Contenders and pretenders: Ranking the Champions League field

The Champions League finally makes its return, as the 16 remaining clubs resume their bids to capture Europe's showpiece title. But which teams are simply there as cannon fodder for the heavy hitters, and which ones actually have a legitimate chance at winning the trophy? We rank the field.

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Unless something truly remarkable happens, these teams are here simply to make up the numbers.

16. Leicester City

Don't kid yourself - the magic dust is well and truly gone. The fairy tale now a thing of the past, reality has hit Leicester City square in the face with the impact of a grand piano crashing to the ground from a high-rise window. Can the 17th-placed team in the Premier League pull off another miracle? Based on talent alone, no. Based on current form, hell no.

15. Benfica

Benfica, enjoying another stellar campaign in Portugal - the Eagles sit atop the division and boast the best goal difference - avoided the true heavyweights in the Round of 16, being paired with an inconsistent Borussia Dortmund side. If the impressive defensive duo of Victor Lindelof and Luisao can lock things down, an upset could be on the cards, but it's difficult to envision anything more than a trip to the quarter-finals for Rui Vitoria's men.

14. Porto

Andre Silva, the budding 21-year-old who many have dubbed Portugal's long-awaited replacement for iconic striker Pauleta, has his work cut out for him in the Round of 16, as the stingy Juventus defence awaits. The Dragons, who recovered from a slow start to finish second in their group behind Leicester, will need both their young talent - led by Silva - and their old guard, anchored by the rejuvenated Iker Casillas, to be at their very best to pull off an upset.

Struggling stalwarts

Among the most exciting sides in Europe, these German giants are enduring down seasons that make it difficult to envision a run to Champions League glory.

13. Bayer Leverkusen

Roger Schmidt's side continues to play the breakneck brand of football that has made the club so exciting in recent seasons, but this iteration has shaded more toward chaotic than exhilarating. Sitting ninth in the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen has had a torrid time keeping the ball out of its own net; only six clubs have conceded more league goals than Bayer's 29 in Germany's top flight this season. Unless Chicharito scores a bucketload, the squad's knockout-round adventure will be brief.

12. Borussia Dortmund

Another German side in the midst of a strange, up-and-down campaign, Borussia Dortmund - recruiting and churning out more young talent than the Mickey Mouse Club - remains a thrill to watch, but that excitement going forward has come at the expense of defensive solidity this season. Thomas Tuchel has the horses up top to do serious damage - Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Ousmane Dembele, in particular - but at some point Dortmund needs to sort things out at the back.

Hipster picks

Your cool friend with a beard definitely thinks one of these three clubs is going to upset conventional wisdom and be celebrating inside the Millennium Stadium come June.

11. Monaco

Nobody, not even Barcelona, scores as many goals as Monaco. Blessed with a crop of young talent that rivals Borussia Dortmund - Kylian Mbappe is the truth - Les Monegasques have racked up an absurd 75 goals in 25 Ligue 1 matches. Leonardo Jardim's men are scoring at a completely unsustainable rate, but who's to say they can't keep it up for another seven matches to win the tournament? Regression will hit eventually, but how soon will determine Monaco's fate.

10. Sevilla

Excitable Chilean bench boss Jorge Sampaoli has Sevilla playing some of the most furious, rip-roaring football in Europe. While there's a clear talent disparity between his club and the continent's truly elite sides, perhaps the 56-year-old - no stranger to winning titles from his spells with Universidad de Chile and the Chilean national team - is capable of making up that gap.

9. Napoli

Led by scorching-hot Belgian attacker Dries Mertens - who's playing out of his mind right now, tormenting defenders and goalkeepers alike - Napoli rolls into the Round of 16 confident that its attack can slice open even the most watertight backline. Scoring just over 2.3 goals per game in Serie A, the Partenopei will give Real Madrid everything it can handle.

Is this the year?

Things are different this season. Lofty expectations will finally be met. Maybe.

8. Arsenal

The Gunners looked like world-beaters early in the season, tearing everyone to shreds with their free-flowing, gorgeous attacking style that has long won Arsene Wenger plaudits. And then, as seems to happen every campaign, Arsenal hit a wall, performances and results went south, and Wenger's detractors started making a lot of noise. Like clockwork. Maybe this is the year things change. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

7. Paris Saint-Germain

Don't sleep on Paris Saint-Germain. The transition to life without Zlatan Ibrahimovic - and under Unai Emery - was a tedious one, but the capital-based side looks to have figured it out; PSG has won 10 of its last 11 matches in all competitions, conceding just four goals while scoring 34. The squad is littered with game-breaking talent, and the unfairly maligned Edinson Cavani is having the season of his life right now. Barcelona, beware.

6. Atletico Madrid

In trying to play a more expansive brand of football this season, cracks have started to show in the formerly impenetrable armour of Diego Simeone's club. The team is still heavily reliant on Antoine Griezmann to score goals, which is a concern considering Simeone has altered his approach - and made his backline more vulnerable - specifically to make the Rojiblancos a more cohesive, balanced attacking team. For Atleti to go one step further than last season and actually win this competition, you can't help but feel like a return to the defence-first approach of yesteryear will be required.

Best of the rest

These sides, all perennial powers in their respective domestic leagues, are fully capable of hoisting the trophy this season - one of them, at least, is expecting nothing less.

5. Manchester City

With a little divine intervention, Pep Guardiola appears to have Manchester City back on track. The high-octane Citizens have looked unstoppable since the celebrated Spanish tactician threw Gabriel Jesus up top, flanking him with fellow young studs Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling. In support of the young trio, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva are mesmerising. Yes, news that the Brazilian forward could miss 2-3 months with a broken foot is a very bitter blow, but even without the 19-year-old, the talent is there to go all the way. The only problem, of course - and it's a big one - is in defence. Guardiola has been doing everything he can to compensate for a lack of quality at the back. Whether that ragtag group can keep things steady is the key to City's Champions League campaign.

4. Juventus

Juventus' sturdy backline always garners a majority of the attention, and for good reason, but Massimiliano Allegri has handed the keys over to his talented attacking core of late, and the results have been impressive. A switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation has reinvigorated the Old Lady; formerly slow, predictable, and ponderous on the ball, the move has allowed Allegri to get his best attacking players on the pitch at the same time. That additional support has seen Gonzalo Higuain flourish; the red-hot Argentine has found the net 12 times in as many matches. His signing last summer was a clear attempt by the Bianconeri brass to capitalize on a closing window to win this tournament, and while there are central midfield concerns in Turin, it also wouldn't be a total surprise to see Gianluigi Buffon finally get his hands on the one trophy that's eluded him.

3. Bayern Munich

The sense around Bayern Munich is that something is amiss this year. The Bavarian club isn't dominating the same way it did under Pep Guardiola, with Carlo Ancelotti's more laissez-faire approach coming under scrutiny because it hasn't yielded the same explosive attacking displays. But Bayern remains an absolute force to be reckoned with; the club's formidable backline has conceded the fewest goals (12) of anyone in Europe's top five leagues, and with the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben, chances at the other end are never hard to come by. Dismiss Bayern - and noted "tournament manager" Ancelotti - at your own peril.

The big boys

There's no point being a contrarian just for the sake of it. Two predictable teams in Europe are quite clearly superior to everyone else, and they're the most likely to win the continent's most desired prize.

2. Real Madrid

This just in: the reigning champion is still very, very good. Led, of course, by Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid continues to be one of Europe's most prolific attacking outfits. Luka Modric might be the best midfielder on the planet, and if all else fails, Sergio Ramos can always bail out Los Blancos with a 93rd-minute header. Zinedine Zidane's side can beat you in a multitude of ways.

1. Barcelona

This isn't the unstoppable, flawless Barcelona of recent seasons. Sergio Busquets has fought through injury and unexpectedly poor form; the right-back situation leaves much to be desired; the summer signings - Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer, in particular - have sputtered or downright failed. And yet, despite the warts, the vaunted MSN remains, and that's really all that matters. Having Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar can make up for a lot of deficiencies. Their ability to conjure magic out of nothing and win matches on their own means Barcelona is still the best team in Europe.