Michael Ballack has picked Liverpool as his favourites to win this season’s Champions League. The Reds beat Lille 2-1 on Tuesday night to book their place in the round-of-16 with a game to spare.

Boasting an 100% winning record from their seven league matches to date, they are already assured of a top-two finish and to be seeded when the knockout stages get underway.

But while Arne Slot’s men have flourished in Europe so far this season in the inaugural edition of the revamped Champions League, it has proven to be a rather different story for some of the continent’s biggest names - including reigning European champions Real Madrid.

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While the top eight qualify automatically for the round-of-16, the teams who finished ninth to 24th will instead meet in the knockout phase play-offs to progress to the last 16.

Real Madrid and Man City are currently 22nd and 24th respectively, with the La Liga giants losing half of their six matches to date and Pep Guardiola’s side winning two, drawing two and losing two.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain sit 26th - a point behind City - with all three currently still at risk of being eliminated from the Champions League altogether.

Consequently, former Chelsea midfielder Ballack is not convinced by Real Madrid’s chances of defending their European crown this season. Instead, both impressed and surprised by Liverpool, he is tipping Slot’s side to go all the way.

“Judging by their performances so far, Real Madrid are not my top favourite,’ he told BILD. “That would be Liverpool, who are currently dominating the Champions League.

“I was positively surprised by how Arne Slot managed the transition after the Jurgen Klopp era came to an end.

“It is always twice as difficult when you follow greats like Klopp or somebody like Jose Mourinho at my former club Chelsea, who achieved something unique.”