Former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool FC striker Michael Owen just feels like his old club will find a way to win today against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
“I thought Manchester City would win it, I was adamant and I still think they are the best team in Europe, but they’re not going to win it so I’m going to crawl down from my perch and say Real Madrid are my new picks,” Owen told Gambling Zone. “Whether they play well or badly, which they do both, they just find a way of winning. It’s incredible.”
Owen is likely hoping that the mystique of Madrid will play role — and be more effective against Bayern Munich than the mind games that Jude Bellingham tried to play with Harry Kane in the first leg when he attempted to rattle the striker while lining up for a penalty kick.
“Bellingham’s attempt to put off Harry Kane didn’t offend me, and if you’re going to do it to anyone then I think Kane is the last person to do it to. He probably just blanks it out because he’s so cool under pressure. As they’re mates and they can joke about it, I took it well, not that it’s for me to take. I didn’t think it was offensive. It was a talking point but I wouldn’t be digging too much further,” Owen stated. “No one ever tried to put me off before a penalty. I always remember Stuart Pearce trying to have some words in my ear as soon as kick off went, you jog into position and he comes and marks me. I always remember him playing for Newcastle, coming over and telling me what was going to happen that day. One or two will say certain things in your career, but it happens quite rarely. He said something about breaking my legs. It’s part of the game, people try to intimidate you, we are playing for high stakes. There is a lot on it. I wasn’t affected, I’m not really an emotional person.
“When crowds sing songs to players and they feel they have to react, they have to put on a show, I just think it’s a weak mentality. I never, ever felt the need to say things to other players to try and intimidate or react to crowds. A little like Harry Kane. Look at his reaction yesterday, it is as if he didn’t hear it. He’s so in the zone, I’m sure some people get excited and get carried away to get an edge, but it wasn’t for me.”
Owen, though, still cannot get over Kane joining Bayern Munich last summer and still believes that it is a mistake.
“Hindsight will always win in that case. When he first moved to Bayern, I believed it was a really bad thing to do. You could have interviewed me three or four months ago and I’d have said wow, that was a great prediction, look how far they are behind in the Bundesliga. But that would only have been hindsight too. I believe and still do believe it was wrong. If Kane wins the Champions League, then hindsight would say I was wrong but it doesn’t necessarily mean I was wrong. I left Liverpool to go to Real Madrid and that team was as average a team as there has been in the last 25 years. Then they went and won the Champions League,” said Owen. “So hindsight said it was stupid, but realistically look where they finished in the league. I still believe it was the wrong thing. He could be close to being the all-time leading goalscorer now, a really exciting Spurs team that with him in it would be in the top four, and he would be four games away from being a free agent to do what he wants. He’d be living in a spectacular house where he wants to live.
“If Real Madrid knock them out, will they say Michael Owen was right, but wrong if they go through? I still think what I said was right, it was a poor move to do what he did.”
Looking for more thoughts and analysis of the massive Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid match in the Champions League? Then check out our Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show where we breakdown everything from the excitement you might (or might not) be feeling to Thomas Tuchel’s potential lineup to a prediction on the game. You can get the podcast on Spotify or below:
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