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So 16 has turned into eight as the Champions League comes to the end of the season, and Friday’s quarterfinal draw is eagerly awaited.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are the three remaining representatives of the Premier League, joining the German duo Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, as well as League giants Real Madrid, French first team Paris Saint-Germain and Portuguese Porto. , who beat Juventus to progress.
So where is your money now?
Friday’s draw is sure to give us more information on who can win the tournament this season, but for now here are the latest power rankings.
Who is heading to the final in Istanbul? And who is likely not to go further?
8. Porto
(Image: Getty Images)
Pepe’s challenge, Cristiano Ronaldo’s fury, the red card, the late drama. The second leg between Juventus and Porto really had it all, but that doesn’t change the fact that most, if not all of the remaining clubs in the competition will want to face the Portuguese team on Friday.
Porto is perennial in the round of 16 classification, and then there are years in which they go one step further and reach the quarter-finals, but that’s it.
It will be the homeless who they face, and while they are an admirable outfit, the last four seem too far away for them.
7. Borussia Dortmund
(Image: NurPhoto / PA Images)
It is true that Erling Haaland could take the game away from any opponent he faces in the last eight, but Dortmund’s problem lies in the other direction.
They have already lost nine of their 25 Bundesliga matches this season and, like a couple of other clubs on this list, they face a fight to qualify again for this competition.
With Haaland close by, you can expect their quarter-final tie to be high-scoring, but they may send too many on the wrong side.
6. Real Madrid
(Image: NurPhoto / PA Images)
“They are not grandparents,” was Zinedine Zidane’s rather emphatic response as to whether or not he was surprised that players like Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric could still cut him to the highest level after the victory over Atalanta.
Karim Benzema shined in that game too, but the established names aren’t the reason Real Madrid probably won’t win the Champions League this season – more are around them.
They will need a nice draw if they want to progress, and a physical side might be too much for them.
5. Liverpool
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
There were green shoots of recovery during Liverpool’s victory over RB Leipzig in the round of 16, and it is true that almost all of their potential opponents will play with a style that is likely to suit a team that has repeatedly faced obstacles. in the Premier League this season.
Diogo Jota’s return from injury has helped fuel the attack in recent games, but the problem remains at the back.
Nat Phillips and Ozan Kabak have done well, but against the elite forwards who remain in the Champions League they could be in trouble.
Liverpool need a good draw.
4. Chelsea
(Image: PA)
Thomas Tuchel has entered Stamford Bridge and has probably been incredibly impressed by the side Frank Lampard has left him, with the German chairing 13 matches in a row without beating him since his appointment.
Some of the football has not been the brightest at the time, with Chelsea favoring the methodical, possession-based approach that we have seen from other successful teams during this phase of ‘pandemic football’.
They certainly have the players to go all the way, and they will be a team most clubs will want to avoid on Friday.
3. Paris Saint-Germain
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
If Barcelona was supposed to look like a true test of PSG’s European ambitions this season, then it was a test that was passed with flying colors.
Kylian Mbappé’s hat-trick at Camp Nou in the first leg feels like the kind of thing we’ll remember when he picked up his fifth Ballon d’Or, and with the striker in the mood to correct last season’s final defeat. . then everything could be possible for Parisians.
It could also be an advantage that they are in a real fight for the Ligue 1 crown this season, currently three points behind Lille with nine games to play.
That competitive advantage might be necessary.
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2. Manchester City
(Image: PA)
Pep Guardiola’s reinvention of his City team now sees them as a less devastating strike force and more as a side that will control and defeat you even before you’ve figured out what you want to do.
City have become enormously adept at playing with a style that makes the most of the sterile environment, and if this season’s Champions League turns into a battleground for the most technical and tactically astute coaches, then they have the best.
They will have to overcome their usual wobbles in Europe in order to progress, but right now you can easily see them as finalists.
1. Bayern Munich
(Image: Getty Images)
They passed Lazio with minimal fuss, and Bayern will surely be the club everyone wants to avoid in the last eight as they cannot be seen to miss the semi-finals.
The Hansi Flick team has danced this dance before, winning the tournament behind closed doors in Lisbon last year, and the thought of doing it again in front of some kind of crowd in Istanbul is sure to get them going.
They have the players, the talent and the knowledge to win this competition again, and you wouldn’t be surprised at all if they did.
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