All four English sides are through to the knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League in the new year, having successfully navigated some tricky looking groups in significantly shortened time.
The opening round of the tournament would usually last until mid-December but with the Fifa World Cup in Qatar on the horizon each club’s six group stage games have been completed by the beginning of November, giving their respective managers over three months to study and prepare for their last-16 opponents ahead of the next round of fixtures in February.
Alongside Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Liverpool in the draw are European giants including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan, while the likes of Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain are looking to win the tournament for the first time.
So, how do all of the remaining teams stack up against one another? i has ranked all of the remaining clubs by how likely they could be to win the tournament.
Uefa Champions League draw details
- The Champions League last-16 draw will take place at 11am GMT on Monday 7 November.
- It will be streamed live on the BT Sport YouTube channel in the UK.
- Group winners will take on group runners-up. Teams from the same group or nation cannot meet in this round.
16 – Club Brugge
With by far the smallest budget of any team remaining in the competition, Belgian champions Club Brugge are rank outsiders to go on and lift the trophy, but impressed with a solid group stage performance that saw them qualify ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and Diego Simeone.
Carl Hoefkens’ team were in pole position to top the group with two matches remaining, but two games without a win saw them drop into second behind Porto, meaning they face a potentially tougher draw in the last-16. Hans Vanaken and Noa Lang are their most dangerous players, while former Premier League players Simon Mignolet, Dennis Odoi and Dedryck Boyata are also in their squad.
Odds to win tournament – 250/1
15 – Eintracht Frankfurt
Last season’s Europa League winners were bottom of their group heading into the final round of fixtures, but came through in second place behind Spurs thanks to a victory away at Sporting and are now in the knockout rounds of Europe’s premier competition for the first time since 1960.
They will face a tricky tie in the first knockout round, but their experience of reaching a European final last time around could come in very handy, while former Nantes forward Randal Kolo Muani is in fine form up front.
Odds to win tournament – 150/1
14 – FC Porto
Sergio Conceicao’s side managed to top their group after a shaky start. They lost their opening two fixtures to Atletico Madrid and Club Brugge, before going on a four match winning run to pass all three of their rivals, and will now face a second-placed side in the last 16.
Former Real Madrid nark Pepe remains their captain, while Iran international Medhi Taremi is tasked with scoring goals in attack. They last won the competition in 2004, under future Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs manager Jose Mourinho.
Odds to win tournament – 100/1
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They may have sacked their manager already this season, but RB Leipzig managed to progress past a tricky looking group to finish second behind Real Madrid and ahead of both Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic.
The German outfit have dangerous players in attack, including former Paris Saint-Germain forward Christopher Nkunku, and reached the semi-finals in 2019/20 when they were beaten by the French side.
Odds to win tournament – 66/1
12 – Borussia Dortmund
Having lost Erling Haaland to Manchester City in the summer, Borussia Dortmund are a less dangerous proposition in Europe than they were in previous years, but still beat off competition from FC Kobenhavn and Sevilla to finish second behind Manchester City in their group.
Still only 19, Midlands-born Jude Bellingham provides creativity and leadership in midfield, and few of the group winners will fancy the trip to the intimidating Westfalenstadion for the first knockout round.
Odds to win tournament – 50/1
11 – Inter
Inter were knocked out in the group stage last season, but impressed this time around, knocking out Barcelona as they finished second behind Bayern Munich to progress.
Under the tutelage of Simone Inzaghi the Italian side are a threat on the counter, with Belgium international Romelu Lukaku back among the goals after his disappointing one-year stint at Chelsea last season. They have the potential to gar in the competition but could be hampered by having to face a group winner in the first knockout round.
Odds to win tournament – 50/1
Most likely opponents for English sides
The fact that teams cannot face clubs from the same country or the same group means that some draws are more likelier than others. These are the most likely opponents for each English side:
- Chelsea: Inter 19.1%, Frankfurt 18%, Dortmund 18%, Leipzig 17.4%, PSG 13.9%, Brugge 13.9%
- Tottenham: Inter 18.9%, Dortmund 18.1%, AC Milan 17.8%, Leipzig 17.4%, PSG, 13.9%, Brugge 13.9%
- Manchester City: Inter 18.9%, Frankfurt 18.1%, AC Milan 17.8%, Leipzig 17.4%, PSG 13.9%, Brugge 13.9%
- Liverpool: Bayern Munich 37.1%, Real Madrid 21.3%, Benfica 20.8%, Porto 20.8%
10 – Benfica
A 6-1 win at Maccabi Haifa in the final round of fixtures was enough to take Benfica to the top of Group H ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, meaning they will face a runner-up in the last 16.
The Portuguese club would have been expected by plenty to drop into the Europa League, but delivered a succession of impressive performances which condemned Juventus to that fate instead.
Odds to win tournament – 40/1
9 – AC Milan
The seven-time winners left it late to secure their qualification, needing a win in the final round of fixtures to see off the challenge of RB Salzburg, but are through and aiming to win the tournament for the eighth time.
Stefano Pioli’s side have already improved on their performance from last season, when they finished bottom of a group containing Liverpool, Porto and Atletico Madrid, and will be banking on the impressive form of ex-Arsenal and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud continuing in the knockout rounds.
Odds to win tournament – 50/1
8 – Chelsea
Chelsea’s form has been inconsistent since Graham Potter replaced the sacked Thomas Tuchel, who led the Blues to their second Champions League triumph when they beat Manchester City in the 2021 final in Portugal.
They topped their group and will be favourites to progress no matter who they draw in the last 16, but will need their attack to be running more efficiently if they are to go deep in the competition this time around.
Odds to win tournament – 14/1
Most frequent winners of the Champions League/European Cup
14 – Real Madrid
7 – AC Milan
6 – Liverpool, Bayern Munich
5 – Barcelona
4 – Ajax
3 – Manchester United, Inter
2 – Benfica, Chelsea, Juventus, Nottingham Forest, Porto
1 – Aston Villa, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Feyenoord, Hamburg, Marseille, PSV Eindhoven, Red Star Belgrade, Steaua Bucharest
7 – Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs were heading out of Europe entirely at half-time in the final round of matches, with Marseille’s 1-0 lead set to condemn them to fourth place. But two second-half goals saw them jump to the top of the standings, and Antonio Conte’s side progressed as group winners.
They may be struggling to stitch together consistently strong performances, but with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in attack they will be a dangerous proposition for any team in the last 16.
Odds to win tournament – 14/1
6 – Napoli
Their 2-0 defeat at Anfield in the final round of fixtures was their first loss of the season, as Luciano Spalletti’s side have taken a runaway lead at the top of Serie A and won all five of their first group stages matches.
An attack including two of Europe’s most exciting young forwards, Victor Osimhen and Kvicha Kvaratshkelia, is an enormous threat to any team in Europe. Napoli are the continent’s top scorers so far this season and could have an outside chance of going on to lift the trophy for the first time.
Odds to win tournament – 16/1
5 – Liverpool
Despite their horrendous Premier League form, which has seen them win just four of their opening 12 matches, Liverpool have been in much finer fettle in Europe and won five of their six group stage fixtures to finish second behind Napoli.
The Reds have made it to three finals in five previous seasons in the Champions League under Jurgen Klopp, and if they can find some consistency and bring in a couple of fresh faces in January, will be among the favourites to win the tournament. None of the group winners will fancy a last 16 trip to Anfield.
Odds to win tournament – 8/1
Champions League final 2023 details
- Date: 10 June 2023
- Host nation: Turkey
- City: Istanbul
- Venue: Ataturk Arena
- Stadium capacity: 76,092
4 – Paris Saint-Germain
PSG would probably be higher up this list had Benfica’s big win in the final round of group stage fixtures not taken them to stop spot in Group H, leaving the French champions second and facing the possibility of a significantly tougher last 16 tie.
With Lionel Messi back in something approaching top form, and Kylian Mbappé and Neymar either side of him in manager Christophe Galtier’s 3-4-1-2 shape, PSG have probably their best ever team and could finally go all the way this year.
Odds to win tournament – 7/1
3 – Bayern Munich
With an impeccable record of six wins from six in a group which also included Inter and Barcelona, Bayern were arguably the most impressive performer in this year’s group stage.
They may not top the Bundesliga as things stand, but the Bavarians are always one of the toughest draws in the Champions League and with new signings Matthijs de Ligt, Sadio Mane and Ryan Gravenberch in the squad, are capable of taking a serious shot at reaching the final, having last won the tournament in 2020.
Odds to win tournament – 5/1
2 – Manchester City
Having somehow not win the tournament since Pep Guardiola’s arrival in England, Manchester City are the bookmakers’ favourites this time around, with the unstoppable Erling Haaland’s goalscoring form giving the Premier League champions an even greater threat in attack than before.
With four wins and two draws in the group stage, City have started their European campaign well and will almost certainly progress until at least the semi-finals next spring.
Odds to win tournament – 7/4
1 – Real Madrid
They may only been fifth favourites to be crown champions of Europe in Istanbul next June, but Real Madrid have a power in the European Cup which no other club can match.
They were second favourites against all of Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool last season but managed to beat all three on their way to winning the tournament for a staggering 14th time, and are the only team in history to have retained the Champions League.
With Carlo Ancelotti – the most successful manager in the history of the competition with four wins to his name – in the dugout, they have as good a chance as any side of winning it again.
Odds to win tournament – 10/1
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