Champions League round of 16 ties - ranked

The last ever Champions League round of 16 draw has been made, and it's once again provided something for every type of football fan.

For the hipsters we have PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund, for the fans of tactical battles we have Inter vs Atletico Madrid, and for the sickos who want to the see Erling Haaland scored 30 goals in a single game we have Manchester City vs Copenhagen.

Here's every round of 16 tie - ranked by how excited we are to watch them.

8. Manchester City vs Copenhagen

Erling Haaland
Current holders / BSR Agency/GettyImages

Guess what?

Manchester City have been given the easiest draw possible, with the current holders of the Champions League being pitted against a team who has never, ever, made it this far in the competition before.

Oh, you're not shocked by that? Ok...

7. Lazio vs Bayern Munich

Harry Kane
Main man / Sebastian Widmann/GettyImages

Armed with the best striker in the world Harry Kane - he's scored 24 goals already this season so don't argue with that statement - Bayern Munich will be confident of going all the way in the Champions League this season.

Having cruised through the group stages, Kane and co. will likely brush a Lazio side who sit 11th in Serie A aside with similar ease in the round of 16.

This won't be much of a contest.

6. PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund

Marco Reus
Group winners / Sebastian Widmann/GettyImages

A match made in football hipster heaven, PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund promises to be watched almost exclusively by people wearing retro football tops, Carhartt Detroit jackets, and jorts.

And, to be fair to the hipsters, they won't be picking a bad game of football to watch.

BVB and PSV are two exciting, very evenly-matched, football teams who could play out the best tie of the round.

5. Arsenal vs Porto

Mikel Arteta
Arteta's Arsenal are impressing / Richard Heathcote/GettyImages

Arsenal fans were pretty damn pleased that their reward for topping Group B was a clash with Porto in the round of 16.

And while the draw definitely wasn't the worst the Gunners could've been handed, it shouldn't be considered the best either.

Porto have proven that they're no slouches during the 2023/24 Champions League, scoring an impressive 15 goals on their route to the knockout stages.

Arsenal are expected to go through, but it won't be as comfortable a tie as many fans are perhaps expecting it to be.

4. RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham
Superstar / Quality Sport Images/GettyImages

Xavi Simons vs Jude Bellingham.

For that matchup alone, this tie should be a very, very fun one for neutrals to watch.

Thanks to the two youngster, Madrid and Leipzig are two of the most entertaining teams to watch in Europe this season.

This promises to be a cracker.

3. Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Sociedad

Kylian Mbappe
A last season with PSG? / Aurelien Meunier/GettyImages

On paper, this round of 16 tie seems like a walk in the park for a Paris Saint-Germain team armed with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Warren Zaire-Emery.

In practice, however, it's far from straightforward.

The slow, prodding, rather toothless, style of play adopt by PSG manager Luis Enrique could be capitalised upon by an energetic Real Sociedad team who conceded just two goals in the group stages.

2. Napoli vs Barcelona

Xavi Hernandez
Under pressure / Pedro Salado/GettyImages

Napoli vs Barcelona.

The Serie A champions vs La Liga champions.

A year ago this tie would've been the pick of the bunch from the last 16 draw. Now, with both teams struggling for form, it may not be the 'pick of the bunch', but it's still an intriguing tie nonetheless.

A lot of said intrigue will likely centre around the future of Xavi Hernandez, who may lose his job if Barca exit the comPetition.

1. Inter vs Atletico Madrid

Lautaro Martinez
Top player / Giuseppe Bellini/GettyImages

Having made the Champions League final last season, Inter are now gunning to go one better this time round.

To do that, they'll have to get past Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid first.

In very un-Simeone fashion, Atleti have been scoring goals for fun in the competition this season - bagging 17 in the group stages - and have the quality to hurt Inter across a two-legged tie.

This should be a fun one.

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