UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
April 11.
Benfica vs Inter Milan Manchester City vs Bayern Munich
April 12.
AC Milan vs Napoli Real Madrid vs Chelsea
THE LAST EIGHT:
There are three Italian teams, 2 English teams, a German team, a Spanish team, and a Portuguese team.
Of the 8 teams left in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League, Manchester City, and Napoli are the teams that have never won the competition in their history.
Napoli has had the Europe League but Manchester City’s trophy cabinet when it comes to continental titles is vacant. The good news for both clubs is that they can both make it to the final.
Napoli is looking at a double.
After 33 years without a league title, Napoli is almost at the finish line in the Italian Serie A title race as the new champions. But the year could even get better than expected if Napoli also manages to secure the UEFA Champions League title alongside their league title. Napoli will have to get past AC Milan.
Only Real Madrid has won more titles in this competition than AC Milan. They’ve been absent for some time, but AC Milan is 5 games away from their 8th Champions League title. It might not mean much in a cup game but their ‘4-0’ league win against Napoli a couple of weeks ago could be a source of inspiration for them to find a result that will advance them to the semifinal.
The only way an Italian club won’t be at the Champions League final is if the Portuguese club gets to the final.
To get to the Champions League final for the first time since 1990, Benfica will need to beat two Italian Serie A clubs, starting with an Inter Milan side that made it to the quarterfinal by knocking out a Portuguese team (Porto).
Inter Milan’s most recent Champions League title was won in a ‘treble-winning’ season. This won’t be the case this time around but it also means they can focus a lot more on this tournament.
Real Madrid’s path to defend the Champions League title is filled with other tournament favorites, but this has not stopped them in the past. Real Madrid is looking for their 15th Champions League title.
Manchester City and Bayern Munich are arguably the top two favorites to win the tournament. Unfortunately, only one of them will be a semifinalist this year.
The bright side for both clubs is that a win here will mean their path to the title has gotten a lot clearer (on paper at least).
Real Madrid - 14 titles: Last title was in 2022. Benfica - 2 titles: Last title was in 1962, last final was in 1990. Inter Milan - 3 titles: Last title was in 2010. AC Milan - 7 titles: Last title was in 2007. Bayern Munich - 6 titles: Last title was in 2020. Chelsea - 2 titles: Last title was in 2021 Manchester City - finalist in 2021. Napoli - This tournament has been their best performance. This quarterfinal is their best finish (so far).
