Ranking the Champions League field: Can anyone stop PSG or Barcelona?

Welcome to Year 4 of the Champions League rankings, wherever I ... fertile each the teams successful the Champions League.

This twelvemonth is notable for 1 circumstantial reason: Manchester City are not No. 1. In fact, they're not adjacent adjacent to being No. 1. City person been the favorites to triumph the European Cup successful six of the past 7 seasons, and they were 2nd favorites the lone clip they weren't No. 1.

Without City starring the way, it's mode much unfastened astatine the apical than it has been successful a agelong time. Five clubs tin marque tenable cases that they should beryllium the favorites to triumph it each -- and past determination are besides a clump of others that could triumph it all, too.

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So, who is No. 1 successful our rankings? Who is No. 36? And wherever does everyone onshore successful between? Let's get to the list.

36. Kairat Almaty

The easternmost squad to ever play successful the Champions League got present with shootout victories successful qualifying against Celtic and Slovan Bratislava. Per Transfermarkt, the full squad maintains a transportation worth of astir €12.53 million. That's astir the aforesaid arsenic the mean subordinate connected Benfica, who according to the betting odds, person astir a 1-in-200 accidental of winning this tournament.

35. FK Qarabag

Based connected unsmooth estimates, I'm beauteous definite Qarabag would beryllium favored to bushed Kairat by astir a afloat extremity connected a neutral field. That's astir the aforesaid spread arsenic between, say, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

34. Pafos

Remember Mislav Orsic? Only a prime fewer of you will, but helium came connected successful the knockouts against Spain astatine Euro 2020, scored and assisted connected a goal, and sent the crippled to other time. He had a chapeau instrumentality arsenic Dinamo Zagreb eliminated Jose Mourinho's Tottenham from the 2021 Europa League, and helium scored the victor successful Zagreb's Champions League triumph against Chelsea successful 2022 successful what ended up being Thomas Tuchel's past crippled successful complaint of the English club. Orsic scored the winning extremity successful the third-place lucifer astatine the 2022 World Cup, with Southampton signing him a period aboriginal for €5.75 million.

Anyway, he's 32 and plays for Pafos now.

33. Slavia Prague

Jindrich Trpisovsky has been coaching Slavia Prague since 2017. That seems similar everlastingly successful the existent high-stakes, low-patien...