into the knockout stage with five wins and a draw securing their place as a seeded side in Monday’s draw.
The research is made up of a number of different statistics and the data is used to make forecasting models based on previous team results and performances.
Bayern are down as having just a 17 per cent chance of retaining their trophy with Barcelona at ten per cent.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are all in with a seven per cent shot of winning the final, the research revealed.
City’s best Champions League run ended at the semi-final stage in 2015-16 with defeat to Real Madrid.
And despite making their worst start to a Premier League season in 12 years, the stats still have them as frontrunners at this stage.
Sergio Aguero’s return capped off the group stage nicely as Raheem Sterling netted the 1,000th City goal at the Etihad in the 3-0 win over Marseille on Wednesday.
Spanish youngster Ferran Torres showed his promise by netting four goals in his five European outings.
City’s only draw came against Porto after securing two wins against Marseille and Olympiacos.
Guardiola’s men will dodge the Portuguese side in the Last 16 as teams cannot be drawn against the side they qualified alongside in their group or teams from the same country.
But there are still plenty of threats lying in wait for City in the next round.
Last year’s semi-finalists and Manchester United’s conquerors RB Leipzig, 2019-20 quarter-finalists Atalanta and Guardiola’s former side Barcelona are all potential opponents.
Aguero could be handed an Atletico Madrid reunion, while City may also face Lazio, Sevilla or Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
