Are Arsenal, Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and other Champions League teams really Europe's best?
CBSN
Some of those in the last 16 simply aren't among the best teams in Europe
Champions League play returns next Tuesday with Copenhagen hosting Manchester City and RB Leipzig hosting Real Madrid as Europe's elite fight for one of the most prestigious trophies in soccer. But as the tournament reaches the business end during topsy-turvy league seasons that sees Girona in striking distance of the La Liga title, Juventus competing for the Scudetto and Bayer Leverkusen trying to lead the Bundesliga from end to end, it leads to an important question -- are the 16 teams left in the Champions League actually the 16 best teams in Europe currently?
This isn't meant to discredit what Copenhagen have done as the tie that sparked this idea is actually Barcelona facing Napoli. The winners of La Liga and Serie A squaring off in Champions Leauge should be a mouth-watering tie but Napoli aren't even in a European spot in Italy while Barcelona's season has been poor enough that Xavi Hernandez has decided to step down as manager at the end of the season.
Teams remaining in Champions League: Inter, Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Copenhagen, Manchester City, Arsenal, PSV, Barcelona, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Atletico Madrid, Lazio, Porto, Paris Saint-Germain.
