Who looks in best shape to rule Europe this season?
With the Champions League starting to get interesting as the knockout stages get nearer, CaughtOffside looks at the six leading contenders to go all the way and win the competition this season. Chelsea are flying high in the Premier League and are up there with the best of them, but may find conquering Europe a step too far for now with so much quality competition. Read on to see how we ranked these main six sides in their chances of winning the ultimate prize in football…
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6) Atletico Madrid
Beaten finalists last season, Atletico Madrid would do well to repeat their trick of reaching the final again, particularly as they look a weaker side than last year after losing so many of their best players. Still, in Diego Simeone they have a superbly inspirational manager and fine tactician. Also, in replacing Diego Costa after his move to Chelsea, the Spanish champions have Mario Mandzukic, a winner and scorer in the final with Bayern Munich back in 2013, so the pedigree is certainly there for Atleti to shock people once again.
5) Paris Saint-Germain
A team that continues to improve year after year due to so much big-money investment in some of the world’s best players, Paris Saint-Germain have to be considered as among the top six most likely sides to win the tournament this season. In Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani they have a strike pairing as good as anything in the world, whilst also boasting quality in so many other areas of the pitch. Their exit to Chelsea in the quarter-finals last season was disappointing, and it may be that the slightly negative tactics of Laurent Blanc will ultimately let them down as the competition goes on.
4) Barcelona
Far from a vintage Barcelona side, but with Lionel Messi breaking records left, right and centre at the moment and looking back to his best, Barcelona have to be considered as slight outsiders among Europe’s elite just now. Luis Enrique is new to a job of this size and the jury is still out on him as Barca boss, but he has the players at his disposal to make a mark in this competition. Defence is a weakness and will surely be exposed later on as they face tougher sides, but the Catalan giants will be looking to make up for their disappointing exits in the last few seasons, with a narrow defeat to Atletico Madrid last year and a thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich the year before.
3) Chelsea
Undoubtedly the best team in England, but Chelsea are perhaps not quite there yet in terms of being the very best team in Europe. Jose Mourinho will be desperate to finally win the Champions League with the Blues, having done so with both Porto and Inter Milan, and though they are surely certainties to reach the semi-finals again and probably even the final, it just feels like they might come unstuck when they meet the other big boys of Europe. It is worth remembering that Chelsea have had an easy group, and it is in the big games in the league this season that they have looked uncertain, drawing with both Manchester City and Manchester United when they perhaps should’ve won.
2) Bayern Munich
An outstanding squad of players, Bayern Munich will be under big pressure in this competition after sweeping Europe aside with their superb treble win in 2012/13. Pep Guardiola’s achievements in this tournament with Barcelona also mean the spotlight is on him as he looks to repeat the feat with this excellent team. Defeat to Manchester City this week will have come as a disappointment, but Bayern will surely be semi-finalists again as they simply look so strong in every department in comparison to most of their rivals, though they need to do better than they did as they were thrashed by Real Madrid in the last four last term.
1) Real Madrid
The best team in Europe at the moment, Real Madrid are blowing sides away week after week right now and have Cristiano Ronaldo in the form of his life. Having won the competition last year to finally achieve ‘La Decima’, the club has a proverbial monkey off their back in this tournament now, and look full of confidence as they look to retain the trophy. Real are flying high in La Liga as well, and have come some way this summer to distancing themselves from their main rivals and becoming even stronger than they were last year. It is hard not to see the world’s most famous football club going all the way.