Lionel Messi picks Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain as his Champions League favourites

Lionel Messi has chosen Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain as his favourites for the Champions League this season.

Like Barcelona, both City and PSG are unbeaten in all competitions so far with the three teams all topping their respective Champions League groups as well as their domestic leagues.

However, while the Catalans have won three and drawn twice in five Champions League group stage games so far, City and PSG have won all five group stage games with the latter scoring a record 24 goals already.

Messi, who received his fourth European Golden Shoe after scoring 37 La Liga goals last season, believes the two mega clubs can now be considered serious favourites for Europe, with both sides having never won the competition in their history.

"City is one of the strongest teams at the moment together with PSG," Messi said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

"So far, they have been the two teams that have shown themselves to be favourites, but this is a very long and tough competition."

The eight-time La Liga winner is not ruling out the likes of defending champions Real Madrid and 2013 winners Bayern Munich though.

While Madrid became the first team to retain the Champions League in the modern era earlier this year, they have not been as impressive this season.

They currently lag seven points behind Barcelona in La Liga having played a game more, and are in second place behind Tottenham Hotspur in their group.

Meanwhile, Bayern have faltered in Europe in recent seasons and seem destined to finish second behind PSG in their group, having already lost 3-0 to the Parisiens back in September.

But Messi believes the two sides will be there at the end fighting for European glory.

"I never rule out Madrid because although they're not having the results that everyone expects, I have no doubt that in the end they will be fighting for everything, as they do every year," Messi explained.

"Bayern is another big team that will also be there at the end, but it's true that today City and PSG are the best."

The final Champions League group stage games will take place on 5-6 December.