Joe Cole remains to be backing PSG to win the Champions League and has surprisingly ruled Barcelona out of winning the competition.
French champions Paris Saint-Germain and Spanish league leaders Barcelona became the primary two teams to advance to the semi-finals on Tuesday night.
PSG survived an enormous scare to beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate while Barcelona also lost on the night but still progressed courtesy of a 5-3 aggregate win over Borussia Dortmund.
Paris Saint-Germain, already crowned Ligue 1 champions for 2024-25, will face Arsenal or Real Madrid within the semis, while Barcelona’s next task will probably be against Inter Milan or Bayern Munich.
Despite PSG’s major scare against Villa, Cole still fancies the French giants to finally end their wait for a Champions League trophy.
Get personalised updates on Arsenal on a regular basis
Get up to seek out news in your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Enroll to our newsletter after which select your team within the link we’ll send you so we will get football news tailored to you.
Asked if he can be sticking along with his selection, having revealed after the quarter-final first legs that he was backing PSG for the Champions League, Cole told TNT Sports: ‘Absolutely.
‘All of us remember the PSG side of a number of years ago. They were winning league titles but you possibly can’t win a tournament like this playing like that.
‘Credit to the people at PSG who got here together and said they were moving into one other direction.
‘They’re all on the proper path and I actually, really fancy them to win it. I actually do. I’m doubling down.’
Discussing Barcelona’s hopes after they beat Bundesliga side Dortmund over two legs, Cole added: ‘I feel Barcelona showed enough frailties tonight.
‘I don’t think they’ll have enough to win it. There have been enough times that they were carved open.
‘I feel that top line against Munich or Inter Milan in the following round will get them in trouble.
‘All of the credit goes to Dortmund. From the Barcelona perspective, the frailties that I saw, I feel they’re frailties which are going to be here.
‘And for these young lads within the Barcelona team, who I feel will go very, very close and perhaps win the Champions League next 12 months or the 12 months after, I feel what they’ll learn from that is how European football can flip between legs.
‘You’re 4-0 up, you’re strolling. It’s only half-time. A goal can change. Teams can change. It’s something that you may have to administer. Young players will learn lots from tonight.
‘I feel [Wojciech] Szczesny showed slightly little bit of a rashness early on. I feel [Marc-Andre] ter Stegen comes back in for the semi-final.
‘That strengthens them. I still think Inter Milan or Bayern Munich, playing this team in a semi-final, will win the sport.’
Owen Hargreaves agreed with Cole’s take and said he too had major doubts over Barcelona, who’re currently 4 points ahead of Real Madrid within the La Liga title race.
‘You have got to credit Dortmund,’ Hargreaves said. ‘They created plenty of good possibilities over the 2 ties.
‘We said Barca play this fashion for a reason. They play that top line. Teams are going to create possibilities against them.
‘But I don’t think Hansi Flick really cares, because they rating so many goals going the opposite way.
‘Joe’s right. They looked slightly bit vulnerable today. I feel taking a look at the semi-final, teams will take a look at that and think we will get at this defence.’
Barcelona boss reacts to Dortmund defeat
Speaking after Barcelona’s defeat to Dortmund, Nou Camp manager Hansi Flick said: ‘We’re within the semi-finals.
‘Two games were judged on this and we should be in the following round. They’ve a terrific team and made life very difficult for us, but we’re through to the following round and that’s what counts.
‘We didn’t play at our greatest today but that was also all the way down to Dortmund, who did very well.
‘What the team has achieved in recent weeks is phenomenal. We’re now one step further, but we’re still a good distance from the top.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the most recent news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: PSG star Ousmane Dembele refuses to take MOTM award after Aston Villa scare
MORE: Unai Emery told he got major decision ‘flawed’ after Aston Villa exit Champions League to PSG
MORE: Wayne Rooney sends Man Utd message to Marcus Rashford after PSG knock out Aston Villa
