Tip debacle for football stars
TV experts around Henry are completely wrong with their predictions
April 18, 2024, 1:55 p.m
The semi-finals of the Champions League usually feature the same teams again and again, just in different constellations. This year there are two clubs from the Bundesliga – and a team of experts didn’t even have them on their radar.
Presenter Kate Abdo and former professional footballers Thierry Henry, Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher form the regular crew when the US channel CBS broadcasts the biggest games in European football to an English-speaking audience around the world. The quartet usually stands for humorous competence, but what world champion Henry, Abdo and their colleagues did with their predictions for the Champions League quarter-finals is likely to attract a lot of ridicule.
Before the first legs of the quarter-finals in the Champions League, Abdo predicted with great confidence: Arsenal will prevail against FC Bayern, Atlético Madrid will eliminate Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City will knock Real Madrid out of the competition and FC Barcelona will eliminate Paris Saint-Germain. Today we know: everything is wrong. In the semi-finals, FC Bayern and Real Madrid, as well as PSG and surprise team Borussia Dortmund, meet.
Former England international Richards, who played 204 Premier League games for Manchester City and Aston Villa, fully supported his colleague. 0 out of 4! Jamie Carragher, once a Champions League winner with Liverpool FC, at least foresaw that Arsenal FC would end up against FC Bayern. The rest? Incorrect.
France legend Thierry Henry, one of the greatest players in Arsenal’s long history, then simply withdrew from the process: “Oh, me? I’m only interested in Arsenal because they’re there,” joked Henry. “So I’ll start straight away with the winning tip. Arsenal. Bye, see you later.” Arsenal would win the final 3-0 against no matter who, the former world-class striker announced with a laugh. Well, things will turn out differently.
Peter Schmeichel, who was connected, did a little better than the regular crew of CBS Sports Golazo: The goalkeeper, who played for Manchester United for nine years, knew beforehand that FC Bayern and Real Madrid were the last Premier League clubs to be knocked out of the competition would.