Germany’s 1990 FIFA World Cup winning captain and former Inter icon Lothar Matthaus hopes to see top Italian teams back to winning glory in Europe, with the group stage of the UEFA Champions League not far away. He also took stock of the 2022/23 Serie A campaign, naming his contenders.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the legendary midfielder shed light on the new Italian top-flight season, and also mentioned his favorite for lifting the premier continental club football competition in the world.
“Serie A will be tough and open to three or four teams in my mind: the Milan duo, Juve and I hope that Roma can return to their past glory, when they fought for the title. At the European level, I hope that Juventus can show a better image than what they offered in the last two seasons – the two games with Villarreal were disappointing. And then I repeat, I am happy that the Milan and Inter dominated the championship. The only real sour note is Italy will not play in the Wold Cup.”
Matthaus didn’t hesitate to comment on his frontrunner for lifting the Champions League.
“I say Bayern Munich. I see mentality, speed, technique, team spirit. If last year they had 14-15 high-level players, they have 18-19 now. There is a lot of competition in every position on the pitch. They are a serious candidate.”
The German then revealed that he expected the Bavarian giants to sign Inter marksman Romelu Lukaku to substitute now Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski.
“They lost Lewandowski and my pick to replace the Pole was Lukaku. But I didn’t know that Julian Nagelsmann wanted to change their tactical system.”
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