Matchday Menu: Diego Forlán's Champions League picks

A UEFA Champions League regular with Manchester United, Villarreal and Atlético de Madrid, Uruguayan striking great Diego Forlán mixes food and football as he looks ahead to the semi-finals in the latest episode of the Just Eat Matchday Menu series.

Matchday meals, featuring Roy Keane and Diego Pérez

Food in England was something of a culture shock when Forlán first arrived from Argentinian side Independiente in 2002, the standard English breakfast involving bacon and baked beans somewhat mystifying to the then 22-year-old.

However, he got a taste for fish and chips after a few trips to the pub with team-mates Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs. "The pubs where you go there, you can have really good food," he remembers.

Even so, he will not be heading for a pub lunch if he gets his wish of a dream meal with a pair of former team-mates: in this case, his "very funny" Old Trafford captain Roy Keane and his long-term fellow Uruguayan international Diego 'El Ruso' Pérez.

What he would like to offer them is "a good barbecue... Uruguayan style, with meat, different types of achuras (offal), chorizo, cheese and potatoes as well in the barbecue. If we have a dessert, I like ice cream a lot. I can have ice cream every day."

Must-watch matches: Arsenal vs Paris, Barcelona vs Inter

With holders Real Madrid out of the running, Forlán is intrigued to see who will make it to the Champions League final in Munich. Paris have eliminated English teams in the previous two rounds, and now take on Arsenal. "Luis Enrique is doing really well," Forlán says of Paris' Spanish boss. "They like playing good football."

The Uruguayan has also been impressed by Paris duo Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha ("a very clever guy") but thinks Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino could be a key man, explaining: "He has all the tools, he understands the game, and when you have a clever guy playing who knows his role, you have a really big advantage."

Barcelona seem to have the wind in their sails as they welcome Inter, meanwhile, with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha enjoying great campaigns up front, but Forlán has Inter (who he played for in 2011/12) as his tip to win the competition.

"They've been doing it so well for so many years with the same manager, [Simone] Inzaghi," he explains. "Italian teams are defending really tough." Their Argentinian forward Lautaro Martínez, he adds, "is the main man".

A great trio compared

To conclude, Forlán lines himself up against two Champions League goalscoring greats, Lautaro Martínez and Karim Benzema, rating their relative strengths on a series of criteria. Great players all of them, but which of the three does he consider the greatest? "I always have to choose myself," he smiles.