Champions League 2025-26 Power Rankings: It's Arsenal's trophy for the taking - but Real Madrid and Chelsea are in big trouble after dreadful last-16 draws

This season's Champions League has been a real rollercoaster ride for Bayer Leverkusen, who stunned Manchester City at the Etihad just over a month after being hammered 7-2 at home by Paris Saint-Germain.

It can, thus, be a little difficult to know what to expect from Kasper Hjulmand's side, who still have some quality players in their squad, such as Patrik Schick, Alex Grimaldo and Edmond Tapsoba - despite seeing several members of Xabi Alonso's double-winning team following the Spanish coach out the door last summer.

However, given the rather dour nature of their play-off win over Olympiacos, we don't give a very limited Leverkusen any chance of beating Arsenal in the last 16.

There's no sugar-coating it: Galatasaray are very fortunate to be in the last 16. The Turkish champions won just three games in the league stage and took just one point from their final four fixtures.

Thanks to the very forgiving nature of the new format, 10 points proved sufficient to set up a play-off clash with Juventus, whom Gala hammered 5-2 in Istanbul - thanks in no small part to the second-half dismissal of Juan Cabal. However, Okan Buruk's side were absolutely dreadful in the return clash in Turin - even though the Bianconeri were once again reduced to 10 men - and ultimately needed extra-time to progress.

Gala will obviously take heart from the fact that they've already beaten Liverpool this season, but the Reds have improved a lot since that dismal 1-0 defeat at RAMS Park and will have home advantage in the second leg of their last-16 showdown, which should prove decisive.

It's all change at Tottenham since the end of the league phase, as securing a spot in the last 16 didn't save Thomas Frank from the sack, with the Dane dismissed after a run of eight Premier League games without a win. Spurs have rather surprisingly turned to Igor Tudor to help them stave off the threat of relegation, and the Croat's tenure didn't get off to the most encouraging of starts, with his new team suffering a 4-1 loss to Arsenal in the north London derby.

Tottenham, then, are very much an unknown quantity. They boast a 100 percent record at home in this season's Champions League but their form is terrible and injury list lengthy, so we wouldn't be at all surprised to see the pragmatic Tudor prioritise Premier League safety over trying to extend their European adventure by upsetting Atletico Madrid.

At the midway point of the league phase, Newcastle were very well-placed to go straight through to the last 16. However, they only managed to win one of their final four fixtures and, thus, ended up in the play-offs, where they were very fortunate to be pitted against Qarabag, whom they thrashed 9-3 on aggregate.

Anthony Gordon's form in the Champions League is unquestionably a cause for optimism, while Newcastle always make for a very tough team to beat at St. James' Park, so they definitely have it in them to upset Barcelona in front of their own fans (even if the Blaugrana have already won on Tyneside this season!).

However, Newcastle are in the bottom half of the Premier League for three key reasons: they're as unreliable in attack as they are at the back; the midfield is lost without injured captain Bruno Guimaraes; and they're usually awful away from home. So, it's tough to see the Magpies making the quarter-finals.

After blowing a glorious chance to progress directly to the last 16 by picking up just one point from their final two games in the league phase, Atalanta looked set to bow out in the play-off round after a very lame 2-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park.

However, the Bergamaschi staged a brilliant comeback at the New Balance Arena, turning the tie on its head with three goals from Gianluca Scamacca, Davide Zappacosta and Mario Pasalic by the hour mark, and even though BVB drew level on aggregate through Karim Adeyemi, Raffaelle Palladino's men went through thanks to a last-gasp penalty from Lazar Samardzic.

So, while La Dea will obviously be up against it in the next round against Bayern Munich, they remain one of the game's great over-achievers and have already beaten Chelsea in this season's tournament.

We simply can't say enough nice things about the Champions League's giant-killers, Bodo/Glimt. Even before they stunned Manchester City on matchday seven, we were hailing the Norwegian minnows as one of the best teams to watch in the tournament, so we didn't even attempt to hide our joy after seeing them progress to the knockout stage by upsetting Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano in the final round of the league phase.

Even then, though, we didn't dare believe that they might actually reach the last 16, after being paired with Inter in the play-offs. However, Bodo pulled off their most remarkable feat to date by beating last season's runners-up in both legs to set up a meeting with Sporting CP. 

Kjetil Knutsen's side will be underdogs once again going into that game - but let's face it, they've already beaten better teams in this competition and if this truly wonderful team has taught us anything this season, it's that dreams can still come true in a modern game almost completely ruined by financial inequality.

The more things change at Chelsea, the more they stay the same. Liam Rosenior made a promising start to his reign at Stamford Bridge by leading the Blues into the last 16 of the Champions League with an impressive come-from-behind win over Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

However, the vast majority of Chelsea's very young and inexperienced players remain as inconsistent and ill-disciplined as they were under the coach's predecessor, Enzo Maresca - as illustrated by the fact that they had another player sent off (Wesley Fofana) in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Premier League strugglers Burnley.

As a result, we're not remotely convinced they'll get past PSG in the last 16, even if having the second leg at home should help their cause.

Real Madrid's tie with Benfica was obviously completely overshadowed by Gianluca Prestianni's alleged racial abuse of Vinicius Jr - and Jose Mourinho's shameful attempts to blame the Brazilian for inciting the shocking scenes at the Estadio da Luz.

There's no keeping Vinicius down, though, and after scoring the only goal of the game in Lisbon, the winger also scored the winner in the return fixture at the Bernabeu, as Los Blancos laboured to a 2-1 victory that saw them progress 3-1 on aggregate.

However, while Vinicius has found some fine form in recent weeks, Madrid continue to flatter to deceive under rookie coach Alvaro Arbeloa, so it's hard to shake the suspicion that Madrid are going to struggle to get past Manchester City in the last 16. Obviously, a lot has changed at Madrid since they lost to Pep Guardiola's side in December but not all of it for the better...

Whatever chance Sporting CP had of qualifying directly for the last 16 appeared to be over after a 3-1 loss at Bayern Munich on matchday six, as the Lisbon outfit's final two games were at home to PSG and away to Athletic Club. However, Luis Suarez's 90th-minute goal earned Sporting a shock 2-1 win over the defending champions, while Alisson Santos scored an even later winner at San Mames to secure seventh spot in the league phase standings.

"This is the image of this team," coach Rui Borges said in relation to his players' penchant for late drama. "It clearly shows their desire to win. They don’t care about the time; they want to play, they want to fight for the game, and they want to be the best."

Now, we don't necessarily believe that Sporting rank among the top eight teams in Europe but, based on everything we've seen so far, they've now got a good chance of reaching the quarter-finals after drawing surprise package Bodo/Glimt.

Atletico Madrid are one of the most intriguing teams left in the tournament. Diego Simeone's side are no longer as solid as they once were, as underlined by their 4-0 drubbing by Arsenal in the league phase, while they also conceded four times across the two legs of their play-off clash with Club Brugge. However, the January signing of Ademola Lookman from Atalanta has added even more firepower to an attack that ran riot in a recent Copa del Rey rout of Barcelona, while the last-16 draw was also kind to them, as they've been pitted against Tottenham rather than Liverpool.

Much, though, will likely depend on the form of star striker Julian Alvarez, who appears to have been negatively affected by all of the speculation surrounding his future at the Metropolitano. Alexander Sorloth stepped up to the mark against Brugge by hitting a hat-trick in the second leg, but Atleti will need their true talisman, Alvarez, to turn up if they're to finally get their hands on the Champions League trophy.

Vitinha said Paris Saint-Germain had no problem going through the play-offs to get to the last 16 - and one can certainly understand why. The extra games certainly didn't do Luis Enrique's men any harm last season.

However, PSG don't quite look like the same side that went through one Premier League team after another on their way to winning their first European Cup with a stunning demolition of Inter in Munich - and we think that's down to fatigue after a hectic 2025. They certainly weren't anywhere near their brilliant best in squeezing past Monaco 5-4 on aggregate to set up a mouth-watering tie with Chelsea.

On the plus side, the Parisians showed in their recent Le Classique rout of Marseille that they remain an unstoppable force when every single player is on it, but they should be very wary of an unpredictable Blues side that routed them in last year's Club World Cup final.

We thought that Manchester City were back to something approaching their best when they beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu midway through a 10-game winning streak in all competitions - only for Pep Guardiola's side to experience a sudden and shocking slump in form after the turn of the year, which included a shock loss to Bodo/Glimt. 

However, they still managed to sneak into the top eight in the Champions League by taking advantage of some surprise results elsewhere while securing a 2-0 win over Galatasaray. It was that kind of straightforward victory that Guardiola really needed to see from his side, who have looked very vulnerable defensively this season.

City will also approach their last-16 rematch with Madrid with renewed belief after a good run of domestic results that owes much to them splashing yet more cash to bring in two proven Premier League performers in Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi during the January transfer window. Even more significantly, Erling Haaland is looking very lively again after a dry spell in front of goal, so while this is by no means a vintage Guardiola side, it will still take some stopping in the knockout stage.

In the end, Barcelona did well to finish fifth in the league phase, as direct qualification for the last 16 did not look on the cards after they were hammered 3-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The Blaugrana, thus, deserve credit for reeling off three victories in a row to avoid the ignominy and inconvenience of the play-off round. However, we remain unconvinced by their ability to go all the way this season, especially as that run of wins came against teams that finished outside the top 24: Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Prague and Copenhagen.

Hansi Flick's high line also remains a real cause for concern, because it wasn't just exploited by PSG during their win in Catalunya on matchday two, but also by Club Brugge, who tore it to shreds during a 3-3 draw in Belgium. So, while Barca's terrifying forward line should propel them past a Newcastle team they've already beaten this season, there's nothing scary about a defence that conceded 14 goals in just eight Champions League games - and also got brutally exposed in a recent 4-0 Copa del Rey loss to Atletico Madrid.

Europe has been Arne Slot's saving grace this season. Liverpool's Premier League title defence is already over, and they face a real fight to finish in the top five, but they've emerged as dark horses to win the Champions League after finishing third in the league phase and drawing Galatasaray in the round of the 16.

It should not be forgotten, of course, that the Reds were beaten in Istanbul in the league phase and have repeatedly struggled to break down teams that sit deep and employ long balls to get around their press.

So, while Liverpool's lack of cover in defence will probably catch up with them eventually, and they're very much on the wrong side of the draw - they'd play the winners of Chelsea-PSG in the quarter - they've looked a lot better at both ends of the pitch in recent weeks, while European nights at Anfield always seem to bring the best out of the Merseysiders.

Bayern Munich had a relatively rough patch in the Bundesliga at the tail end of January (they picked up just one point from two games!), but they're still going to run away with the title, which should give them a big advantage over so many of their European rivals as they'll have the opportunity to rest key players in between knockout ties while other Champions League contenders are scrapping for points domestically.

Of course, the Bavarians, who beat PSG in Paris during the league phase, also have a fantastic group of players. Harry Kane is arguably the most complete centre-forward in world football, Michael Olise is an outstanding attacking talent, Lennart Karl looks like a star in the making, Luis Diaz has been even better than anyone could have expected after arriving from Liverpool last summer - and now Jamala Musiala is approaching full match fitness after his lengthy lay-off.

Admittedly, Atalanta could make for awkward last-16 opponents for Bayern, who are also scheduled to face the winners of Madrid-City in the quarters, but Vincent Kompany's men have already proven themselves capable of beating any team in Europe with their win over PSG in Paris back in November. 

Arsenal are by no means the most attractive or entertaining team in the game today. A lot of their goals come from set-pieces and there's a cynicism about manager Mikel Arteta and some of his key players that jars with a lot of people. The thing is, though, we can't see a stronger side in England or Europe right now - which is why the Premier League leaders topped the Champions League league phase with a flawless record despite having to play Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter along the way.

Obviously, a lot can change during the business end of the season. Injuries, for example, can derail any campaign, but Arsenal's squad is ridiculously well-equipped to deal with any potential setbacks. Given the Gunners are also on the far weaker side of the draw, and will have home advantage in the second leg of all of their prospective knockout ties, they really couldn't be better placed to finally win a European Cup - although there will always be a doubt over their mental strength until they actually win a major trophy under Arteta...