CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST-16 GUIDE

BY JOHN CROSS, JEREMY CROSS, NEIL MCLEMAN, SIMON BIRD

THE Champions League is back and now it’s time to get serious.

Sixteen teams have made it to the knockout stage with eyes already set on the final at Wembley on June 1.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are the reigning champions and are the favourites again.

But it won’t be an easy task – and here’s a look at all the teams still involved.

MANCHESTER CITY

Guardiola’s men are timing their season to perfection again and are on course to defend their Champions League title.

They’ve won 10 in a row. Top-scorer Erling Haaland is banging goals in again after injury. Kevin De Bruyne is back and the pair were on the pitch with John Stones for the first time at the weekend since the final last season.

Pep says he is almost certain the Treble is not possible again, but they should breeze through to the last eight in Europe.

Key player: ERLING HAALAND COPENHAGEN

Man City’s opponents come with a health warning. They won through to the knockout stage from a feisty group containing Manchester United, Galatasaray and Bayern Munich.

Coach Jacob Neestrup is just 35 and will be on the radar of Premier League clubs. And there’s an element of Manc rivalry to their squad, which features Oscar and Emil Hojlund, younger brothers of United’s Rasmus Hojlund.

Denmark has a two-month winter break and this is their first game of 2024.

Key player: ROONY BARDGHJI

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN

Kylian Mbappe had a rest at the weekend, unused on the bench, as

PSG beat Lille 1-0 to go 11 points clear in the French League.

He’ll be “100 percent” recovered from an ankle injury to play, said manager Luis Enrique, desperate to keep alive the French club’s dreams of becoming European champions.

A controversial 96th-minute penalty against Newcastle saved the French side from an early exit in November, but they dug out the points they needed and are formidable at home.

Key player: KYLIAN MBAPPE

REAL SOCIEDAD

This is their first Champions

League campaign for a decade and the Basques have achieved their aim of getting out of the group stage.

Imanol Alguacil’s side are unbeaten in Europe this season, but have not won in four games domestically.

They boast 11 homegrown players and play with an intensity that could shock PSG, who can look shaky when pressured. They tend to score early, press high, and will look to emulate Newcastle’s blueprint when they beat PSG 4-1. Key player: MARTIN ZUBIMENDI

PORTO

Arsenal’s next opponents and, without doubt, one of the rank outsiders in the last 16.

Brazilian striker Evanilson has been in good form — eight goals and two assists in 15 league games — and scored a hat-trick in the Champions League against Royal Antwerp. He has been on the radar of a few clubs as Porto is such a strong breeding ground.

But, interestingly, Porto have been behind Benfica and Sporting Lisbon in the title race which tells its own story.

Key player: EVANILSON

PSV EINDHOVEN

They have taken the Dutch league by storm this year and have blown

Ajax away in the title race.

Take them lightly at your peril. They qualified for the knock-out stages behind Arsenal and put out Sevilla in the process.

PSV are runaway leaders and in prolific striker Luuk de Jong they have a goal machine who is scoring for fun.

Key player: LUUK DE JONG

BORUSSIA DORTMUND

It has been a testing season for

Dortmund as they are battling for

Champions League football rather than the Bundesliga title.

That is probably why they did a loan deal for Jadon Sancho to give them a boost.

Having said all that, Dortmund qualified from the ‘Group of Death’ with Newcastle, PSG and AC Milan. They are battle-hardened in Europe and will be a threat. Marco Reus is a terrific player – even at 34.

Key player: MARCO REUS

ARSENAL

What a return to Europe’s top table for Mikel Arteta’s men and they face Porto in what should be a winnable path into the quarters.

After so many years of getting stuck at the last-16 stage, they can finally get to the quarters for the first time since 2009/10.

Arteta has enjoyed the tactical battle of the Champions League and Gabriel Jesus – if he can stay fit — has been prolific in this competition.

Key player: GABRIEL JESUS

RB LEIPZIG

The Germans remain Champions

League novices — and need a minor miracle to overcome Real Madrid in the last 16.

But Leipzig have been known to punch above their weight before, and made it all the way to the last four of the competition in 2020, before losing out to PSG.

Marco Rose’s side, who finished runners-up in their group to Manchester City, know they have nothing to lose in the knockout stages and can play without pressure.

Key player: LOIS OPENDA

REAL MADRID

The Spanish giants remain the kings of Europe, having won the competition a record 14 times. And it would take a brave person to bet against them doing it again this season.

Cruised through their group and are feeding off the inspirational impact Englishman Jude Bellingham has made since arriving at the Bernabeu last summer.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men will take some stopping – and winning this trophy is all the club is ever measured by.

Key player: VINICIUS JNR

INTER MILAN

Simone Inzaghi led Inter to the final last season, only to fall short against Treble winners Manchester City. And the Nerazzurri are impressing on the European stage again this time round, reaching the knockout stages with two games to spare.

Atletico Madrid will be a tough nut to crack in the last 16, but striker Lautaro Martinez is leading from the front as captain and is deadly in front of goal, while Marcus Thuram is also having a stand-out season.

This lot could be the dark horses.

Key player: LAUTARO MARTINEZ ATLETICO MADRID

The team no one wants to face.

The likes of Matheus Cunha and

Joao Felix have gone, but Atletico remain a force in Europe. Living in the shadow of Real gives Diego Simeone’s men a chip on their shoulder, which makes them hard to beat.

Atletico have lost just five games all season, remain unbeaten at home and reached the knockout stages without losing a group game, while conceding only six goals in the process.

And the experienced Simeone knows how to succeed in this competition, having led his side to the final in 2014 and then again in 2016. Key player: ARTHUR VERMEEREN

BAYERN MUNICH

Harry Kane’s side face a battle for the Bundesliga with Xabi Alonso’s

Bayer Leverkusen.

But on the European front, the German giants beat Manchester United home and away in the group stage to maintain their status as perennial contenders for the competition.

Along with Real Madrid, Bayern are the biggest obstacle to Manchester City retaining the title. Kane’s goals have provided a focal point while the January signing of Eric Dier has added more depth to the squad as they seek a first Champions League triumph since 2020. Key player: HARRY KANE

BARCELONA

A Champions League triumph is now the only realistic way for Xavi

Hernandez to finish his final season at the Nou Camp with silverware.

The former midfielder announced his decision to quit last month after successive heavy defeats in the Copa del Rey and La Liga.

The Catalan giants are in the knockout stages for the first time in three years despite shedding high earners such as Sergio Busquets, Ousmane Dembele and Gerard Pique.

They remain £1billion in debt and have the pressure of needing to beat Napoli and reach the quarter-finals to break even this season. Key player: ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI

NAPOLI

The Italian club have suffered a giant hangover since winning the scudetto for the first time since the days of Diego Maradona.

Head coach Luciano Spalletti left in the summer and his replacement Rudi Garcia lasted 16 games. Former Watford boss Walter Mazzarri has now returned to Napoli with the task of lifting them up the table and back into European contention for next season.

After selling Kim Mae-jin last summer, the Serie A champions also face a battle to keep Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Key player: VICTOR OSIMHEN

LAZIO

Maurizio Sarri’s third season in

Rome is set to be his last with his side languishing in mid-table and angry fans calling for the ex-chelsea coach to be sacked.

Sarri has to work with a very ordinary squad, including former Premier League players Luis Alberto, Pedro, Felipe Anderson and on-loan Matteo Guendouzi. Ciro Immobile, now 33, has scored only once since November.

Lazio came through a weak group where they beat Celtic twice and lost at Feyenoord. Key player: CIRO IMMOBILE