Champions League: Power ranking the 8 quarter-final teams

Here is our power rankings of the last eight in this year’s Champions League.

The last eight in the Champions League is always a stage that holds multiple mouth-watering contests as is true in many tournaments. The quality in this year’s tournament is as high as ever, and ranking the remaining eight sides is no easy feat. Some of the best teams in the history of club football are alive and well in the tournament, and many will see themselves as the best team in the competition.

The round of last 16 saw some wonderful matches, as well as perhaps the end of an era, as the English clubs confirmed their status as second-rate European sides. Chelsea, the Premier League champions, lost out once again to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paris Saint Germain, while Arsenal came up short against the imperious Barcelona. Only Manchester City remain from England, and though they looked good in sweeping past Dinamo Kiev, especially in the first leg, it is only Dinamo Kiev, and they would still be considered serious underdogs if pitted against Europe’s big boys.

There are a couple of surprise teams that have made this stage also. Benfica and Wolfsburg are welcome additions to a round that very rarely plays host to such sides. It will be interesting to see how such inexperienced sides handle themselves in the latter rounds of such a prestigious competition.

While there are plenty of surprise omissions, Juventus were unlucky to draw Bayern Munich in the round prior, Borussia Dortmund would have been expected to make this stage had they qualified and Manchester United were extremely disappointed to exit at the group stage, the biggest and best clubs the world currently has to offer are all on display. But, in preparation for some of the greatest club games of the season, how do the best eight teams in Europe rank?

We’ll start with one of the newcomers.

Next: 8. Benfica