Champions League: Power Ranking the Round of 16

Hey, anybody remember the Champions League?

Lost in all the hubbub over winter transfers, there's this fact: The Champions League returns on Feb. 14 with the first two of eight matches in the Round of 16.

After whittling down the field slowly last fall, the competition is about to heat up with the knockout stages, where the field is cut in half every few weeks.

Knockout competitions naturally lend themselves to rankings, and that's why we're presenting our power rankings of the 16 teams left in this season's Champions League.

Agree? Disagree? Think we've lost the plot? Let us know in the comments.

16-15. Who Are You Again?

16. Zenit St. Petersburg

Zenit St. Petersburg finished second in Group G behind APOEL Nicosia, prompting a single question.

Who the heck else was in Group G?

Actually, Group G featured Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk, the two teams most people probably expected to reach the knockout stages. In truth, the loss of Porto was perhaps a bigger upset than Manchester United, considering the competition.

Zenit will play Benfica in the next round, so the joke is probably up—unless Zenit can score a big win at home in the first leg.

(That's actually a realistic proposition, since it's the dead of winter and they'll be welcoming a Portuguese team to Russia.)

15. APOEL Nicosia

The good news: APOEL's roster boasts several internationals and Kaká.

The bad news: Most of the internationals hail from Cyprus, and it's not the Kaká you're thinking of.

That APOEL finished first in a Champions League group has to be one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history. With Lyon next, however, it looks like the end of the road.

14. Midnight for Cinderella

14. FC Basel

Everybody loves FC Basel.

Their uniforms look exactly like Barcelona, they play entertaining football, they have a bunch of likeable, exciting, young stars and most importantly, they beat Manchester United.

Basel have given us a good story. But it ends in the Round of 16 against Bayern Munich.

13. The Les Miles Honorary Luckiest Team Alive Group

13. Benfica

First they draw Manchester United in the group stage in the one year Sir Alex Ferguson's team decides to choke. (United had previously made approximately 1,347 straight trips to the knockout phase.)

Then they draw Zenit in the Round of 16.

Yes, it's true. Benfica is Les Miles.

12-9. Rick Santorum's "Blah" People

Don't understand the reference? Click here.

These are the Champions League's "blah" people.

12. Bayer Leverkusen

What to make of Leverkusen?

They have Michael Ballack (pictured), but he's 35 now. They also have Eren Derdiyok and André Schurrle, who looks like a future star.

Leverkusen looked pretty good in Group E besides an opening-day 2-0 loss at Chelsea. But they play Barcelona next, and that means the road is about to run out.

11. Marseille

Marseille are in form, but is that enough to fancy them against Inter Milan?

Maybe so, but remember, this is the team that made Arsenal's defense look positively water-tight by scoring zero goals in two matches.

10. Lyon

Lyon will advance to the quarters by beating APOEL. They might even advance another round after that, given another favorable draw.

Nobody really considers them legit contenders, though.

9. CSKA Moscow

The lineup is impressive in spots with players like midfielders Keisuke Honda and Alan Dzagoev and forwards Seydou Doumbia and Vagner Love.

Unfortunately, though, CSKA drew Real Madrid in the Round of 16. It just ain't gonna happen.

8. Free-Fallin'

8. Arsenal

Arsene Wenger is back on the hot seat. The team is unsettled. Andrey Arshavin (pictured) is the scapegoat.

The draw (AC Milan) was a nightmare. And Arsenal are way out of the English Premier League title race.

It's a bad time to be a Gunner. But a two-legged victory over AC Milan would go a long way to healing some of the wounds.

Can you see it happening, though? Right now, neither can we.

7-6. Nobody Believes in Us!

7. Napoli

It's the most powerful motivational cliche in sports: Nobody believes in us!

Unfortunately for Napoli and Chelsea, nobody believes in either of them. And they have to play each other.

Napoli's roster is quietly very good. Would you want to defend Edinson Cavani? How about Marek Hamsik (pictured)?

6. Chelsea

See above about motivation.

Chelsea, unlike Napoli, have a team full of well-known players. Some (John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba) are aging, and some are under-performing (you know who).

But the talent is there, and in Andre Villas-Boas, Chelsea have a manager with experience winning European trophies.

It's weird to think of Chelsea as flying under the radar, but they are.

5. Charging Hard

5. Inter Milan

Inter Milan were awful early in the season. Then they fired manager Gian Piero Gasperini and hired Chelsea reject Claudio Ranieri.

Now the Nerazzurri are flying high in Serie A with an important win over rivals AC Milan and suddenly looking like a team to watch.

4-2. The Challengers

4. AC Milan

Milan finished a distant second to Barcelona in Group H but showed they can compete with the Blaugrana by drawing at the Camp Nou on Matchday 1.

3. Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich lead the Bundesliga with a goal difference of plus-31. At home they've won seven of nine games while conceding only three goals.

The defense is strong, the midfield is stout and the forwards are dangerous.

Bayern should be a legit contender this spring.

2. Real Madrid

They can't seem to get past Barcelona, but wouldn't you take Real against just about anyone else?

1. Wearing the Bull's Eye

1. Barcelona

They're No. 1 until someone proves otherwise.

For now, not even Real Madrid can compete.