Ahead of Friday’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal draw, former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has backed his old club to win the Europe top-flight competition this season.
Pique, who won the Champions League three times with Barcelona, also believes Xavi’s side will face a tough challenge as all the strong teams are still in the fray.
Despite this, the former Spain international was pleased with Barca’s performance against Napoli, which resulted in their qualification for the quarterfinals.
He added that reaching this stage of the tournament after several years is very significant for the team.
According to him, Barcelona are five matches away from lifting the Champions League trophy and hopes that they can do so.
“Barca are five matches away from winning the Champions League. We hope that Barca can win, but it is difficult because all of the strong teams are still present. However, yesterday’s match gave us good impressions,” Pique said (as per Sky Sport Italia via Barca Blaugranes).
“Barca played really well against Napoli and deserved to qualify. Reaching the quarter finals after so many years is very important. Let’s see what happens now.”