Who were the favourites to win the 2015–16 Champions League?

The group stage was over, and the round of 16 of Europe’s most prestigious club competition, the Champions League, was about to begin. The campaign had already produced some big surprises. Many smaller clubs played very well against the favourites and showed why football is the most interesting and entertaining game in the world.

Teams such as Manchester United, Sevilla, Galatasaray, Bayer Leverkusen, Porto, Valencia and Olympique Lyonnais were out of the tournament. In their place, several less fancied sides qualified, such as Gent and Wolfsburg.

One of the most interesting ties in the round of 1/8 finals was Arsenal against Barcelona. Could the Gunners finally achieve something special in the Champions League? They looked capable of beating Barça. The Spanish champions had a thin squad, and if some of their key players were injured, Arsène Wenger’s team would have a very good chance of going through. The Gunners were also performing very well that season and had pulled off something close to impossible to qualify for this stage.

Another fascinating tie was Paris Saint-Germain against Chelsea. The French side had already shocked the Blues before, and Chelsea were far from their best form. Still, there was plenty of time before the games, and José Mourinho could be expected to do everything possible to motivate his team against PSG’s multi-million-euro squad.

Some ties, of course, looked easy to predict. At first glance, Wolfsburg and Manchester City seemed set to reach the quarter-finals. Without underestimating the Belgian side, the Citizens looked simply too good for Gent. City’s luck, however, looked likely to run out after those two games, because the next opponent would be a very strong team.

The main favourites for the Champions League title were once again Barcelona, with Bayern Munich also having a very good chance. Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Juventus were good enough that season too, but they would have serious problems against Barcelona or Bayern Munich, who were simply better than the rest. In the end, though, nobody could know what would happen. In 2004 the final was contested by Porto and Monaco, and the Portuguese side won the title, proof that anything is possible in the Champions League.

How the knockout rounds played out

The round of 16 went largely with the favourites. Barcelona beat Arsenal 5-1 on aggregate, Paris Saint-Germain knocked Chelsea out 4-2, Wolfsburg beat Gent 4-2 and Manchester City saw off Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 over two legs.

The quarter-finals produced the biggest shock. Atlético Madrid eliminated the holders Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate, ending the hopes of the side widely seen as the main favourites. Manchester City beat Paris Saint-Germain by the same aggregate score, Bayern Munich edged Benfica 3-2 and Real Madrid beat Wolfsburg 3-2. For Manuel Pellegrini’s City, who had never previously gone beyond the round of 16, the win over the multi-million-euro Paris side meant a first Champions League semi-final in the club’s history, in what proved to be Pellegrini’s final season in charge.

In the semi-finals Atlético knocked out Bayern on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw, and Real Madrid beat Manchester City 1-0 over two legs. Neither of the two clubs regarded as the strongest contenders in December reached the final, which again showed how unpredictable the competition could be.

The final in Milan

The final was played at the San Siro in Milan on 28 May 2016 and ended 1-1 between the two clubs from the Spanish capital, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, after extra time. Real won the penalty shoot-out 5-3 to lift the trophy. Their coach, Zinedine Zidane, had been appointed only on 4 January 2016, replacing the dismissed Rafael Benítez, and he went on to win the Champions League again in 2017 against Juventus and in 2018 against Liverpool.