With FC Porto eliminated in the round of 16, Portugal will have to wait until next season to hear the 'Champions' anthem again, but even so, it still has 12 players in the competition, with emphasis on the 'citizens' Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes, who will be in the 'headliner' knockout round of this 'quarter', with the first duel scheduled for Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabéu, in the Spanish capital.

After two confrontations in the semi-finals, Real Madrid and Manchester City meet for the third consecutive season in the most important European club competition, but now with inverted roles and with the English wanting to 'imitate' the Spanish.

With 14 titles, the last one in 2021/22, the 'merengues' are the only emblem in the 'Champions' era to lift the trophy in two consecutive seasons, something that the 'citizens' are now trying to do, after the success of 2022/23, in what was only the first trophy in the history of the English.

Real Madrid even achieved three consecutive 'Champions' between 2016 and 2018, at a time when it had Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

On the same day, in London, Arsenal, FC Porto's 'executioner' in the round of 16 and which has Fábio Vieira and Cédric Soares, hosts Bayern Munich, with the Germans, record holders of appearances in the 'quarters' of the Champions League (22) and European champions on six occasions, looking to save the season.

The Bavarians are eliminated from the German Cup and practically out of the race for the Bundesliga, with the 'Champions' now being the only goal for the team in which Portuguese full-back Raphaël Guerreiro plays.

Also noteworthy is the return of Harry Kane to London, after a decade representing Tottenham, Arsenal's historic rival.

On Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain, with Danilo, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha and Gonçalo Ramos, has a new 'round' in the long search for the first 'Champions' in its history, this time facing a historic team, FC Barcelona, five times champion and which has João Cancelo and João Félix.

Even leading in France, the Parisians have had a somewhat turbulent season, largely due to the 'soap opera' Mbappé, who at the end of the season should have Real Madrid as his next destination.

Life is also not easy for the Catalans, who are going through a financial crisis and have little chance of renewing the title in Spain, when it is already known that coach Xavi will leave the club in the summer.

Atlético de Madrid and Borussia Dortmund close, in the Spanish capital, the first leg of the 'quarters', in a duel between two 'outsiders', emblems that are hardly pointed out as finalists of the competition.

Even so, Atlético, a finalist defeated in 1973/74 (still in the old European Champions Cup), 2013/14 and 2015/16, left Inter Milan, runner-up in the 'Champions' and having a dominant season in Italy, on the way, in the 'round of 16'.

Borussia, winner in 1996/97 and finalist in 2012/13, has as its presentation the good campaign in the group stage, in which it won a group that also included PSG, AC Milan and Newcastle.