The last 16 of Champions League play is halfway done and plenty of ties are still hanging in the balance as only two games saw a team win by at least two goals. Bayern suffered a shocking loss to Lazio in Italy while Arsenal are even behind after conceding late to Porto. With the action returning in March for the second leg, let's take a look at how the power ranks shake out:
| RANK | TEAM | CHANGE | ANALYSIS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | -- | Despite conceding a goal to Copenhagen, City are entering the second leg with a two-goal advantage and passage to the last eight seems likely. While nothing can be taken for granted, Pep Guardiola will appreciate the ability to rotate in the match. |
| 2 | Real Madrid | -- | No defense, no problem as Real Madrid did just well enough to scrape out a win in Germany to return to Spain with a narrow victory. Los Blancos didn't look great while doing it without key defenders, but champions can win despite not being at their best and that's just what happened. |
| 3 | Inter | +2 | It was a match featuring uncharacteristically poor finishing from Inter but Marko Arnautovic was able to net an important goal as each team's 3-5-2 canceled each other out. Huge win vs. Atletico Madrid. |
| 4 | Paris Saint-Germain | +4 | Could the Kylian Mpappe farewell tour be enough for PSG to finally win a European title? Mbappe scored as PSG picked up an excellent win and now this tie just needs to be managed in the second leg. |
| 5 | Lazio | +9 | Every week I ask how are Lazio still doing this and they come back with yet another Champions League victory. Hope could come crashing down in Germany but at the moment, the Italians are in a good spot. |
| 6 | Porto | +5 | Galeno finally did it. After one of the biggest misses in the Champions League so far, he was able to net a stoppage-time winner over Arsenal registering his first goal contribution of UCL play that wasn't versus Shakhtar Donetsk. |
| 7 | Barcelona | -1 | Robert Lewandowski's goal was cancelled out but Barcelona dominated their match against Napoli for large portions of play and should feel good about their chances to advance in the tournament. |
| 8 | Arsenal | -5 | Facing Porto in Portugal is no easy task but it seemed like Arsenal would emerge with a draw which would've been a creditable result but conceding a stoppage time goal here could be critical. |
| 9 | Bayern Munich | -5 | Sometimes it's hard to tell if Dayot Upamecano plays for Bayern Munich or the opposition. In getting sent off he changed the tide of a game that it seemed like Bayern would eventually win vs. Lazio. Now with Thomas Tuchel stepping down at the end of the season, it's hard to project how the second leg will look. |
| 10 | Atletico Madrid | -4 | Alvaro Morata's return to health should help the Atletico attack in Spain but what they'll need to figure out is controlling possession in midfield as they were well contained by Inter, not registering a shot on target in the first leg. |
| 11 | Borussia Dortmund | -2 | Unfortunate to not win, the penalty conceded by Mats Hummels was a questionable one but now Dortmund will be able to make up for it during the home leg of play. |
| 12 | PSV | -- | Creating good chances, the finishing wasn't there for PSV as now they'll have to be more clinical when heading to Germany for the second leg. A tall task. |
| 13 | RB Leipzig | -- | Benjamin Sesko will want his chances back as Leipzig deserved a draw during the match but if they can repeat this in Spain, the win isn't out of reach against mighty Real Madrid. |
| 14 | Napoli | +1 | Under new management, it took until Victor Osimhen scored in the 75th minute for Napoli to put a shot on target. Soccer needs to become fun again for Napoli. |
| 15 | Real Sociedad | -6 | They were fine and then they were behind to PSG. Life comes at you fast but Sociedad's run may be coming to a close. |
| 16 | Copenhagen | -- | Copenhagen scored a goal so that's something to celebrate. If they can grab another, Copenhagen will be over the moon, and that's likely their ceiling. |
