Champions League Power Rankings: Bayern Munich, PSG surging while Arsenal do just enough

Here's how the semifinalists stack up after a wild quarterfinal round filled with goals

Francesco Porzio

Apr 15, 2026

7:33 pm ET

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1 min read

CBS Sports

The last four of the Champions League is now set as one between PSG, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal and Bayern Munich will lift the trophy this season in Budapest on May 30, when the final will take place. The road to the final game is also set, as PSG will meet Bayern Munich in the semifinals, while Arsenal will face Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid. Four games and four teams that will battle for what's considered the most prestigious trophy for clubs, a few days before the kick off of the 2026 World Cup, which this summer will be played across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Let's now take a look at our latest rankings after the quarterfinals concluded on Wednesday, and don't forget that you can watch all the UCL action live on Paramount+.

Biggest Movers

Atletico Madrid

Arsenal

Teams

Chg

Rcrd

Bayern

The best team of the season, and they also showed it against Real Madrid despite conceding an early goal in the second leg. Same as Atletico Madrid but with different reasons, they can now focus fully on the European tournament as Vincent Kompany's side has the Bundesliga title secured thanks to a commanding 12-point lead over Borussia Dortmund. We can expect them to win both domestic titles and being the strongest candidate to lift the European tournament for the first time since the 2019-20 season, when they won the Treble under Hansi Flick.

Atletico Madrid

After the second leg vs. Barca, Argentinian manager Diego Simeone said he feels there is "something magical" in the air this season for Atletico Madrid, and if he says this, we should believe him. They will have extra motivation to win the Champions League this season, as they have little chance of finishing higher than fourth in LaLiga. As a result, they're likely to focus all their efforts on the European campaign. This is clearly something to take into account, especially given how well they've been performing in Europe. Since the Argentinian took over in 2011, he's yet to win the Champions League with the Colchoneros, despite playing two finals in 2014 and 2016, both times losing to Real Madrid in Lisbon and in Milan. This might be their revenge.

PSG

The 2024-25 Champions League winners are candidates to repeat but they will also face Bayern Munich in the semifinals, widely considered frontrunners for the final win of the cup. If Khvicha Kvaratskhelia performs as he did recently in both Ligue 1 and Champions League, they can be a threat even to a team like the one coached by Vincent Kompany, which doesn't seem to have any kind of weak point.

Arsenal

The English side were considered one of the most likely candidates to win the tournament this year but they don't look as strong as before. On top of that, they will also be racing with Manchester City to win what would be their first Premier League title in more than 20 years, bringing even more pressure on the team coached by Mikel Arteta. If they're forced to choose between the Premier League title and a European campaign, everything points to them prioritizing the league. They've led the English standings for most of the season, and that kind of consistency builds expectation. After already losing the Carabao Cup to Manchester City, missing the chance to secure the title would be a huge missed opportunity and the weight of that expectation could become a problem.

Barcelona

This team has some real issues when it comes to the Champions League, as they also showed it last year when they were knocked out by Inter in the semifinals. The exciting 2-1 win at the Metropolitano against Atletico Madrid wasn't enough for Lamine Yamal and the team managed by Hansi Flick to clinch the top four. They will win LaLiga but they still have a lot to learn for the future.

Real Madrid

They showed once again their value in the European competition this year. Despite a challenging season after the end of Carlo Ancelotti's management and the sacking of Xabi Alonso a few months after taking charge, Alvaro Arbeloa was able to knock Manchester City out of the Champions League before only losing to Bayern Munich, the best team of the tournament. The two legs played in the quarterfinals showed why this is always a difficult opponent to face in this competition.

Sporting CP

They were eliminated but they showed again that they are a solid team this season. Against Arsenal, arguably one of the best teams in the tournament, they only lost by one goal scored in the last minutes of the first leg played in Lisbon and then drew 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Liverpool

Probably the most disappointing side of the tournament, especially because we were all expecting a lot from them after the 2025 summer