Roman Weidenfeller, former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper and a 2014 Brazil World Cup winner with Germany, feels Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have a good chance of winning the Champions League this season.
Barcelona play Inter Milan in the first leg of the second semi-final at home on Wednesday. The first semi-final is between Arsenal and PSG at the Emirates Stadium in London.
“To me, they are the two teams who can go all the way to the podium,” Weidenfeller told The Telegraph during an interaction on Monday. He was speaking from Mumbai, “having landed just a few hours before.”
“Barcelona are in great form. They have just won the Copa del Rey, defeating Real Madrid in Sevilla. But Barcelona always have a problem when they play away. I saw them in the first round of the Champions League in Dortmund. It was not a good performance, they won 3-2. And two weeks back, when they played at our home (Dortmund’s BVB Stadion), in the second leg of the quarter-final, it was again not a great show. Away, they have some problems. At home, they are strong,” he said.
Barcelona won the first leg 4-0 but survived a scare, losing 3-1 at Dortmund, prevailing 5-3 on aggregate.
“We were bad in that away match. You can lose against Barcelona, but 4-0! It’s too much. In the second leg at home, Dortmund played a great match, without enough luck. And when Barca scored a goal, the dream was over. If we had conceded fewer goals in Barcelona, may be 2-0 or 3-1, then it would have been possible to change the situation in the home game.”
Praise for Flick
Barcelona have transformed under new coach Hansi Flick, and fans are dreaming of the Champions League title they last won in 2015.
Weidenfeller was in the national team when Flick was Joachim Loew’s deputy and Germany scripted a memorable World Cup triumph in Brazil 11 years back.
“Hansi had a lot of success with our team in 2014. He is one of the best guys. Jogi (Loew) was always in control of everything, but Hansi was the human guy. A good personality, a great head coach with an astute brain. He always has a great tactic,” he said.
“Bayern won six trophies in one calendar year, including the Bundesliga and Champions League, under him in 2020. And now Barca are doing wonders. People talk about (Juergen) Klopp. Hansi maybe is not so famous in public perception, but he is also a great head coach,” Weidenfeller, who won two Bundesliga titles (2011, 2012) when Klopp was in Dortmund, said.
Dembele reborn
A young and talented Ousmane Dembele was in Dortmund during the latter part of Weidenfeller’s 16-year stay at the club.
Dembele, then just 20, moved to Barcelona in the summer of 2017, but never really got going. Now at PSG, the 27-year-old is showing his class under Luis Enrique.
“After Kylian Mbappe left for Madrid, the other guys like Dembele took more responsibility. Dembele has been brilliant this season, scoring a lot of goals.
“In Barcelona, he was not great. Maybe this is his season. He is growing up a bit, is a lot calmer than he was in Dortmund,” was Weidenfeller’s take.
“When we were together he was a player with a great future. Unfortunately, he could not justify his talent then. That’s because he did not work enough and was a little bit crazy in his head.
“He was young, I can understand that. When I was young, maybe I was a different guy than I am today,” the 2013 Champions League runner-up said.