Champions League is back!

Is this jersey a good look for Zlatan?

It's time for the Champions League to resume and many believe that Barcelona are simply unbeatable. Well that wasn't the case this weekend as Real Madrid came from a goal down and stunned the Catalans, celebrating the victory at their arch-rivals homes with this intriguing photo that drew headlines for what we can only assume is the "team camaraderie" shown by the Merengues.

Clearly the race for the Champions League is no longer settled. Back in December, here at the IMOTGP blog we predicted the round of 16 matchups, correctly picking six of eight ties and narrowly getting the upset special of Juventus over Bayern Munich wrong. With that in mind, let's examine the remaining eight teams.

Barcelona v. Atletico Madrid

Not too long ago, the fact that Luis Enrique has won all four matchups with the Atleti since joining Barca would have made this seem like a simple draw for the defending champions. After last weekend, it's not that clear. Diego Godin is returning for Diego Simeone's men and they have renewed confidence. Fernando Torres will get the start Tuesday and we like this tie to go to the wire.

Barca 3, Atletico 2

Bayern v. Benfica

This one seems straightforward and should be. But there's something to keep in mind in that Bayern want to finish this off Tuesday at home since they still have work left in the Bundesliga and a German Cup tie with Werder Bremen.  A big enough victory in the first leg would allow them to let flops like Julian Green take the pitch next week in Portugal. There's also the matter of Robert Lewandowski and Arturo Vidal being one yellow card away from a suspension.

Bayern 6, Benfica 1

Paris SG v. Manchester City

First off, doesn't Zlatan look nice in that jersey above? The guy wants to play Champions League football next year and what better place than one of Europe's top capital cities?  First off, PSG have some bulletin-board material.  Second, City are without Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and Joe Hart and definitely have no chance. At least the EPL club have a good sense of humour about this.

PSG 5, City 2

Wolfsburg v. Real Madrid

While Madrid just took down the best team in the world, the Wolves are in eighth place in the Bundesliga and, in their last three matches, failed to beat Hoffenheim and Darmstadt before Friday's 3-0 beating at the hands of Leverkusen. Don't waste your time watching this and watch Thursday's Dortmund-Liverpool match instead.

Real Madrid 7, Wolfsburg 1