Jamie Carragher has brutally ruled Barcelona out of the Champions League trophy race, insisting that their defence isn’t ‘good enough’.
Hansi Flick’s side conjured up a 6-1 victory over Olympiakos on Tuesday thanks to goals from Fermin Lopez, Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford.
The Catalan club reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, with Barcelona beaten by Inter Milan in extra time of the second leg.
Barcelona won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de España in 2025 and currently sit second in the top-flight of Spanish football this term.
But Carragher is ‘not sure’ Barcelona’s back four can win the Champions League in 2026 – and feels they’ll struggle against teams like Arsenal.
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‘They lost [the Champions League semi-final last season] through naivety, really, maybe having a lot of young players,’ Carragher told CBS Sports.
‘When you look at the back four who played tonight (Kounde, Cubarsi, Garcia and Balde), I’m not sure this back four can win the Champions League.
‘It’s not just about playing with a high line – which gives them problems as well.
‘Whenever you watch them, you always feel the opposition has a chance. It’s not just how they set up tactically.
‘I’m not quite sure the defenders are good enough when they come up against a real elite team like Arsenal, PSG and Bayern Munich.’
Flick hails Barcelona star after Olympiakos win
Meanwhile, Barcelona boss Flick was full of praise for Lopez after seeing the youngster register a hat-trick against Olympiakos.
‘He scores, he runs, he’s very complete,’ Flick said. ‘His performance was sensational.
‘Three goals, the first one very important, gave us confidence. He has it all – he’s dynamic, he has speed.’
Flick feels the victory over the Greek side will give his team ‘confidence’ ahead of El Clasico against Real Madrid on Sunday.
‘We had some problems at the beginning of the match [against Olympiakos, but we deserved the victory,’ he added.
‘Every goal and every victory is important. The first thing is that we won today, which was the important thing, and this should give us confidence for the match [against Real Madrid].
‘It’s a tremendous game. We don’t have time to waste.’