Champions League Power Rankings: Real Madrid soar; Bayern take first

The UEFA Champions League will be back this week to wrap up round of 16 action

By Francesco Porzio

Mar 16, 2026 at 12:33 pm ET • 5 min read

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The road to the 2025-26 Champions League final, which will take place in Budapest on May 30, is now set, and the 16 best European teams will be back this week for the second legs of the round of 16 across Europe. Arsenal and Bayern Munich are still considered the favorites to win the tournament, but other big teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester City are also in contention for the trophy. The 2024 and 2025 Champions League finalists, Borussia Dortmund and Inter, were both eliminated in the playoffs, while some other surprises shocked the world ahead of the crucial phase of the competition. Let's take a look at our weekly power rankings:

1. Bayern Munich (+1)

We have a new team at the top of our power rankings as Arsenal drop out of the top spot for the first time this season. The German side surprised many by winning 6-1 in the first leg of the Round of 16 against Atalanta, and they showed pretty clearly why they need to be considered as the best team around Europe, especially having a nine-point margin on Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. They can now focus on the European tournament in the last and crucial weeks of the season.

2. Arsenal (-1)

Mikel Arteta's team dropped one spot in the power rankings after drawing 1-1 in the first round against Bayer Leverkusen. I'm still expecting the Premier League leaders to be among the candidates to win the tournament this season, but they need to show something different in the second leg in London this week.

3. Barcelona (--)

Barcelona only drew the first leg against Newcastle, but they are still in a good spot ahead of the quarterfinals. Hansi Flick's team is also one of the leaders in the LaLiga standings and we can expect them to be in the race for both tournaments until the very end. The club president Joan Laporta also won the latest elections and is ready to take over again for another term, cementing his status at Barcelona and the cycle led by Flick.

4. PSG (--)

They haven't had a dream season like last year, but they are now in good form after winning 5-2 in the first leg against Chelsea. We can expect a lot from them in the coming weeks now that they are leading the Ligue 1 standings and are close to qualifying for the top eight in Europe as well.

5. Real Madrid (+1)

The incredible performance against Manchester City in the first leg played at the Bernabeu showed why they still need to be considered among the favorites to win the tournament. Also, Kylian Mbappe is now finally back in the squad and Alvaro Arbeloa can count on him ahead of the second leg against Pep Guardiola's team. Not bad considering they will start from a 3-0 win.

6. Manchester City (-1)

What happened to them? You can definitely lose against Real Madrid, but the 3-0 defeat was a big disappointment and not many could have expected it. They still have a chance to overturn that result in Manchester on Tuesday, but if they fail there will be even more questions regarding the imminent future of Pep Guardiola.

7. Atletico Madrid (+2)

Winning against Tottenham is probably not a big deal this season, but Diego Simeone's team is now close to reaching the top eight of the European competition, and this is definitely a good sign ahead of the last weeks of the season, when there will be more questions about the future of the coach.

8. Chelsea (-1)

I mean, I was expecting more from them in the first leg against PSG, but the 5-2 defeat doesn't leave them with much chance to qualify for the next round. And even if they do, they might face Liverpool in the quarterfinals and one of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Manchester City in the semifinals.

9. Liverpool (-1)

The first leg against Galatasaray is a pretty solid example of why their season hasn't been successful so far. Losing 1-0 to the Turkish team away wasn't a good result, but they still have the chance to overturn it in the second game in Liverpool this week.

10. Newcastle (--)

They were unlucky to draw Barcelona in the round of 16, and it will be difficult to beat Hansi Flick's side over two legs, especially with the second game to be played in Barcelona after drawing last week's first leg at St. James' Park.

11. Bodo/Glimt (+4)

I warned you over the last few weeks. This is not a surprise anymore. After defeating Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the league phase, they also knocked Inter out of the competition in the playoffs before winning 3-0 against Sporting CP. They have the incredible chance to qualify for the top eight.

12. Galatasaray (--)

It won't be easy to keep that one-goal advantage over Liverpool in the second leg, especially after what they have shown in the playoffs against Juventus when they had to win the game in extra time, after winning 5-2 in the opening leg.

13. Bayer Leverkusen (+1)

Despite drawing Arsenal in the round of 16, they were able to draw the first leg, and they still have a chance to qualify for the top eight. But I sincerely doubt they can do it away at the Emirates Stadium against the Gunners.

14. Sporting CP (-1)

By far the biggest disappointment of the first leg. I had a lot of expectations around the Portuguese team after they drew Bodo/Glimt, but they have failed to show enough so far.

15. Atalanta (-4)

Speaking of disappointments, the only Serie A team left in the tournament conceded six goals to Bayern Munich. Of course, we are talking about one of the best sides around Europe, but we could definitely expect much more from the team managed by Raffaele Palladino.