In Fan Park today, we take a look at the favourites to win this season's Champions League.
After five matchdays, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint Germain, Barcelona, Chelsea, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk have all qualified for the Round of 16 stage at the tournament with the rest of the teams looking to fight it out for the remaining six spots in the second round of the competition.
We are going to take a look at the five teams that should be in competition for the title (not considering the upcoming draws), given their performances in this season's tournament.
Real Madrid
Last season's champions remain the only team in this season's competition to have a 100% record. With five wins in five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded only two so far and you can be sure that after realising their La Decima dream that they will be determined to secure the Undecimo, their 11th title.
Bayern Munich
Pep Guardiola's team can never be ruled out of contention these days and, despite a loss to Manchester City this week, they boast some incredible quality in every part of the pitch. The way they dominated a very difficult group shows that they are capable of asserting their dominance against any team in Europe.
Barcelona
Where would Real Madrid be without their eternal rivals to keep them company? Barcelona may be a shadow of the incredible team they once were, but Luis Enrique is slowly building up a new generation of stars, with the great Lionel Messi still featuring at his brilliant best this season. The Catalans have the highest possession and pass accuracy rates in the group stages, and even their Matchday Two loss to PSG has deterred them from winning all of their other games in style, scoring 12 times in the process.
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho's team has stumbled to two draws in this tournament's group stage, but have secured qualification to the next round with relative ease anyways. It's difficult to think of many other teams that boast similar quality across their entire squad and their ability to shut games out and grind out results should prove to be very useful in the knockout stages.Add Mourinho's tactical ability and experience to the mix, and you have a team that will be very difficult to beat.
Paris Saint Germain
A rising club in Europe, the French team have an abundance of quality available to them, and, with Laurent Blanc in the dugout, they can beat anyone on their day even without the help of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as they proved on Matchday Two in their win against Barcelona. But, with Ibrahimovic in their team, you can be sure that the Swedish striker will be giving his all to claim his first Champions League winners medal.
So, there they are. Five of the clubs that you can expect to be in the Champions League right until the death. I can't wait until the knockout rounds begin!
Who do you think will win this year's Champions League?
