Contenders and pretenders: The eight sides remaining in the Champions League

Originally posted on Top-soccer.com

And then there were eight. On Friday, the quarter-finals draw of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League will get underway, and fans are already looking forward to some great clashes taking place.

The eight teams set to take part are: Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, PSG, and Real Madrid. Spain has three representatives, England, two, Germany, two, and France, one. No Italian side made it beyond the round of 16, including Inter, who made a very impressive run to last year’s final.

Manchester City, as reigning champions are aiming to defend their crown and become the first English side to do so since the Champions League was reformatted in 1992. Liverpool are the first and last English team overall to defend their European crown, having done so in 1977 and 1978. Meanwhile, Real Madrid, with 14 titles, are by far the most successful team in this competition, while Barcelona will be hoping for redemption after an overall disappointing domestic campaign by their high standards.

Bayern Munich are pretty much in the same boat as Barcelona – die Roten are already out of the DFB-Pokal and the Bundesliga title, something that had been a guarantee for well over a decade, will very likely be passing them by this season. As such, the German side’s only hope at putting some shine on a poor season will be to win the Champions League.

Elsewhere, PSG, who have spent astronomical sums on their quest to conquer Europe, will once again seek to prove their doubters wrong and get their hands on the trophy that has eluded them for well over a decade – but tensions within the club due to Kylian Mbappe and his ongoing dramas could derail that. Borussia Dortmund, for their part, last won the Champions League in 1997 and finished as runners-up to Bayern in 2013; die Schwarzgelben notably topped a very tough group that also contained PSG, AC Milan, and Newcastle so certainly are proving not to be pushovers in this contest. However, actually winning what would be their second Champions League trophy looks to be well out of reach for Edin Terzic’s squad.

Arsenal needed penalties to see off a very stubborn Porto side, and although the Gunners are very much in the mix for the title in the Premier League, there are still some questions about whether Mikel Arteta’s young side have what it takes to match wits with the best in Europe. And finally, Atletico Madrid have been quietly going about their business – first topping their group by four points and then battling from 1-0 down in the first leg to eventually beat last season’s finalists Inter on penalties (after the second leg had finished as a 2-1 win for Los Rojiblancos and 2-2 on the night in the series).

So, with that in mind, who are the contenders and who are the pretenders when it comes to clinching the coveted prize? Let’s have a quick look.

Contenders

Manchester City: An obvious favorite to win not just the Premier League but also successfully defend their Champions League crown. City have looked mostly comfortable so far and have recovered key players just at the right time. Barring a surprising result, it is hard not to see the Cityzens making it at least to the semi-finals, and they are heavy favorites to be featuring in the showpiece final at Wembley.

Real Madrid: No team have won more Champions League titles than Real Madrid (14). As such, Los Blancos are always contenders for the coveted prize each season, and quite a few neutrals will be salivating about the prospect of a Carlo Ancelotti vs. Pep Guardiola match-up in this season’s final – that is, if they aren’t (unfortunately) paired off in the quarter or semi-finals.

Bayern Munich: Yes, they are having a very poor season – at least by Bayern’s standards. However, die Roten clearly still do have the players and tactical nous in this competition to pose a real threat. In fact, given that they will be throwing all their resources into this competition without having to focus on other tournaments, the German side could pose a real threat, especially if they get a “favorable” draw in the quarter-finals and book a semi-finals berth.

Pretenders

Arsenal: As noted before, the Gunners are having a strong season in the Premier League as they hope to end their decades long wait for the title. However, they are largely a younger squad and while they could make a run to the semi-finals – depending on their opponents – this season just does not look like it will be Arsenal’s to get their hands on the coveted prize.

Atletico Madrid: Diego Simeone is no stranger to the Champions League, and his team were quite solid during the group stages. Consistency, however, has eluded Los Rojiblancos at times this season, although they just may end up surprising most observers as they have done in the past.

Borussia Dortmund: Die Schwarzgelben have shown signs of brilliance, but they simply do not have the personnel to be a serious challenger in this competition. That being said, they could pull off a surprise or two in the quarter-finals and earn a spot in the semis, where, at that point, it does become more or less anyone’s game.

PSG: Simply put, the Kylian Mbappe ongoing saga has cast a rather unpleasant light over Les Parisiens this season (as it has in prior campaigns, too). Despite having an excellent tactician in Luis Enrique, it is hard to see the ambitious and cash rich French club really being among the contenders for the title, especially considering the strength of other competitors remaining in the competition. PSG hardly impressed in their group stage campaign, winning just two of their matches and despite getting an “easy” draw in the round of 16, did not exactly cruise to victory against Real Sociedad.

Barcelona: Although they are into their first quarter-finals since 2020, Barcelona did not look fully convincing against Napoli, nor did they dominate their quartet in a way that many would have expected. In addition, the Blaugrana have struggled in the Champions League over the past few years, and even were dumped out early of the group stage not so long ago. As such, in past years, they definitely would have been among the heavy favorites, but that time has seemingly passed. They are not the all-feared, all-conquering side that had many teams trembling in their wake, and while they do have some young and promising talent in their ranks, plus experienced players like Robert Lewandowski, this Barcelona team simply, on paper at least, do not stack up to the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City as serious contenders for European club football’s most premium prize.

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