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The UEFA Champions League last 16 gets under way this week, with some of the juiciest-looking ties you could ever hope for.
Real Madrid and Manchester City will meet (again), as will defending champions Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in a repeat of last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup final. There’s also Newcastle United against Barcelona, Galatasaray vs Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen against Arsenal and Atalanta vs Bayern Munich among others.
But which team is likeliest to go all the way and lift the big trophy in May? In this week’s SVQ, we’ll be asking the Opta supercomputer that very question.
One competing team who may be somewhat distracted are Tottenham, who have significantly more pressing matters domestically. Their home loss against Crystal Palace last week left them just a point above the relegation zone and further extended what has been a woeful run of form in 2026. Advanced warning to any Spurs fans reading, but we’ll also be looking at just how concerning things are for last season’s Europa League winners.
Our Ask Opta question this week queries the run-in for the Premier League title race, while our quiz is all about the FA Cup fifth round.
Let’s start with Europe’s finest…
⚽️ STAT - Champions League Predictions
We’re down to the last 16.
The Champions League really gets interesting from here, especially now that we know the potential paths each team could take between now and the final in Budapest in May.
And with that in mind, it means we can ask the Opta supercomputer to calculate each remaining team’s chances of going all the way and winning the Champions League in 2025-26.
Despite never having won a European Cup/Champions League before, Arsenal are the favourites to do so. The Gunners are in first place in the Premier League, and finished top of the league phase of the Champions League.