Champions League: 4 big questions as the knockout stage kicks off

The round of 16 of 2023-24 UEFA Champions League The season begins on Tuesday, when several of Europe’s top teams (including last year’s winner) city ​​of manchester and record 14-time champion real Madrid – will play the first leg of their two-legged round of 16 series with total goals and wins.

As usual, there is no shortage of questions ahead of the commercial side of football’s most important club competition, which concludes on June 1 at Wembley Stadium in London.

Four of the largest are below.

Can Manchester City repeat as champions?

Although Pep Guardiola’s team won all six of their group stage matches, the reigning champions have not been entirely convincing during their title defense so far. This is not exactly the same team that achieved a historic “treble” of trophies last year, when the club’s long-awaited first European trophy was accompanied by national honors in both first division and FA Cup.

City are second in the current Prem standings. Star striker Erling Haaland He missed nearly two months of the season with a foot injury.

But Haaland is back and the Sky Blues had a favorable opponent in the round of 16 in Denmark. FC Copenhagen, who will visit the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to open the home and away match. Somewhat counterintuitively, there is also less pressure on Guardiola this time around, with City finally getting over the hump in the Champions League last spring.

In addition to still having probably the most complete and talented roster in the sport, this is now a tested, grizzled and battle-hardened team. So while we haven’t seen the best of the Cityzens so far, they are the bookies’ consensus favorites for pretty obvious reasons. Time will tell if city ​​man He may win for the second time in a row, but bet on this: he won’t hand over the silver medal without a fight.

Will Real Madrid add its 15th crown?

If any team knows how to turn it on in do-or-die Champions League matches, it’s the one. real Madrid. Easily the most decorated club on the continent: with 14 European titles, The whites have twice as much Italy AC MilanThe next most successful team: Real Madrid are still at the end of what is perhaps their best era: they have won the Champions League five times since 2014.

The most recent of these occurred two years ago. Real’s squad has changed a lot since then, with players such as veteran striker Karim Benzema and the midfield. casemiro having come out and brilliant young midfielder Judas Bellingham – purchased last summer Borussia Dortmund – emerging as the new face of the club. But pillars like the captain Nacho Fernandezteacher Luka modricextreme Vinícius Junior and midfielders Toni Kroos and federico valverde they remain, providing experience and stability.

Real Madrid’s pedigree will be tested on Tuesday in Germany, when the Spaniards visit RB Leipzig. The visitors are the favorites, although they have also had great difficulties lately to stay healthy. Nacho and Viní Jr. have just returned from injury, and Bellingham will miss at least the first leg with a sprained ankle. Still, this club always seems to find a way in this competition. city ​​and Bayern Munich They may have better odds, but no one would be surprised if Real Madrid get back on the podium when all is said and done.

Will this be PSG’s last dance with Kylian Mbappé?

We still don’t really know if these next few months really represent Kylian Mbappé’s swan song with Paris Saint Germain, the home club of the French superstar and World Cup winner. A week after Mbappé (once again) seemed destined to go he Princes Park At the end of the season for Real Madrid, the deal (once again) appears to have fallen apart.

Whether Mbappé stays or goes this summer, this much is clear: PSG are running out of chances to win the title their wealthy Qatari owners have been obsessed with since they bought the club and spent them on the contending class. more than a decade ago. The closest the Parisians came was in 2020, shortened by the pandemic, when Mbappé, Neymar and company won a couple of single-elimination games but lost the final to Bayern Munich.

Neymar left last summer. Lionel Messi It’s also come and gone since then. Now the pressure falls only on Mbappé. And despite a commanding lead at the top of Ligue 1, it’s fair to wonder if this PSG team is capable of even making a deep run, let alone going all the way. Still, while the first obstacle is important: Real society of Spainwho visit the City of Light on Wednesday, are not easy to convince: they are not a giant like Bayern, who ended PSG’s campaign in the round of 16 a year ago.

Can Mbappé do it alone this year? With 30 goals in 29 games in 2023-24 already, maybe. He is the best player in the world, along with City’s Haaland. What a story that would be!

More likely, however, is another disappointing finish that leaves Mbappé ever closer to the exit, and PSG wondering when (or even if) it will ever be good enough to capture Europe’s top prize.

What other contenders could win the trophy?

With Harry Kane leading the line, Bayern have perhaps an even more potent threat up front than when Robert Lewandowski led them to their last Champions League triumph four years ago. (Bayern opens its round of 16 schedule on Wednesday against straight in Rome.)

After a long absence from competition, Arsenal has proven that they are also authentic. The Gunners might even have a better chance of winning the Champions League than the Prem, where they are behind first place. Liverpool by just two points and I really can’t afford not to win every game between now and May. Arsenal begin the round of 16 next week against Porto.

Then there is Inter de Milan, last year’s runner-up. Inter is having another excellent season, although the Nerazzurri They will have to survive a strong enemy like Atlético de Madrid in their first round of 16 series after finishing second in their group.

Dortmund or the Netherlands‘ PSV-Eindhoven I probably can’t win it all. But having been tied with each other, one will advance to the quarterfinals. The same goes for another former European champion, rebuilding. Barcelonaand Serie A holders Naples. That should help make for a fascinating round of 16, although many games will be played before then.

Doug McIntyre is a football writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer for ESPN and Yahoo Sports and has covered USA men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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