Barcelona star Lamine Yamal believes Liverpool are favourites to win the Champions League this season after Arne Slot's men won the league phase of the competition.
The Reds were nearly faultless in the revamped version of Europe's elite tournament as they won seven of their eight games in the first round, which saw teams placed in a league table instead of the usual group stage.
Liverpool ended with 21 points, with their only loss coming in a 3-2 defeat to PSV after Slot made sweeping changes to his starting XI, with a place in the knockouts already secured.
Slot and his team are now awaiting their next opponents in the Round of 16 as the play-off stage continues. His side will be heavily backed to go far in the tournament as they bid to claim their first triumph since 2019.
And Barcelona starlet Yamal is among those tipping Liverpool to do well in the tournament. He said Slot's side are the only team that have a better chance of winning it than Barca.
When asked about Barcelona's chances of silverware this season, Yamal told Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo: "It depends on us. There is only one team in the Champions League that is more favoured than us and that is Liverpool, because they finished first.
"And in La Liga we are first at the moment so it all depends on us. It’s win, win and when you are winning you go through to the next round and it becomes easier and easier."
The 17-year-old winger is one of the biggest talents in world football, with many tipping him to become a future Ballon d'Or after he helped Spain win Euro 2024 last summer.
Yamal is having another impressive season under new Barcelona boss Hansi Flick after scoring 11 goals and assisting 12 so far, with fans hopeful his performances can lead the club to their first Champions League win in a decade.
Barcelona have failed to reach a final since that 2015 triumph over Juventus but Yamal is optimistic the team can end that rotten run. He said: "In the end you have the hope but that happens every year.
"Last year I think everyone was excited about the Champions League. This year again, but you don’t talk specifically about whether we can win this or that, but you can see that everyone wants to win, that they are excited. I think this year could be the year."