Rio Ferdinand has named the ‘favourite’ to win the Champions League ahead of Arsenal.
Arsenal are in a superb position to reach the semi-finals after thumping holders Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.
Two brilliant Declan Rice free-kicks and a Mikel Merino goal sparked wild scenes at the Emirates Stadium, though Carlo Ancelotti will be hoping to mastermind a miraculous comeback in the second leg at the Bernabeu.
If Arsenal manage to knock out the European champions, they will be installed as one of the favourites with the bookmakers to win the entire competition.
But former Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand rates Paris Saint-Germain as the ‘favourites’ to win the Champions League ahead of Mikel Arteta’s side.
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PSG knocked out Premier League leaders Liverpool in the last round and impressed again in their first leg quarter-final clash against Aston Villa, winning 3-1 at Parc des Princes.
Morgan Rogers gave the Premier League side the lead with a counter-attacking goal but Desire Doue equalised for the hosts with a superb strike before half time.
Another brilliant strike – this time from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – put PSG ahead shortly after the interval and the French champions scored a potentially decisive third in injury-time through Nuno Mendes.
‘They played with a real authority tonight,’ Ferdinand told TNT Sports. ‘They played like they’ve won this tournament many times before.
‘I have them as favourites right now. The way I saw the man-handle Liverpool over two legs and dominate this game here.
‘They took this tie away from Aston Villa with that performance. They’re favourites for me.
‘This is a different PSG team that we’ve ever seen in this competition. Over the years they’ve had players who can define game with moments. They’ve still got that but they’ve also got control and tempo.’
Former Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock admitted the tie was ‘massively in PSG’s favour’ after they won by two goals in the first leg.
‘I don’t think it was any tweak to PSG’s system that made the difference for them in the second half, it was Villa doing things differently that changed the game,’ he said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
‘PSG were hoping to draw them out of defence and almost give them false hope by leaving spaces for them to attack into, because they wanted to bring them out of their defensive shape to leave them open on the counter-attack.
‘Villa are going to have the same problem in the second leg too, especially with the score at 3-1.
‘Now they will have to go at them, which opens up the game for PSG on the break. If Villa were 2-1 down they could stick with the way they played in the first half tonight, knowing they can nick a goal and level the tie.
‘PSG will be much happier now because they know they have got a two-goal lead to defend, and they also have this threat on the break.
‘The third goal massively changes the tie, and it is massively in their favour now.’
Aston Villa goalscorer Rogers, meanwhile, insisted his team-mates have ‘nothing to lose’ when they play host to PSG next week.
‘There’s loads of belief in the changing room,’ he said. ‘We have nothing to lose, nobody thought we’d win the tie in the first place.
‘Why not just go for it? We’ve definitely got the quality to turn things around. It’s not done yet.’
Paris Saint-Germain will face Arsenal if both sides progress to the semi-finals, with the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan on the other side of the draw.
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