Four dark horses who could win the Champions League

3.) Beskitas

Besiktas currently sit in second in a very winnable group B.  With Napoli leading by a point, and Benfica, and Dynamo Kyiv filling out the group, Besiktas can ride their good European form to the round of 16.  With a win already away at Napoli under their belt, Besiktas have home matches against Napoli and Benfica before finishing the group stage against Dynamo Kyiv on the road.

They are also the only team in group B not to have lost a group stage match this season and with an at times frightening home field advantage, I expect Besiktas to, if not win than to at minimum finish second.

The Turkish side fails to move the needle for any fan of mainstream soccer as unlike other clubs in their league, Besiktas opted to build their squad without big names.  Instead, their focus has been on developing Turkish talent and strategically adding undervalued cost controlled players like Marcelo (not the real one, but the Hannover version) for low prices.

Many thought that losing Super Lig golden boot winner and German international, Mario Gomez would be a death blow, but instead the defending has stepped up and the Turkish core has chipped in with striker Cenk Tosun and midfielders Oguzhan Ozyakup and Olcay Sahan chipping in along with new 2.5 million Euro loanee Vincent Aboubakar.  Besiktas have moved away from the lone star approach to a much more balanced, defensive unit that might just be capable of causing an upset or two.

Finally, if Besiktas are to advance to the knockout rounds, the revenue generated from the run might lead to ownership to bring in another player or two for a deeper run.  With a positive net spend this transfer window, the money should be there to bolster a position of weakness.