Joleon Lescott believes the “worst team” Manchester City could face in this season’s Champions League is Arsenal.
Last month, Jamie Carragher expressed his desire for Pep Guardiola’s men to have to go toe-to-toe against Mikel Arteta’s side as he believes the Gunners are one of the few teams who can knock the reigning champions out of Europe.
As things stand, Manchester City look set to book their place into the quarter-finals, leading 3-1 to Copenhagen after the first leg while Arsenal are losing 1-0 to Porto.
Joleon Lescott says Arsenal would be the “worst team” for Manchester City to face in the Champions League
Both City and Arsenal play their second legs at home and as a result, they look like favourites to go through to the next round, despite the North London side currently losing to the Sérgio Conceição’s side.
Earlier this season, Mikel Arteta and Co. did manage to beat the treble-winners, which is perhaps why some believe they could do so in Europe as well.
Now, Joleon Lescott has explained why he would worried if Manchester City were drawn to go head-to-head with Arsenal in the Champions League.
“I’m confident for City to win [the trophy] as long as they avoid Arsenal”, he told TNT Sports.
“I don’t think Arsenal are the best fitted to beat everyone else. I think City’s worst team they could face, would be Arsenal [over two legs]. I would be more nervous facing Arsenal than against Real Madrid.”
Joleon Lescott broke down why he is not as worried from a Manchester City perspective if they faced Real Madrid, as he has admitted to being “more nervous” if they locked horns with Arsenal.
“Now [City] have got over the hurdle of winning it. You could see in the home leg [last season], as soon as Vinicius Jr. realised he wasn’t going to run Kyle Walker, it was deflation in the whole team. That doesn’t happen.”
“There was the realisation that this is going to be a long day. As great as Carlo Ancelotti is and the players are and the club’s prestige in the competition, they’re not used to the way City make you play”, he said.
Lescott concluded, “You have to be super disciplined and the credit you have to give to Pep and the team is you have to be at your best to beat Man City, and even then you may not win. If you are making teams perform at their very best then you have a really good chance of going through and winning.”
Manchester City would get the better of Mikel Arteta’s side
In our view, Manchester City should be far from anxious if they faced Arsenal in the Champions League, as opposed to Joleon Lescott.
As brilliant a team as the Gunners are, they lack City’s pedigree in the competition, having never won it while also entering the competition after seven years.
Especially over two legs, the Sky Blues have the superior quality and experience to get one over Arsenal once again.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, contrary to Joleon Lescott’s opinion remain the team to beat for Manchester City due to their incredible quality and Carlo Ancelotti’s know-how in Europe’s elite competition.
