Paris, Oct 13 (IANS): Former French soccer star Zinedine Zidane believes Paris Saint-Germain are a bigger threat than Bayern Munich in the Champions League to Real Madrid.

The legendary midfielder, who's now the head coach of Real Madrid's B team Castilla, praised Les Parisiens as one of the two favourites to win this season's Champions League, alongside with his former team Real Madrid, reported Xinhua news agency.

"For me, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are the two best clubs around in Europe at the moment," said the 43-year-old during an interview with French TV channel Canal over the weekend.

"Paris know the French league inside out, they are on another level to their rivals," he added.

Having claimed the championship of Ligue 1 for three consecutive seasons, PSG, however, have suffered three straight quarterfinal eliminations since returning to the Champions League in 2012.

Of this season, the capital side of the French first division league have beaten Malmo and Shakhtar Donetsk in their opening two Group A fixtures but face a double-header against Real next.

"They are the best two teams for me, perhaps alongside Barcelona. Bayern are slightly behind those teams," commented Zidane despite the fact that Bayern, Real and Barca were respectively the champions of the European elite competition in 2013, 2014 and 2015.