Just 16 teams remain in the UEFA Champions League, each of them returning to action this week as the road to the final in Budapest continues.
The eight teams with the best league phase records return to action, joined by the eight teams who advanced through a dramatic edition of the knockout phase playoffs. A handful of repeats of league phase fixtures await — the headliner is Manchester City’s trip to Real Madrid, but Liverpool’s clash with Galatasaray and Barcelona’s tie against Newcastle United also offer plenty of intrigue. Chelsea’s trip to Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, offers the first of two rematches of July’s Club World Cup final, which the Blues won 3-0.
Champions League title contenders Arsenal and Bayern Munich also return to action against Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta, respectively, while Tottenham Hotspur take a break from their Premier League relegation woes but face a stiff challenge at Atletico Madrid. The week’s action is rounded out by Sporting Lisbon’s trip to Bodo/Glimt, who became the first Norwegian side to advance in the Champions League knockouts in four decades after their aggregate win over Inter.
Here’s how the CBS Sports team thinks this week’s action will shake out.
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Champions League burning questions: Six English teams in the quarterfinals? Can Man City, Chelsea Spurs win?
James Benge
Tuesday’s Champions League matches
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Wednesday’s Champions League matches
Who pulls off the upset?
James Benge: Chelsea — It should be a fairly open question, how surprising it would be for Paris Saint-Germain to be beaten, given that Rennes, Sporting, Monaco and Paris FC have beaten the Champions League holders. They might not have even gotten this far if Monaco hadn’t insisted on getting red cards at inopportune moments. There are heavy legs and tired minds in the PSG side thanks to the Club World Cup, though of course that is equally true of the team that beat them in that final.
Pardeep Cattry: Bodo/Glimt — There might be a question about who the true underdog in this tie is, but Bodo/Glimt are already the Cinderella story of the Champions League and have the luck of the draw on their side. Sporting Lisbon will like their chances and will count on Luis Suarez (not that one) to add to his stellar goal tally, but it’s hard not to root for Glimt at this point and it’s even harder to underestimate them — they’re on a four-game winning streak in the Champions League, beating Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter twice during that stretch.
Francesco Porzio: Sporting CP — If you haven’t followed what happened over the past weeks in the tournament, you should expect a lot from Bodo/Glimt, especially when they play in their home field in Norway. The Norwegian side already won against both Manchester City and Atletico Madrid before knocking out Inter in the playoffs, in one of the most surprising results of the recent years. Watch out for them.
Chuck Booth: Chelsea — After already displaying how to deal with PSG’s midfield during the Club World Cup, Chelsea’s balance will give them every chance to get past the Parisians in the round of 16. Both of these are flawed sides, but with Joao Pedro in form, Chelsea have been ruthless once the ball gets to their number nine. If PSG fall asleep for a moment, which has been happening often lately, Chelsea will score.
Real Madrid vs. Man City: Which is better built to win UCL?
James Benge: Manchester City — Neither of these teams feel quite balanced enough to rank alongside Bayern Munich and Arsenal as Champions League favorites, but City have one quality Madrid don’t: institutional stability. Are you absolutely certain that Alvaro Arbeloa wouldn’t get sacked if the first leg went wrong? City might still look like a collection of ill-fitting parts, but they have Pep Guardiola to puzzle together a solution.
Pardeep Cattry: Manchester City — Manchester City are not perfect and look clearly like a team at the very beginning of a rebuild rather than one towards the end, but there is one thing they are not — Real Madrid. They may have a chunk of the world’s best attackers, but Los Blancos have been out of sorts for years. Kylian Mbappe on his own is a cheat code and could keep Los Blancos in this tie, but City have their own attackers to count on, while Pep Guardiola has a much better track record of solving his own problems than Madrid counterpart Alvaro Arbeloa.
Francesco Porzio: Real Madrid — To be fair, I don’t see either of the two teams mentioned winning the tournament this season, but Real Madrid despite all their issues have had that kind of European aura that stands out. When you have players like Vinicius Jr, anything can happen, even if injuries are deeply shaping their recent performances and ambitions for the current spell.
Chuck Booth: Real Madrid … assuming Kylian Mbappe plays — Both of these teams sport two of the best strikers in the world, but when Mbappe is on the pitch, Real Madrid can score at any moment. The issue is that with his knee injury as of late, his replacement, Gonzalo Garcia hasn’t been able to get the job done. Of course, that would say that Manchester City are the better-built side, but given the ambiguity around Mbappe’s availability, this is a situation worthy of caveats.
Game of the week
James Benge: Newcastle vs. Barcelona — A big European night at one of Europe’s finest grounds? A possible underdog story (or as much as is possible when the relative minnow has Premier League and Saudi money)? A truly fascinating clash of styles, embodied in Anthony Gordon trying to dart behind that Barcelona line? This game really does tick all the boxes you might have for a prime Champions League tie.
Pardeep Cattry: Real Madrid vs. Manchester City — These two teams always seem to find a way to play each other, making this tie an instant Champions League classic even when they’re not at their best. This one is hard to predict, making it a perfect platform for a memorable moment from at least one of the world-class players that will take part in the two-legged series. Plus, someone’s going to end the round of 16 in crisis mode, if they’re not already there.
Francesco Porzio: PSG vs. Chelsea — This is going to be an exciting one. The 2025 Champions League winners will meet the Club World Cup winners in a rematch of the final that took place last summer. This tie probably won’t be decided in the first leg, which will take place in Paris, but it can definitely become one of the most iconic clashes of the European season.
Chuck Booth: Atletico Madrid vs. Tottenham — Benge has the technically correct answer of Barcelona, but while Tottenham have fallen into a relegation race in England, this is a true test of whether their European form can continue to transcend that of their Premier League form. Of course, there’s a different manager at the helm now with Igor Tudor taking over for Thomas Frank, but that only adds to the strange allure as Tottenham, of all teams, could end Atletico’s best chance in quite a while at making it to the Champions League final.
