Champions League Power Rankings: Barcelona could be team to beat as PSG, Real Madrid make their caseon March 13, 2025 at 2:24 am

Here’s how the last eight teams in the competition rank

CBS Sports

The route to Munich is becoming clear as the quarterfinals of the Champions League are set. Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Inter and Real Madrid are the final teams standing but the paths to the final could see some landmark matchups. Arsenal will already face Real Madrid in the quarterfinals as contenders for the UCL crown begin to knock each other out. With that said, here’s how the remaining eight teams rank. As always, you can watch all the UCL action live on Paramount+.

Rank	Team	Analysis
1	Barcelona	Raphinha has been the man in form with the Brazilian now scoring 11 goals in Champions League play so far. With Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, there is a gear to Barcelona’s attack that other teams in UCL play can only hope to match. Facing Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals, there’s also a great chance for Barcelona to make it to the semifinals as everything so far this season is coming up in Hansi Flick’s favor. Even the defense has improved in what is becoming a complete side with depth.
2	PSG	From just sneaking into the playoff stage to now being one of the top contenders for the European crown, what a difference the addition of Khvicha Kvaraskhelia has made. Moving Ousmane Dembele to a central position has unlocked a different gear in his game.
3	Real Madrid	Penalty kick drama won’t stop Real Madrid from advancing every time that they’ve been matched with Atletico Madrid in the knockout stages of UCL. Vinicius Junior not taking his chance to end the match in regulation wouldn’t matter thanks as Julian Alvarez touching the ball twice on his penalty made the difference.
4	Bayern Munich	It’s still tough to say that we’ve learned much about Bayern’s credentials to win the tournament even after beating Leverkusen. Harry Kane is certainly up for it but Vincent Kompany’s men have questions to answer. Facing Inter in the quarterfinals, they’ll either prove to be contenders or be out of the tournament, so we’ll get those answers soon.
5	Inter	Allowing their second goal in UCL play, Inter had no issues controlling their tie against Feyenoord even without Federico Dimarco out wide. They’ll have a tougher challenge in facing Bayern Munich, but with Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram both hitting form, this may be a better team than the one that lost to Manchester City in the Champions League final in 2023.
6	Arsenal	It was fun putting nine goals past PSV in the round of 16 with Declan Rice hitting top form, but it doesn’t change the fact that Arsenal don’t have a striker. Pitted against Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, Arsenal will be pushed to the brink of what they can do in this tournament.
7	Borussia Dortmund	There’s a strong dichotomy between Dortmund’s Bundesliga form and their European form but they won’t care. It was similar when making the UCL final last season, and behind Serhou Guirassy, they’ve done just enough to get the job done when needed. Guirassy now needs one more goal to enter into a tie as the highest-scoring African player in one UCL campaign.
8	Aston Villa	Villa have done well to make it to this point as Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio have proven to be strong additions to the side after the winter transfer window, but their reward is facing PSG. Unai Emery is someone who knows his way through European competitions but no one wants to face the Parisians at this stage of the competition as he goes against his former club.