UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Season

[Xcode7]

Kevin De Bruyne absence has had a big impact on Manchester City performance and it's uncertain when he'll be able to play again so if he's not in the line up then I doubt Manchester City can go to the next round I will favor other teams. So far Real Madrid is still the best in my opinion or Bayern Munich as the second option, these two teams have a big chance to reach the final well, if this really happens it will be difficult to determine who the winner, what is clear is that one of them will be the winner imo. Atletico Madrid actually also caught our attention even though they didn't record a perfect wins but Atletico Madrid has 2 dangerous players in the attack line Álvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann's collaboration is very dangerous and so far they are in the top 3 of the top scorer list.

The match schedule for round 16 has been released, Manchester City and Real Madrid seem to be a little luckier because it will be against a team at lower level I am not underestimating them but I am comparing their performance in the group stage. On the other hand, Bayern Munich must try harder to beat Lazio indeed, Munich is in a better position but sometimes teams from Serie A can make things difficult for their opponents. The same thing with Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid which in my opinion is still too early to fight each other.

I saw only the Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid matches which were fierce and the rest was nothing that difficult I thought.
Bayern will play Lazio, this is not too difficult for Bayern because in terms of quality Bayern is much stronger than Lazio.
Real Madrid will meet Rb Leipzig, this is not a difficult thing for Real Madrid I think, Leipzig is not a strong team that has a strong mentality in UCl.
Meanwhile, Manchester City will meet Copenhagen, this is an advantage for the Man City team, they did not experience difficulties at the start.

Regarding Kevin De Bruyne, winning while he was injured since the start of the season made the performance of Pep Guardiola's team quite disturbed or decreased without his presence in midfield, but rumors are circulating that he will recover in January but in my opinion don't expect too much from the player who have been injured for a long time because there is a big possibility that their performance will not immediately return to normal.

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[Docnaster]

I'm interested in the match between Napoli and Barcelona. I think it's hard to say which team will pass this round. Napoli are far from last season's performance but they are still a very good team. Other than that, I think the other matches have favorite teams. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund are the favorites. The excitement in the Champions League will be more in the next round. Of course it is a bit early to talk about it but I don't expect too many surprises in this round.

Napoli won the Italian Serie A last season hasn't been as impressive as they were last season but their performance in their recent matches since the new manager Walter Mazzarri took over the managerial position at the club suggests that they can still finish the season on a good note. Barcelona who also is the reigning champions of Spain has also failed to maintain their performance of last season that helped them win the the Spanish La Liga title which is believed to be caused by injuries to some important members of the squad since the start of the season.

Napoli i think will progress from the tie if they can continue with their current form. There are rumours in different quarters that the their striker Victor Osimhen who was recently crowned the best player in Africa by CAF will leave the club when the winter transfer window opens but I don't think that'll happen as the Nigeria international will rather prefer a move away from the Diego Armando Maradona stadium next summer. Barcelona is currently having some financial issues that's limited them in signing many more players and that I think will cost them when they meet Napoli in February.

[borovichok]

I'm interested in the match between Napoli and Barcelona. I think it's hard to say which team will pass this round. Napoli are far from last season's performance but they are still a very good team. Other than that, I think the other matches have favorite teams. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund are the favorites. The excitement in the Champions League will be more in the next round. Of course it is a bit early to talk about it but I don't expect too many surprises in this round.

Picking interest in watching Barcelona advances to the next phase. UCL round of 16 is out. The fixtures I'm seeing doesn't really pull any threat because we can easily predict the club's that come out winners and we might also predict the club. Napoli vs Barcelona is the tough fixtures in the UCL round of 16 this season. The Blaugrana are not in good shape this season but can they be able to maintain good game balance against Napoli. Xavi Hernandez doesn't have the capacity to win matches but his players can make him believe in the possible and reverse their direction to winning matches.

[QueenVera]

I think it will be difficult for us to predict, especially since the draw for the round of 16 has not yet been held. even though the team from the Spanish League has 4 representatives, that doesn't mean the other teams will be easily defeated because there are only a few contestants in this competition. I think in any case, City is still worth considering even though their performance is a little less than optimal in the Domestic League. but in reality, they didn't play badly. and I am also very sure that Pep prioritizes the Champions League trophy to be defended this season.

As for Arsenal, I'm not really sure about Mikel Arteta's squad. but at least, they have competitive ammunition and are worthy of being considered as opponents who can make things difficult for any team. apart from that, the only German representative who is really a favorite is Bayern Munich. I think Tuhchel is very aware of how to win the title in this competition. in other words, they will further strengthen their team squad. maybe by bringing in some new arrivals, as well as City and Arsenal. Well, because this is still just an assumption and speculation, we will find out later after the schedule for the draw for the last 16 of the 2023-24 Champions League will be held this Monday. after that, we can see the teams that will face each other. but personally, I still prefer City even though they are not my favorite team. Well, let's just make sure it's time for the round of 16 to be held.

At the moment, the UCL round of 16 draw is out and for some teams, it's going to be a serious tussle and for some it'll be a minor jump through to the next stage. Judging based on team strength, City has a better chance to advance than Copenhagen, so does PSG, Dortmund and Bayern.

 For the remaining fixtures, the teams are strong and the result is just unpredictable. Arsenal and Porto are in good form, same performance range, the probability is shaky, thesame with Napoli and Barcelona. For Madrid and Leipzig, one would say Madrid are in a better position to advance but the German side shouldn't be underrated though, they're also good in their own way. For Inter and Atletico, it's going to be a serious battle, none of them would allow the other to just go freely without making it tough. Hopefully these teams would use their home advantages wisely and to the best of their ability too.

[legendbtc]

The match schedule for round 16 has been released, Manchester City and Real Madrid seem to be a little luckier because it will be against a team at lower level I am not underestimating them but I am comparing their performance in the group stage. On the other hand, Bayern Munich must try harder to beat Lazio indeed, Munich is in a better position but sometimes teams from Serie A can make things difficult for their opponents. The same thing with Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid which in my opinion is still too early to fight each other.

I can't wait for the round of sixteen where the teams will fight hard against teams that are hard to beat like Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, these three teams always seem to be favorites in the UCL and it seems they have opponents that are not as tough as Manchester City vs Copenhagen and Bayern Munich vs Lazio I think Real Madrid have quite tough opponents because Leipzig cannot be underestimated, as well as Inter Milan vs Atlètìco Madrid, the La Liga teams cannot be underestimated because they perform well in the domestic league.
But the Barcelona vs Napoli meeting is no less interesting because both teams don't seem very stable in their respective leagues so all the matches in the round of sixteen will look interesting later.

There was no match worthy of the words "early final" in the 1/8 round. Defending champion Man City is especially lucky to only have to meet Copenhagen, the most underrated team. Real Madrid seems to have the easiest time among the Spanish teams entering the 1/8 round because their opponent is Leipzig, which is not the strongest in Germany and not a significant force in the European arena. Meanwhile, PSG was fortunate to avoid big opponents and clash with Sociedad. PSG was very lucky to get through the group stage, including a draw with Newcastle at home that they almost lost.
Overall, in this round, the wins belong to the big teams. The next quarter-finals are the "early finals" worth watching.

[shinratensei_]

I'm interested in the match between Napoli and Barcelona. I think it's hard to say which team will pass this round. Napoli are far from last season's performance but they are still a very good team. Other than that, I think the other matches have favorite teams. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund are the favorites. The excitement in the Champions League will be more in the next round. Of course it is a bit early to talk about it but I don't expect too many surprises in this round.

 i just saw a meme in twitter or x said that if barcelona prayed to get copenhagen as its opponent. Real madrid got leipzig as its next opponent, which was very good. Interimlan is going to face a tough team and im sure atletico will not let inter to win all of legs easily. The important thing if lautaro martinez is still on fire right now. The chance for intermilan to win the game becomes even bigger since lautaro keeps show amazing performance with the club. Barcelona has got difficult opponents to be beaten.
The chance of barcelona to pass the last 16 is quite small at this moment consider the performance of barcelona was also declining a lot. This is the most interesting match from the round of 16.

It's caused by we will be seeing the winner of la liga to face serie a winner last season. There will be a very interesting duel between both of clubs. Manchester city and rela madrid were getting easy opponents which are very good.
Bayern is going to face lazio. Lazio's performance is not that good in the serie a. I can take this as an easy match for bayern but if the club will make a blunder, then it may be a different thing to happen with the club.,

[rendravolt]

There was no match worthy of the words "early final" in the 1/8 round. Defending champion Man City is especially lucky to only have to meet Copenhagen, the most underrated team. Real Madrid seems to have the easiest time among the Spanish teams entering the 1/8 round because their opponent is Leipzig, which is not the strongest in Germany and not a significant force in the European arena. Meanwhile, PSG was fortunate to avoid big opponents and clash with Sociedad. PSG was very lucky to get through the group stage, including a draw with Newcastle at home that they almost lost.
Overall, in this round, the wins belong to the big teams. The next quarter-finals are the "early finals" worth watching.

From what you say, everything is fact and indeed everyone has their own assessment. Here I agree that if Manchester City gets a very easy opponent, namely Copenhagen, their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals will definitely be achieved. Real Madrid played against Leipzig, even though many here say that Real Madrid also had an easy opponent, but I don't think they agree because Leipzig is still quite a difficult opponent to beat. They have a good squad and also have a dominant striker like Lois Openda. Real Madrid doesn't have a pure striker in the starting lineup and they always rely on Rodrygo and Brahim for the starting line up. Even though in reality Jude Bellingham can always be a mainstay when Real Madrid needs a goal, what I'm afraid is that Leipzig will prepare intense training to be able to stop these players.

For PSG, perhaps it is true that they were lucky to face Real Sociedad and I think Real Sociedad should not be underestimated because they won the group before the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League. So this assessment is still based on general aspects and let's see later whether there is anything that can make this round of 16 more interesting or not.

[Sim_card]

I'm interested in the match between Napoli and Barcelona. I think it's hard to say which team will pass this round. Napoli are far from last season's performance but they are still a very good team. Other than that, I think the other matches have favorite teams. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund are the favorites. The excitement in the Champions League will be more in the next round. Of course it is a bit early to talk about it but I don't expect too many surprises in this round.

You have predicted well mate, and the only match that is unpredictable is Napoli vs Barca. The two teams are have declined in performance compared to last season and this is what will make the match somehow fun to watch so that one can see which of the club will be sent packing either Barca or Napoli. Inter should also be able to win Athletico Madrid and This will also be another interesting match to watch.

[Hyphen(-)]

There was no match worthy of the words "early final" in the 1/8 round. Defending champion Man City is especially lucky to only have to meet Copenhagen, the most underrated team. Real Madrid seems to have the easiest time among the Spanish teams entering the 1/8 round because their opponent is Leipzig, which is not the strongest in Germany and not a significant force in the European arena. Meanwhile, PSG was fortunate to avoid big opponents and clash with Sociedad. PSG was very lucky to get through the group stage, including a draw with Newcastle at home that they almost lost.
Overall, in this round, the wins belong to the big teams. The next quarter-finals are the "early finals" worth watching.

Copenhagen is not an easy team as you may think, they are very good defensively that was the advantage they had over Manchester United and Galatasaray in the group stage; they are the only team that draw Bayern Munich in the group stage which means they can do what many people did not expect, but I am not saying that they can beat or eliminate Manchester City, but they should not be underrated.

Napoli vs Barcelona, and Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid will be two games we cannot predict in this stage of competition, this because any of these teams can qualify since they are of similar standards.

[hahay]

I'm interested in the match between Napoli and Barcelona. I think it's hard to say which team will pass this round. Napoli are far from last season's performance but they are still a very good team. Other than that, I think the other matches have favorite teams. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund are the favorites. The excitement in the Champions League will be more in the next round. Of course it is a bit early to talk about it but I don't expect too many surprises in this round.

Picking interest in watching Barcelona advances to the next phase. UCL round of 16 is out. The fixtures I'm seeing doesn't really pull any threat because we can easily predict the club's that come out winners and we might also predict the club. Napoli vs Barcelona is the tough fixtures in the UCL round of 16 this season. The Blaugrana are not in good shape this season but can they be able to maintain good game balance against Napoli. Xavi Hernandez doesn't have the capacity to win matches but his players can make him believe in the possible and reverse their direction to winning matches.

Regarding the match between Napoli v Barcelona, if they don't succeed in improving their quality and they will still play like they are now. So ya, at least they have quality which is probably quite balanced because after all, Napoli and Barcelona are also equally unstable in the domestic league this moment. Therefore, it seems like the match will have fairly balanced statistics and thus, both teams will have an equal chance of winning too.

However, if they manage to overcome the problems and can recover for this match later, then it looks like Barcelona will have a better chance of winning and qualifying for the quarter-finals. Because after all, Napoli basically have a new coach who of course needs time to get the right chemistry. Meanwhile for Barcelona, of course we know that Xavi also has at least good enough qualities to improve Barcelona's performance. Therefore, I think maybe Barcelona has a better chance than Napoli in this phase.

[JeffBrad12]

According to the updated championship odds in the Champions League the most favoured a couple of teams are lined like this:

Manchester City : 3.00
Bayern Munich : 5.00
Real Madrid : 6.50
Arsenal : 8.00

The gap between Manchester City and Bayern Munich is even closer now than before. But I still have doubts about Bayern Munich as I didn't like their game very much during the group stage. They struggled quite much in some matches despite winning anyway. This can be a big problem for them when they face a title contender in later stages.

Is this for real? Why the hell was wrong with that odds? bayern is much more favorable to win the competition compared to the real madrid. I can't even believe it for now. Im thinking that if real madrid would be even smaller compared to the bayern.
Im wondering what factor that makes bayern being favored by bookies compared to the bayern. I would rather than put real madrid to have slightly gap toward the first position. It looks really weird to see that real madrid unfavored compared to the bayern.
Bayern was always struggling even when it was facing a team like copenhagen. How can real madrid being placed below bayern right now. Bayern is much more favorable compared to the king of UCL.  
I can't believe it with my eyes.

[marcous]

~~ Snip ~~

I think City and Bayern are the two luckiest teams in the round of 16, because the strength level of Copenhagen and Lazio is still below their two opponents. I think Madrid is also in a lucky position too, because in meeting the Bundesliga representatives, namely Leipzig, I think Madrid can finish the match easily. apart from that I think Arsenal, Barcelona Inter and Dortmund get equal opponents.

Of course, this is only an assumption on paper, which means that clubs that have already qualified for the round of 16 have the same opportunities and opportunities to advance to the quarter finals or further. I agree with you, many surprises can happen and sometimes when we are too confident in one of the teams, and are favorites, we end up being eliminated early.

The knockout rounds which will start in february next year will give the 16 teams time to focus on their respective domestic leagues. City, Bayern and Madrid, as the most favored teams in the UCL, are losing the top of the standings at domestic level at the moment. however in my opinion, this does not necessarily eliminate their status at UCL.

The knockout round is often the round where surprises occur. Some teams that may experience difficulties in their domestic leagues can appear very strong in the UCL and vice versa.
Yes, I agree that City, Bayern and Madrid as top teams definitely have the quality and experience of competing in the UCL.
However, seeing the clubs that have already qualified for the round of 16 with the same opportunity to progress further gives the feel of a fair and competitive competition. All teams have a chance and should be respected as serious contenders.

The next challenge that must be considered is increasing the depth of the squad, and keeping existing players from leaving in the january transfer window. Apart from that, all teams must protect their players from injury, especially if it happens to several players at once, of course that makes their chances smaller. On the other hand, even though PSG have an easy opponent, I think Real Sociedad will be able to trouble them. because we have seen that they were able to win Group D and beat Inter Milan, who was the UCL runnerup last season. Furthermore, I think Barcelona will have problems if they don't improve their performance in the future, because Napoli cannot be taken lightly. At first glance, it seems that their strengths and situations look the same, and indeed they are both defending champions in their respective domestic competitions.

[Justbillywitt]

PSG are not yet ready to win the champoins league. The French league is not that competitive and the strongest team PSG struggled with Newcastle and other teams in their group. If they make it pass the round of 16 this season I think they are lucky. It will take PSG many years of consistency to win the Champions league, they should forget about it this season.

Agreed, PSG has not yet faced the strongest team in the UCL like real madrid and bayern. It was almost failing to qualify for the knock out stage. It sounds non sense to pick PSG as favorite to win the competition right now.
Luck or unluck have become side factor that was helping the club to qualify or not. In fact, PSG is not that strong to compete with the best club like manchester city, real madrid or bayern.
How many times PSG was botting its performance in the UCL? It can be answered easily. This is also the main reason PSG was always failed to get UCL.
The only best achievement to be runner up of UCL a few years ago but yeah it was a few years ago. Football developed even further and there are lots of change happened.

When you are that good, you do not face a great team until the quarter finals, it's rarely the case. I mean you "may" face someone that is good, but most of the time you really don't. I think it's quite clear that they will not face anyone who will be all that much of a trouble for them. I think quarter finals may end up being a little decent as well, I think it is going to be a bit of a tough deal for the draw, but they are building a great team, maybe during the winter period they will get someone decent as well, who knows?

I think that should be the most important thing, we need to arrange something that will benefit everyone. This is of course not a guaranteed thing but we could always end up with a good PSG win and they may finally get that UCL title they always wanted, that's an important situation. I believe that there is still some time left to see, but I like their current roster, they do look like a good team and they do look like they may do something about it as well.

PSG has had top players recently and they couldn't do anything special to win the Champions league. If they didn't win it when the likes of Messi and others were there. So I don't really see any magic that this current squad they have can win the champoins league this season. Maybe in the future they will win but not now as they are not yet ready.

[Velvet78]

I think the closest matchups are Inter - Atletico Madrid and Napoli - Barcelona. We can watch really competitive games in these matchups.    Simeone's Atletico Madrid have been doing a really good job so far in the season. They seem far stronger than the previous season in the Champions League. Inter are very strong now but they had better get ready for a tough challenge. I feel like Inter will eliminate them one way or another.

For the other matchup Barcelona will get the most serious matchup in the Champions League this season. Because their group was really easy for them. They are lucky about one thing that Napoli are trying to recover with their new manager. If Barcelona can benefit from their inconsistencies they can eliminate them. If we see a determined Napoli then the other way around can happen which wouldn't surprise me.

[Zanab247]

According All football, this is the knockout stage draws.
This draws us a bit fair because almost all teams were paired well, although some teams were lucky to have weak opponents that they are almost sure of their qualifying to the next round.

Arsenal might go far this season because their opponents are not too strong to stop their form even though almost half of the players did not have enough Champions League experience.

Yes, Arsenal will surely move on after this lockout stage because they have showcased some improvement in the premier league that made them to moved to first position and they will use the influence to ensure they secure victory in this UEFA champions league lockout stage. Inter Milan will also secure victory from their opponent in this Lockout stage because, they have done a great work in the Italy serie A competition to maintain first position over some games and it will make them to have the confidence to achieve victory from their opponent.

Napoli will experience difficult game with Barcelona in this lockout stage and, it hard for people to know who will win in this game because the 2 teams have some problem in this season based on their various league competition that made other teams to top them.

[onecall123]

After the Champions League round of 16 draw, Man City will be up against Copenhagen.

Some folks wonder why City seems to get easier draws. It's necessary to remember that City consistently finishes on top of their group each season, earning them a favorable draw. But, let's not forget, there are no small teams in the Champions League. Copenhagen is a tough team. Man City faced them last season, so it's unwise to underestimate them. Nevertheless, City conquered the best teams on their way to their first UCL, and hopefully, they'll do the same this time around.

[shinratensei_]

There was no match worthy of the words "early final" in the 1/8 round. Defending champion Man City is especially lucky to only have to meet Copenhagen, the most underrated team. Real Madrid seems to have the easiest time among the Spanish teams entering the 1/8 round because their opponent is Leipzig, which is not the strongest in Germany and not a significant force in the European arena. Meanwhile, PSG was fortunate to avoid big opponents and clash with Sociedad. PSG was very lucky to get through the group stage, including a draw with Newcastle at home that they almost lost.
Overall, in this round, the wins belong to the big teams. The next quarter-finals are the "early finals" worth watching.

From what you say, everything is fact and indeed everyone has their own assessment. Here I agree that if Manchester City gets a very easy opponent, namely Copenhagen, their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals will definitely be achieved. Real Madrid played against Leipzig, even though many here say that Real Madrid also had an easy opponent, but I don't think they agree because Leipzig is still quite a difficult opponent to beat. They have a good squad and also have a dominant striker like Lois Openda. Real Madrid doesn't have a pure striker in the starting lineup and they always rely on Rodrygo and Brahim for the starting line up. Even though in reality Jude Bellingham can always be a mainstay when Real Madrid needs a goal, what I'm afraid is that Leipzig will prepare intense training to be able to stop these players.

For PSG, perhaps it is true that they were lucky to face Real Sociedad and I think Real Sociedad should not be underestimated because they won the group before the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League. So this assessment is still based on general aspects and let's see later whether there is anything that can make this round of 16 more interesting or not.

I have been watching the gameplay from sociedad and it was very attractive as sociedad was always going all in offensive against any of its opponents in the group stage. I remind you that if sociedad was as strong as intermilan.
I have seen that how intermilan was humiliating so many strong clubs. PSG needs to be careful against it. We do know that how strong intermilan is. Both Real Sociedad and Inter Milan managed to maintain unbeaten records throughout the group stage.

Even i call that sociedad is far stronger than intermilan at this moment. The cause of this is the fact that it has a greater level of goal productivity in comparison to Inter Milan. It makes sense to call that sociedad is a favorite to win in the game against PSG.

PSG needs to be careful against it. Im sure enrique was also aware of this too.

[Mayor of ogba]

Ac Milan will not last long in the Europa League because they will not be happy playing the Europa League football.
Paris Saint-German fought back to reach the last 16 of the Uefa Champions League this season. 

Not sure about that.

If they will be out from the race for the title, they will have nothing better to aim for.

For now, AC Milan is in the third position of the Serie A league table. AC Milan will be more focused on winning the seria A title than wanting to win the Europa League.

[TelolettOm]

PSG are not yet ready to win the champoins league. The French league is not that competitive and the strongest team PSG struggled with Newcastle and other teams in their group. If they make it pass the round of 16 this season I think they are lucky. It will take PSG many years of consistency to win the Champions league, they should forget about it this season.

I don't think so. PSG qualified to the knock-out round because they did great efforts. It is not caused by the luck only, you must see another reason for the success in the group stage. I'm sure PSG is the team that has good quality of players. The Ligue 1 is also a competitive league, that's why PSG can be one of the strong team in UCL. If Ligue 1 isn't competitive, we won't see that PSG becomes one of the favorite team in UCL for the last few seasons.

It is difficult for PSG to play as consistent as previous season because there are some key players left PSG in the last previous season. If PSG still has the same squad, PSG probably becomes one of the favorite teams to win UCL this season. However, I think PSG has quite good squad, they are capable to qualify until the semi-final.

[Smack That Ace]

After the Champions League round of 16 draw, Man City will be up against Copenhagen.

Some folks wonder why City seems to get easier draws. It's necessary to remember that City consistently finishes on top of their group each season, earning them a favorable draw. But, let's not forget, there are no small teams in the Champions League. Copenhagen is a tough team. Man City faced them last season, so it's unwise to underestimate them. Nevertheless, City conquered the best teams on their way to their first UCL, and hopefully, they'll do the same this time around.

I agree with it. Finishing on top of the league pairs you with a team that finished in 2nd place in another group.

But I do not agree with you about Copenhagen being a tough team. Copenhagen is relatively much weaker than Manchester City. They went to the playoffs against a group containing Manchester United and Galatasaray. Manchester United's performance this season is poor and Galatasaray is not that big of a team either. Copenhagen was in Manchester City's group of Champions League last season and they placed last. I don't see them winning this match. I think Manchester City will win this match easily and head to the Quarterfinals.

Regards

Duke