The Champions League seems a far off world currently with the World Cup taking centre stage and Andres Iniesta believes that will skew the path of the competition.
It is a trope that is brought out often when the group stages finish that the two teams that are drawn against each other could look entirely different by the time that they take to the pitch in February.
That effect is likely to be exaggerated this season, with a winter World Cup making matters even more difficult to predict. Injuries, fitness and form will all be dramatically altered by tournament in Qatar.
Speaking to Marca recently, Andres Iniesta highlighted two teams he thought looked strongest so far though.
“It is difficult to predict what can happen in these competitions where there are very good teams. In the Champions League I see City and PSG strong, I think they will be close to winning it again. But the thing is that there are great teams and now they are in a moment of form and then in February we will see if it is another.”
“Napoli, for example, have had a great phase but let’s see how they are later. Liverpool and Madrid are also doing well. As for the World Cup, hopefully it is Spain who can take the trophy for the second time. In LaLiga, Madrid and Barça will be there, hopefully Barça can win because it would be a great confidence boost for this project.”
Napoli sit atop Serie A with an eight point gap to Milan and also topped their Champions League group ahead of Liverpool, perhaps playing their way into many minds as dark horses for the competition. However the Champions League has been dominated by English and Spanish teams for the last decade, with no Italian side featuring in the semi-finals for some time.