FINALLY.
It's back.
Europe's premier football competition is back.
After such a lengthy break from UEFA Champions League football, in order re-jig all our memories about who's even in the competition at this point, we at 90min have decided to rank the teams in the round of 16.
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16. Club Brugge
Their manager is quite literally Scott Parker.
Never ever trust a manger in a gilet.
15. Eintracht Frankfurt
The Europa League holders still look like a Europa League level football team.
14. AC Milan
There's a very easy way to exemplified just how deep in the pits AC Milan are right now: Divock Origi started the most recent Milan derby - which they lost...obviously.
I Rossoneri are in woeful form right now and should be considered massive underdogs for their clash with Tottenham.
13. Tottenham Hotspur
The team Milan are set to face off against are favourites for their round of 16 clash, but that's not to say Tottenham have been particularly good recently.
They lost 4-1 at the weekend and also lost their best midfielder - Rodrigo Bentancur - to a season-ending injury too.
Things have taken a turn for the worse.
12. RB Leipzig
It's been a rather topsy-turvy season for RB Leipzig thus far. One week they'll be beating Real Madrid 3-2, and the next they'll be losing 2-0 to Wolfsburg.
You never really know what you're going to get with them, so it'll be interesting to see which Leipzig shows up in the round of 16.
11. Porto
The Portuguese giants lost their first two UEFA Champions League group stage games before stringing together four wins on the bounce to squeeze into the round of 16. That's impressive.
The fact they're unbeaten since mid-October is also impressive.
10. Liverpool
One win in 2023.
Seven defeats in the Premier League.
Out of every other cup competition.
They're just quite bad, aren't they?
9. Borussia Dortmund
BVB have Jude Bellingham.
I don't think we need to justify their placing in this list with anything more than that.
8. Chelsea
A lot of money has been spent at Chelsea.
A LOT.
A lot of it on positions they were already pretty stacked in (wide midfield), but the signings of Enzo Fernandez and Joao Felix could make the Blues a tricky out in the latter stages of the Champions League this season.
7. Inter
They're not the team they were under Antonio Conte a few seasons ago, however there's a few real match winners in the Inter squad that can make a difference for them.
Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez are the main ones.
6. Paris Saint-Germain
Speaking of teams how have some match winners in their squad, PSG have about a million in theirs.
The only issue is they seem to have a few bottlers in it too (we're not going to name names), and their manager Christophe Galtier still hasn't quite found a tactic that gets the best out of the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Oh and they're also facing Bayern in the round of 16. Which is an obvious issue.
5. Benfica
Benfica?
Fifth?
Ahead of PSG?
Well, considering they finished ahead of PSG in Group H, obviously.
The Portuguese side have been exceptional both in Europe and domestically this season. They're one to watch.
4. Bayern Munich
Bayern haven't been as impressive as you'd expect in the Bundesliga this season - it's February and they still haven't won the league - but in Europe they've excelled.
Six wins from six in a group that contained Barcelona and Inter is mightily impressive.
3. Real Madrid
The current holders and recent Club World Cup winners have a pedigree that no other team has in this competition.
Los Blancos have a squad full of players with experience at winning it all, and that bodes well for them heading into the knockout rounds this time round.
If Karim Benzema can stay fit they'll be a force.
2. Manchester City
All things considered, Manchester City should win the Champions League this year.
There's only two things that can stand in their way: Pep Guardiola overthinking his tactics again, and...
1. Napoli
The current best football team in Europe.
Napoli have steamrolled basically every team they've played throughout the 2022/23 season thanks to Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia literally being the best footballers in the world right now.
If they continue their fine form, it's hard to imagine any team beating them.
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Source : 90min