Owen Hargreaves claims Manchester United are one of the favourites to win the Champions League.
The England midfielder was part of the Bayern Munich team that won the Champions League in 2001 and he believes Sir Alex Ferguson's side are comfortably better.
Hargreaves, 26, said: "United are one of the favourites. In my opinion possibly the major favourites would be Man United, Barcelona, Real Madrid and the holders AC Milan.
"But then you have Chelsea and Liverpool who have shown to be very difficult to beat in Europe as well. It is very open.
"The amount of individual talent we have at United is bigger than we had at Bayern when we won the Champions League.
"What we did at Bayern was defend well and counter-attacked well. The Champions League is similar to all major tournaments where teams tend to be cautious and don't want to risk losing matches because there aren't many games.
"At United we will play offensive attractive football. That's what we want to do. We will play attractive football and I am sure we will be extremely successful."
Hargreaves is set to miss United's opener at Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday with the thigh strain that forced him to miss the recent England double-header and Saturday's Premier League win at Everton.
"I have never really had this injury before so this is new territory," said the midfielder.
"I thought I would be fit for the Israel game, then the Russia game and then Everton, but I've still not done it. I have to take it day by day so hopefully I will be fit for the weekend.
"I can't say for certain but it looks as though I won't be ready for Wednesday because I have not trained."
Ferguson has Mikael Silvestre ruled out for the season after suffering cruciate ligament damage at Goodison Park. Park Ji-Sung and Ben Foster are currently recovering from similar injuries.
Wayne Rooney is hopeful of being involved in Lisbon after recovering from a fractured foot, but midfield duo John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher are definitely out with knee injuries.
SOURCE: SPORTINGLIFE.COM
I think Barcelona are gona be the strongest in Europe this season, I watched them at the Nou Camp this summer and they looked amazing! Real Madrid will give it a good go this season! These two and AC i think will be the hardest!
The England midfielder was part of the Bayern Munich team that won the Champions League in 2001 and he believes Sir Alex Ferguson's side are comfortably better.
Hargreaves, 26, said: "United are one of the favourites. In my opinion possibly the major favourites would be Man United, Barcelona, Real Madrid and the holders AC Milan.
"But then you have Chelsea and Liverpool who have shown to be very difficult to beat in Europe as well. It is very open.
"The amount of individual talent we have at United is bigger than we had at Bayern when we won the Champions League.
"What we did at Bayern was defend well and counter-attacked well. The Champions League is similar to all major tournaments where teams tend to be cautious and don't want to risk losing matches because there aren't many games.
"At United we will play offensive attractive football. That's what we want to do. We will play attractive football and I am sure we will be extremely successful."
Hargreaves is set to miss United's opener at Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday with the thigh strain that forced him to miss the recent England double-header and Saturday's Premier League win at Everton.
"I have never really had this injury before so this is new territory," said the midfielder.
"I thought I would be fit for the Israel game, then the Russia game and then Everton, but I've still not done it. I have to take it day by day so hopefully I will be fit for the weekend.
"I can't say for certain but it looks as though I won't be ready for Wednesday because I have not trained."
Ferguson has Mikael Silvestre ruled out for the season after suffering cruciate ligament damage at Goodison Park. Park Ji-Sung and Ben Foster are currently recovering from similar injuries.
Wayne Rooney is hopeful of being involved in Lisbon after recovering from a fractured foot, but midfield duo John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher are definitely out with knee injuries.
SOURCE: SPORTINGLIFE.COM
I think Barcelona are gona be the strongest in Europe this season, I watched them at the Nou Camp this summer and they looked amazing! Real Madrid will give it a good go this season! These two and AC i think will be the hardest!
