To be honest, I can't see it being any teams apart from the 2 Madrid teams. Let's see your opinions.

I think Real has a long way to go in terms of peaking. Barcelona and Bayern need some work too, but I can easily see them in the final. A dark horse would be Manchester City. If circumstances favor them, I can also see Pep taking them to the final. Remember that they reached the semi-finals last season and only lost because Pellegrini didn't know how to tactically take down Zidane. That City squad was, and still is, one of the very best in the world.

@amir_keal Lol, please no, not again, I know how good those team are but still, us neutral fan need something different. :D

Lol haha! But they are the only realistic final I can see. One thing I will say is that I can see a team like Napoli making it very far. I'm going to say maybe semis, depending on draws. As for city, they have a very good chance, but Pep is known for ' losing in the semis' and to be honest defensively they can't compare to Athletico. Sorry, just my opinion.

To rule out Barcelona and Bayern is a grave oversight imo, especially given the vulnerabilities that Atleti have shown starting the season.

Don't forget Atletico beat Bayern tho..

And two years ago Juve beat Real Madrid. That really helped in evaluating the following year's results. Not.

Bayern now has a different manager (imo the best in the world), a different midfield engine, and an entirely new playing style. Not a totally new team, but certainly not the same one that got knocked out last season. Same thing with Barca, they added on several players who could (against all odds) actually make in the Barca 11 by the time the CL knockout rounds roll along.

@Sunflash He meant in the group phase of this year CL. :P

@Sunflash He meant this year..

IMO another all-Madrid final this year is next to impossible, because along with Barca/Bayern many more teams also have the talent and potential to make it all the way. Some names that come to mind are Juventus, Atletico, Man City, Dortmund. Already spoke about this in another thread.

@Saatvik102 I guess Sun doesn't think the groupe stage results matter, that or he completely forget about them. ;p But seriously, simply imagining some of those possible match-up is great, Barca-Bayern, Juventus-Atletico, Manchester-Dortmund, I sure would love to see those game this year, pherhap not necessarly in the final. Heck, would love to see Tottenham play Arsenal later in the knockout phase but that would be unlikely. :p

I completely forgot about them. Haven't seen a single CL game this season thanks to a tough academic schedule. Even so, last year PSG looked even with RM in the group stages which obviously wasn't reflected later in the tournament.

Fair play though.

Honestly unless we stop using pique and we should always use umtiti and pique. whatever the case, i don't want to see mascherano playing alongside pique in any big games, especially when ter stegen is not necessarily reliable.
also luis enrique needs to change the formation or make some tactical changes when we play against atletico madrid or other teams that defend like crazy. he seems to only know one formation and never changes from the 4-3-3.

unless real and bayern face each other before the final it will definitely be them two. atletico only seem to win at home and struggle against smaller teams like PSV at times...

PSG, man. city, juventus, and dortmund still aren't on the level of the madrid teams, bayern, or barca.

@liomessi10

PSG, man. city, juventus, and dortmund still aren't on the level of the madrid teams, bayern, or barca.

Yeah, but on a good day, with a bit of luck and with a good game plan, everything can happen and when you have player like the team you named, you have a bit more chance than those element gonna come together.

^yeah i know, like juventus beat real madrid 2 years ago. and should have beaten bayern last year.

@liomessi Could have beaten Bayern last year to be fair, they were very close to, anyway.

The problem with Barcelona is that Enrique experiments too much. Rafinha is not a rw and Turan is not a midfielder. Busquets is the one who needs to be dropped, not Rakitic. I would have said Barcelona vs Athletico, but barcelona are too inconsistent right now, but who knows, the season just started!

Well..... I think i'm sticking to what I first thought then after today.