The Champions League is entering the final stage: 16 of them have already qualified for the round of 16, and the table speaks for itself. He writes 4 Spanish, 3 German, 3 Italian, 2 English, 1 French, 1 Dutch, 1 Portuguese and 1 Danish. He speaks and says things: the four Spaniards are first in their groups, a significant merit that also gives them an advantage: playing the next stage against the runners-up. And with a revenge match at home. Of the three Germans, two go to the first pot of the draw: Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, while Leipzig finished behind Manchester City, which can happen to anyone and there is no need to blush. Inter, Napoli and Lazio passed the round, albeit as runners-up, but it is still commendable that Calcio gets three representatives. What about the French, no surprise, one thing and thanks, to the usual one, PSG, who got a very clear referee’s help to get into the 16. It’s amazing that the best league in the world, the Premier, has only two ambassadors, although both very good : Arsenal and Manchester City.

Denmark’s Copenhagen is credited with sending Manchester United to the bottom of the sea. And maybe PSV Eindhoven, who has a great performance in the Dutch tournament, has something to say: they have 15 wins in the first 15 rounds. PSV was second behind Arsenal in their zone.

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Who can reach the Wembley final on June 1st…? Madrid is looking for its fifteenth star in the competition and is a great candidate. He was the only one of those classified with a perfect score; they won 6 out of 6. Although they had a weak group (Sporting Braga, Unión Berlin, boring Napoli), they showed toughness and firepower – especially for Bellingham, who had a fantastic start to their first season in the merengue. Bayern, Manchester City, Atlético de Madrid, Real Sociedad and Inter finished unbeaten. Madrid always hurts and goes for everything in Europe. And in February, when the round of 16 arrives, they will recover Vinicius, who was injured in mid-November. With Vinicius and Rodrygo up top and Bellingham behind them, it will be hard to turn over.

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Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern (they already know what it means to be a champion) is the main enemy of the white team. Always powerful, competitive, ambitious, with a very large team, top quality and “Bayern mentality”, he should reach very high levels. Another one aiming high is Guardiola’s City, the reigning champions, who now play without the mental backpack of never having won the crown. With no stars apart from their goalscorer Haaland, the city team’s weapons are their possession and pressure which is unbearable for everyone. He is also waiting for a famous injured player: De Bruyne, with whose help his chances increase significantly. City face the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup all at the same time. Excess matches that can cost you dearly. This was the cause of De Bruyne’s long injury. He has already been relegated from the League Cup.

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They are the three main favourites. And this is how bookmakers see it: City pays 2.95 euros for the league title, Madrid 7.65, and Bayern 9.15 euros.

Among the elements of surprise, four are worth mentioning. 1) Mikel Arteta’s increasingly strong Arsenal wants to make a sensation and win the title, no less than in his home city, London. In his fifth season with the Gunners, Arteta has already given him the combative character he needs to push for the continent’s top trophy. And he has great talent. 2) We place Inter Milan on the same level, which was a finalist last year and is the leader in Serie A and shows a very high level. The entire roster from last year follows, the same coach Simone Inzaghi and the great sporting director Beppe Marotta. 3) Atlético de Madrid. In its thirteenth season, The Cholo Simeone keeps him in the League and in Europe, he always fights. Interesting fact: despite being classed as defensive strategists, Atleti are the second highest scoring team in the Champions League: 17 goals in six games, behind City who scored 18. 4) Real Sociedad continues to surprise with magnificent football from the hands of Imanol Alguacil and he is capable of taking down any opponent, no matter how powerful he is. And he starts well, he will play against the full back, in addition to defining the stage in San Sebastián.

There are two separate cases: Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain. Not all Iberians are happy: chestnuts burn in Barcelona. Barça finished top of their group playing terribly and losing to lowly (and eliminated) Antwerp from Belgium. He previously fell out with Ukrainian Shakhtar Donetsk, who played him outside their country due to the war and beat him. Xavi didn’t get fired because he is a colossal figure among Barcelona fans, but when it comes to this club, anything is possible, he is the world champion in bullying idols. With Joan Laporte as president, the Catalan club sacked Messi in an undignified manner “because there was no way to pay him”. He immediately spent hundreds of millions on dozens of reinforcements who could not cope with the jersey. The last one, Lewandowski, about whom criticism is intensifying. At the age of 34, Barça paid 45 (+ 5) million euros for him to Bayern Munich and gave him a contract worth 52 million euros net for four years. “Lewandowski is today a player who crawls around the field looking more like a centre-back than a striker, showered with a golden contract. The Pole should have been the leader of this team, but he wasn’t. His bullying of his colleagues only increases his frustration because he does not live up to what is expected of him,” writes Albert Masnou, deputy director of the newspaper. Sport, from Barcelona.

As for PSG, it should first be said that they were very close to elimination against Newcastle in Paris, but the Polish referee Szymon Marciniak awarded them a non-existent penalty in the 98th minute, which tied the game at 1:1. It is unusual that the same referee gave 8 minutes of stoppage time when there were no injuries, suspensions or incidents, the game had almost no interruptions, and Newcastle did not make a single change. With 4 minutes of extra time, it was more than enough. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and his friend Nasser Al-Khelaifi were together in the box. In relation to the academic year 2022/2023, the Parisians improved thanks to ten new recruits for 432 million euros. But it still doesn’t look solid. And if it wasn’t for that unjustified penalty, we probably wouldn’t be analyzing it now. “The attack costs 350 million euros, and they are not capable of scoring a goal. Luis Enrique explains in every game that he had more chances than his opponents. I don’t care about that! I see that PSG is not improving in any area,” criticized Christophe Dugarry, the 1998 world champion.

Finally, it should be said that Napoli is not the same as last season, when it was the champion of Italy and a sensation in Europe. In Italy, they are sixth, 14 points behind Inter. Luciano Spalletti left, and Rudi García arrived, dismissed due to poor results. Now there’s Walter Mazzarri. These changes marked the decline of the team. It doesn’t look like they will go far in this Champions League.

The draw for the round of 16 is on Monday and everyone’s route will be marked. Three of the last four champions (Bayern, Madrid, City) are once again rivals to beat. If they get in the way, then yes, anyone can be crowned. (OR)