Champions League Power Rankings (2023/24)

The Champions League quarter-finals are all wrapped up, and we now know which teams will be facing off in the semi-finals of the tournament. Both Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund battled back from first-leg deficits, beating Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively. The pair will now take each other on in the semi-finals, marking their third meeting of the competition after they came through the same group.

Real Madrid are one step closer to claiming the silverware for a 15th time, extending their lead in the rankings for most overall titles after they edged past Manchester City in a penalty shootout at the Etihad. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich eliminated the only other English team remaining in the competition, as they knocked Arsenal out with an aggregate score of 3-2 across two legs. The two European giants will now face off in a massive semi-finals clash.

Despite all the speculation and guesswork that goes into these types of conversations, that hasn’t stopped us from trying to predict the outcome of the tournament. We have ranked the four remaining teams left in the Champions League based on how likely we think they are to win it, considering factors like how they performed in the tournament so far, their form this season, the difficulty of their draw, how well they have performed historically in the knockout rounds. Given that football can throw curveballs into the mix frequently, we could be way wide of the mark when a winner is crowned in June.

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4 Borussia Dortmund

Finished 1st in Group F

Qualifying from the ‘group of death’ takes some doing, but Borussia Dortmund managed it with a game to spare. Statement wins against Newcastle and AC Milan saw them advance to the knockout stage, and a 1-1 draw against PSG on the final day ensured their status as group winners.

The German side lost their talisman in Jude Bellingham last summer, but they’ve still put up a strong account for themselves in the Champions League so far. After beating PSV in the round of 16, Dortmund found themselves on the easier side of the draw. They then showed tremendous heart to come from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 5-4 on aggregate. Facing off against PSG in the semi-finals, the French side might just have a little too much star power for Dortmund. Expect Kylian Mbappe to be the difference maker.

3 Paris Saint-Germain

Finished 2nd in Group F

Putting the team that finished second in Group F above the winners of the mini-table might seem a tad bizarre, but all things considered, Paris Saint-Germain have a higher chance of winning the tournament than Dortmund. They weren’t at their best in Group F, with losses to Newcastle and AC Milan leading to speculation they could be heading into the Europa League.

They got through, though, and then thrashed Real Sociedad in the last 16, followed up by a dramatic comeback against Barcelona that saw the Ligue 1 champions thrash their opponents 4-1 in the second leg after trailing the first 3-2. Kylian Mbappe, one of the best players in the world right now, strikes fear into anyone he comes up against, and considering he’ll be head and shoulders above anyone else in PSG’s semi-final matchup with Dortmund, it’s hard to look beyond the French side.

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With that being said, they still clearly seem a step behind either of the sides in the other semi-final, so no matter who they come up against in the final, it’s difficult to imagine that they’ll be the ones lifting the Champions League trophy come the end of the season.

2 Bayern Munich

Finished 1st in Group A

Having barely gotten out of second gear for many of their matches in Group A, Bayern Munich almost slipped up against Lazio, losing the first leg to their Italian opponents 1-0. They came back strong in the reverse fixture, though, thrashing the Italian side 3-0 and moving on to the quarter-finals.

After drawing the first leg of the quarter-finals matchup against Arsenal 2-2 at the Emirates, a fine Joshua Kimmich header at home in the second leg sent the German side through to the semi-finals. Thomas Tuchel has proven he can take a team to the summit of European football, and he has a far better squad than the one he had while at Chelsea. Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sane can cause any defence problems, and the free-scoring Harry Kane has slotted into the first team brilliantly during his debut campaign in Germany.

On paper, they have the talent to beat just about anyone, but considering their stuttering form in the league, and the fact they’ll come up against powerhouses Real Madrid in the semi-finals, it’s going to be a tough ask for them to reach the final. If they get past the Spanish side, though, they should have enough about them to go all the way.

1 Real Madrid

Finished 1st in Group C

No one gets the Champions League quite like Real Madrid and considering how good they’ve looked this year, and their ability to get results against just about anyone in this tournament, there was no doubt they had to be ranked first. Aside from a 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig, Los Blancos have looked dominant in the Champions League up until the last eight, brushing Napoli aside twice and dispatching Union Berlin and Braga with ease.

The last eight saw them come up against possibly the best team on the planet in Manchester City, but while their backs were up against the wall for a while in that second leg, Los Blancos dug deep and emerged victorious after the tie was settled via a penalty shootout. With talent like Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr in their ranks, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Carlo Ancelotti’s side lifting the Champions League trophy come the end of the season.

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