Play that national anthem, the right Champions League is back.
We have had enough of automated treks, a large table and knockout play-offs, it's time for the round of 16. Two legs, gone and at home, to reach the quarterfinals on the road to Munich.
But who comes at the top when the Paulaner starts to flow in the night of 31 May? Liverpool was almost perfect in the competition phase and ended the top for Barcelona. Arsenal was impressed to finish third, which, among others, visited Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen. In the meantime, Aston Villa surprised everyone to also secure a place in the top eight.
For Real Madrid and Bayern Munich it was not that simple because they needed the play-offs to reach the last 16. But we are now and it is all to play for.
We asked the mirror football team to make their predictions about who the Champions League wins?
Mike Walters – Barcelona
Patriotism is the last refuge of a fortune teller, so don't assume that the Champions League will come home despite three English teams in the last 16.
They are all handy on one side of the draw, so it cannot be a full-English final. And the way in which the draw is structured, Liverpool or Aston Villa would eliminate each other in the quarterfinals if they reach the last eight, while all roads lead to Madrid for Arsenal when they pass PSV Eindhoven.
Liverpool? The title is their holy grail and a seventh European cup (to give the competition the right name) would be a bonus. Aston Villa? Unai Emery has a serious pedigree in Europe, but his team is not strong enough to win. Arsenal? No fit strikers, no chance.
So that leaves the usual cast of suspects. Kylian Mbappe comes to the boil for Real Madrid, Bayern Munich cannot be much agent if they only scrape Celtic in the play-off round, Barcelona is on the comfortable side of the draw and Paris Saint Germain has to pass Liverpool.
Someone for a final of El Clasico? With Barcelona at the top?
Neil McLeman – Real Madrid
If you only get one bet on the winner of the Champions League, go for Real Madrid. But the biggest obstacle for a record-expanding 16th title in May could be the last 16 draw with their fierce local Rivals Atletico Madrid.
The poor competition record of Real Madrid in February – one victory in five – she saw to their place behind Barcelona and Atletico. And Real Betis even mocked the La Liga champions with a statement that 'there is only one goat' together with a photo of on-lan manchester united misfit Antony.
Atletico and Real have drawn both La Liga matches 1-1 this season and the Diego Simeone team has only lost one in their last seven against their Cross-City Rivals. Yet the side of Carlo Ancelotti always finds their best shape in the Champions League – they have defeated Atletico in two finals – and have to come through to face Arsenal in the quarterfinals.
Liverpool awaits in the semi -final in the loaded left side of the trek. In-shape Barcelona, now the top of La Liga, and Bayern Munich have the advantage that they are on the weaker right and have to meet in the last four.
David Anderson – Real Madrid
Real Madrid remains the team to beat for me. I know they have suffered a shock loss in La Liga on Saturday, but no team knows their way in the knockout phase of the Champions League like she is.
They were the second best in last year's final – just as they were against Liverpool in 2022 – and yet they still managed to beat Borussia Dortmund. They had to qualify for the last 16 after an underwhelming group phase, but they showed their class in the easy to beat Manchester City.
They have won the Champions League 15 times a record, including six in the last 11 seasons, and were not lost since Liverpool defeated them in 1981. In addition to having some of the best players in the world, whether it is Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham or Vinicius Junior, they have this psychological lead.
They are the Floyd Mayweather Junior from Champions League football and no matter how good their opponent is, she, and they know, they can't beat them.
Chris McKenna – Real Madrid
Many people may choose Real Madrid to go all the way and that is understandable. Barcelona is also candidates with their quality, but I believe that the winners will come from the Liverpool and PSG Last-16 draw. The reason behind it is that both teams are very good and the other is that they both sail in their domestic competition.
Bayern Munich could be added to this, but as Celtic proved in the final round, they are vulnerable at the back. Liverpool and PSG will be able to rest important players in competition matches to ensure that they are fresh for Crunch Champions League tires. That will be huge in April and May. The winner of this draw also stands for a quarterfinals against Aston Villa or Club Brugge.
For Liverpool that is also great because it will travel less if Villa wins that draw. I think Liverpool will overcome an uncomfortable draw against PSG and will go all the way to Munich in May to lift their seventh European cup.
Nathan Ridley – Inter Milan
Perhaps the most undervalued team in Europe, Simone Inzaghi's Inter came close to winning the Champions League in 2023, to be closely defeated by Treble-hunting Manchester City. But I support them to get better this season, with the knockout outking that she kindly treats.
I am convinced that they will pass Feyenoord – although the Dutch side AC Milan has made up region in the play – offs – and support them to beat Bayern Munich or Bayer Leverkusen in the quarterfinals. I would also see them as a foil for likely semi-finalists Barcelona, whose high line could be used by the transition-oriented system of Inzaghi.
Unbelievable, Inter admitted only one goal in the entire competition phase and that got away in their only defeat to have Leverkusen. However, they are not a slow attack, but this season already score 60 goals in the Serie A, with Marcus Thuram and Captain Lautaro Martinez both in double digits, but goals that come from everywhere in the team.
Liverpool or Real Madrid could very well be their formidable opponents in the final and although it would be close by calling, can take in what he learned in 2023 and victorious. Forza Nerazzurri.
Tom Victor – Real Madrid
The Champions League is a simple game. 792 men chase a ball around for 10 months and at the end of Real Madrid's win.
The side of Carlo Ancelotti seems to keep the competition that defends standards such as 'form' or 'merit'. They win if they play well and they win when it feels like a side issue for them for the first half of the tournament.
Real Madrid can be locked up in a fierce domestic title race, but a series of setbacks of competition phase forced them in a play-off against Manchester City. The only thing it did was, however, remind us why nobody can be sure to beat them in this competition if it really matters.
They are not only the ruling champions, but Kylian Mbappe showed against City that he lives for knockout football. I would say, write them for your danger, but none of you is naive enough to ever write them off, right?
Sam Meade – Real Madrid
They seem to have a stranglehold on this tournament and with Kylian Mbappe during his struggles in the early season, they look at the team to beat. Another success would be a third in four years because they enjoy a new period of dominance in Europe.
The way real Manchester City was dismantled in the final round was ominous. Yes, they have thrown a lot of firepower, but they seem to be able to win games in different ways. Yes, they can blow you away with Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Co.
Likewise they can win tight games with their backs against the wall. During all their quality, their players have a lot of character and they know how to push the boundaries. Their Smarts make them a difficult team to overcome and they are so clinical when they get a chance.
I think only Liverpool and their two domestic rivals, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, have the chance to stop them.
Daniel Orme – Bayern Munich
You wait your entire life for a trophy and two come by immediately. That could possibly be the situation that Harry Kane is in this season in Bayern Munich.
The German giants look back on their ominous best this campaign that has only lost once in the Bundesliga this season. And that stubbornness could go a long way to see them in the Champions League.
They are confronted with a tough task in the round of 16 with a collision against German Rivals Bayer Leverkusen, but then they have a relatively friendly draw. They will avoid Liverpool and Real Madrid all the way to the final, while Feyenoord, Lille and Benfica are all on their side of the draw.
And most will not come back to those who go all the way to the showpiece, which ironically is played in their house in the Allianz Arena. It would give Bayern an excellent opportunity to earn repayment through their last defeat of 2012 through the hands of Chelsea, something they really want to do.
Oli Gamp – Real Madrid
It is difficult to go on stage against the men of Carlo Ancelotti where they come to life so often, regardless of what their situation is in La Liga.
There is a reason why Madrid has won this competition 15 times, which is by far the most titles of each team in Europe. This is their competition. It is in their blood and I can see them keeping the trophy, since they have now upgraded the team that the crown won in 2023-24. Last year they trusted Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham to deliver big moments. Now they have Kylian Mbappe, who is probably good enough to only win the Champions League.
Although he has a side littered with stars this season, Madrid has not always cleared clearly in the competition, lost two and signed two of their last five games. But in the Champions League they suddenly turn into showstoppers. Even after going back to Manchester City twice in the first stage of their play-off draw last month, they found a way to come from behind before they achieved a stop time winner and then blew them away in the second stage.
This season Madrid scored 26 goals in the Champions League, with Mbappe and Vinicius 14 scored between them. I think the only teams that can stop them are Barcelona, who have not won the trophy for ten years, and Liverpool – who fight for silverware on several fronts and will soon no longer have any steam. Madrid has the experience and has become used to winning this tournament. I think that will see them through.
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