Ranking the teams most likely to be eliminated from the Champions League Round of 16

12. Paris Saint Germain

PSG have failed to live up to the expectations that come with having a roster full of stars, young and old, with athleticism and titles won with other teams, yet the French side has still faltered. Even as they are one of the favourites to win the Champions League this season, they have a host of concerns that must be solved right now or else they will lose the contest and face further shame.

Inviting Real Madrid to Parc Des Princes was one opportunity for the PSG club to demonstrate that they are willing to go all in. They showed tremendous enthusiasm and physicality and were quite effective in keeping the La Liga leaders at cove. It was rather simple for them to trouble the Madrid defence, but something or other hindered them from scoring, as the lone goal they could manage came in stoppage time after much work.

Real Madrid have been finding ways to come up against PSG at the Bernabeu, and if they can figure it out, which they may already have with Federico Valverde’s agility, things may get problematic for the return leg. It would be unreasonable to dismiss Los Blancos totally, as there have been miracles against PSG in the past, particularly in Spain.

The chances of Pochettino’s side losing are slim, but they are never none.

11. Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid have never won the Champions League, but whether it was with Real Madrid or Liverpool recently, Simeone’s side has always caused problems for clubs with superior prospects of winning. “El Cholo,” as they affectionately refer to their manager, has built a club that is defensive as well as offensive, which has lately been honed with the arrival of Luis Suarez and the return of Antoine Griezmann.

The La Liga title defenders welcomed English giants Manchester United to their home stadium, Wanda Metropolitano, for a game that was pretty tight and laborious for both teams. Joao Felix’s early goal, reminiscent of “The Flying Dutchman,” gave Simeone the advantage and the freedom to defend it throughout the game.

While Cristiano Ronaldo has always been a thorn in Atletico Madrid’s side, he was virtually non-existent in this encounter. His influence was little, but the defenders were still hard on him, and with good reason: you just can’t predict Ronaldo. The 36-year-old has caused problems for Atletico Madrid, particularly in the second leg, and the Spanish champions should not underestimate what they face.