Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Real Madrid's hopes of winning the Champions League this season will be determined by their use of the counter-attack.

Ferdinand has previously been quoted as favouring Barcelona and Bayern Munich for the European Cup this season, but Real Madrid booked their spot in the quarter-finals with a 4-0 aggregate success over Roma on Tuesday night.

When questioned on Real Madrid's chances, Ferdinand has claimed that Zinedine Zidane's side "have a chance" of winning it, but must make full use of their potent counter-attacking threat.

"Real Madrid's biggest threat is on the counter-attack. If they can defend well and let the three forwards go, they have a chance," Ferdinand told BT Sport.

Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez both netted as Real Madrid beat Roma 2-0 at the Bernabeu in the second leg of their last-16 clash.