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Louis van Gaal: 'Liverpool not candidates to win Champions League'

Louis van Gaal claims that Liverpool 'do not have the individual quality' to compete with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the last four of the Champions League.

Louis van Gaal has played down Liverpool's chances of winning the Champions League, despite the Reds' thumping 5-1 aggregate win against Manchester City in the quarter-finals.

A place in the last four of UEFA's elite club competition for the first time in a decade was sealed by a 2-1 triumph at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.

Liverpool and Roma are the two sides currently in the hat for the next round, but Van Gaal expects Real Madrid and in particular Bayern Munich to make their quality count if they also progress through from their last-eight ties.

"In comparison to the other teams, especially Real and Bayern, [Liverpool and Roma] have less individual quality," he told Dutch TV station Ziggo Sports.

"In principle they are not candidates, but they are a good team and that is always dangerous. If I have to bet now, I would put my money on Bayern Munich, which in my opinion has the best defence and a coach that adapts his team to the opponent, but who also assumes his own qualities, which is the key to success."

Bayern lead Sevilla 2-1 from the first leg and Real are 3-0 ahead against Juventus, with the return fixtures to be played on Wednesday evening.

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Mohamed Salah scores during the Champions League quarter-final second leg between Manchester City and Liverpool on April 10, 2018
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


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