Glenn Hoddle has named the ‘team to beat’ in the Champions League and overlooked holders Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG clinched their first ever Champions League trophy last season, thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final.
The French champions secured more silverware on Wednesday night as they came from two goals down against Tottenham to win the UEFA Super Cup.
Thomas Frank looked set for an immediate trophy at the start of his Spurs tenure after Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero scored either side of half-time.
But Lee Kang-in gave PSG hope with an 85th-minute goal and Goncalo Ramos’ 95th-minute equaliser forced a penalty shootout.
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Luis Enrique’s side held their nerve in the shootout to give PSG their first Super Cup trophy and deny Spurs a second European trophy in three months.
PSG also impressed in the Club World Cup over the summer – losing to Chelsea in the final – and appear to be the favourites to win the Champions League this season.
Hoddle insists PSG under Enrique are a ‘serious team’ but views Liverpool as the ‘team to beat’ in Europe, especially if Arne Slot gets a couple more transfer signings over the line.
The Premier League champions have spent £250m so far this summer and remain interested in big-money moves for Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi.
Asked who will emerge as PSG’s biggest rival for the Champions League trophy this season, Hoddle told TNT Sports: ‘For me, we’re all hearing the same thing about Liverpool in the transfer market.
‘If those deals so happen, wow, they will have some squad. So I would say Liverpool might be the ones to beat.
‘If they get who they’re tying to get, I think they will go very close in Europe. They’re a very good sign now, never mind about the new signings.
‘PSG are a serious team though and really well-balanced. That’s why they will be one of the favourites to go back and win it but in any sport, winning a title is one thing but retaining it is very, very difficult.’
Ex-England star Karen Carney, meanwhile, declared Barcelona as PSG’s biggest rival in the Champions League.
The La Liga champions reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season before losing to Inter Milan in heartbreaking circumstances.
‘Barcelona’s Achilles heel was just the defensive mindset last season but going forward they had absolutely everything,’ she said.
‘PSG will respect that and Barcelona could push them. PSG are full of quality, they’re only just come back from their summer break.
‘They’re the ones to beat for me. It would be great if the English teams can bridge the gap but I still have my eye on that Barcelona team because if they sort out the defence they could push these guys.’
Thomas Frank takes positives from Super Cup defeat
Despite watching his Tottenham team concede two late goals and then lose the penalty shootout, Frank was able to take a number of positives from the Super Cup defeat.
The former Brentford boss took over at Spurs earlier in the summer after the sacking of Ange Postecoglou.
‘I think we played a very good game against one of the best teams in the world, maybe the best at this moment in time,’ Frank said.
‘We had them exactly where we wanted them for 80-something minutes until the 2-1 goal, then of course the momentum shifted a little bit.
‘The team, the players, the club, the fans, there is a lot to be happy with. It is a flip of the coin when you go to a penalty shootout.
‘We showed that we can be adaptable and pragmatic, and we needed to be against a team like PSG.
‘The way we wanted to defend, high pressure and low defending, was top, almost perfect, and also the set pieces were very good and dangerous.’
Spurs face Burnley in their Premier League opener on Saturday while PSG begin their Ligue 1 title defence a day later against Nantes.
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