Meet the Champions League quarter-finalists

League phase: W6 D1 L1 F16 A3 (3rd place)
Round of 16: PSV 9-3 agg (7-1 a, 2-2 h)
Next: vs Real Madrid, quarter-final first leg, 8 April
UEFA coefficient ranking: 13
Top Fantasy Football points scorer: Gabriel (54)
Best European Cup performance: Runners-up (2005/06)
Last season: Quarter-finals (L2-3agg vs Bayern)

UEFA.com Arsenal reporter Joe Terry: Aside from a 1-0 loss at Inter on Matchday 4, Arsenal's league phase performance was nigh on exemplary. Built on the tournament's second-best defence, the goals started to flow more freely at the other end after the 5-1 win away to Sporting CP, which was followed by 3-0 home victories over Monaco and GNK Dinamo. They continued that upward trajectory as their knockout phase campaign began with a remarkable 9-3 aggregate victory over PSV in the round of 16.

Coach: Mikel Arteta
Assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City from 2016 to 2019, Arteta guided Arsenal to their 14th FA Cup in his first season in charge. After eighth and fifth-placed Premier League finishes in 2021 and 2022, Arteta's men led the way for the bulk of the 2022/23 campaign and for much of the run-in last term, but were overhauled late in proceedings by the relentless Cityzens on each occasion.

Key player: Martin Ødegaard
The Gunners are strong all over the pitch, but it is captain and playmaker Ødegaard who really makes them tick going forward. Signed in January 2021, initially on loan from Real Madrid, the 26-year-old's vision and range of passing have won him plenty of admirers in north London, and he won the club's Player of the Season award in 2023/24 after contributing 11 goals and 11 assists in all competitions.

Did you know?
Arsenal's 7-1 first-leg win at PSV made them the first team to score seven goals in an away match in the Champions League knockout phase; Bayern's 8-2 win against Barcelona in 2019/20 was at a neutral venue.

League phase: W5 D1 L2 F13 A6 (8th place)
Round of 16: Club Brugge 6-1 agg (3-1 a, 3-0 h)
Next: vs Paris, quarter-final first leg, 9 April
UEFA coefficient ranking: 49
Top Fantasy Football points scorer: Morgan Rogers (55)
Best European Cup performance: Winners (1981/82)
Last season: Europa Conference League semi-finals

UEFA.com Aston Villa reporter John Atkin: The return to Europe's top table has been a long time coming for the Villans, but it has been worth the wait. Maximum points and three clean sheets from the first three games set the tone, with Jhon Durán's winner against Bayern lighting the touchpaper. Injuries and the challenge of competing at the highest level every three or four days lowered the trajectory as the league phase concluded, but the electric atmosphere at Villa Park has helped carry them from Pot 4 into the last 16. Winning home and away against Club Brugge has ensured that journey will continue in the quarter-finals.

Coach: Unai Emery
The ex-Arsenal boss returned to English football in October 2022 with the Villans hovering above the Premier League relegation zone. Emery, a four-time Europa League winner with Sevilla and Villarreal who also claimed five major honours in two seasons with Paris, galvanised the Villa Park outfit into an eventual seventh-place finish. His side continued that run of form into midway through last season, keeping up with the division's pacesetters for much of the first half of the campaign before eventually claiming fourth spot.

Key player: Youri Tielemans
If Emiliano Martínez, Boubacar Kamara and Ollie Watkins are Villa's spine, then the Belgium playmaker is the English team's beating heart. Douglas Luiz left big velvet shoes to fill when he departed last summer and Tielemans has effortlessly slipped them on with style. Still only 27, the midfielder was just 16 when he made his Champions League debut, and Emery says that for all his technical ability it is his "mind and mentality" that make him stand out.

Did you know?
Ten of Marco Asensio's 14 goals in the Champions League have come in the knockout phase.

League phase: W5 D0 L3 F22 A12 (10th place)
Knockout phase play-off: Sporting CP 3-0 agg (3-0 a, 0-0 h)
Round of 16: Lille 3-2 agg (1-1 h, 2-1 a)
Next: vs Barcelona, quarter-final first leg, 9 April
UEFA coefficient ranking: 8
Top Fantasy Football points scorer: Serhou Guirassy (85)
Best European Cup performance: Winners (1996/97)
Last season: Runners-up (L0-2 vs Real Madrid)

UEFA.com Dortmund reporter Matthias Rötters: Last season's finalists won four of their opening five games – their only defeat coming at the hands of 2023/24 winners Real Madrid – while only Barcelona found the net more often in the league phase. However, their hopes of securing a top-eight finish were dented by back-to-back defeats to Barcelona and Bologna and their domestic form has been mixed since the turn of the year. That inconsistency has not filtered in to their knockout phase campaign, though, securing a quarter-final spot after besting Sporting CP and Lille.

Coach: Niko Kovač
Kovac, who won the German Cup and Bundesliga as a Bayern player, was appointed to replace Nuri Şahin in January. He took the reins at Eintracht Frankfurt in 2016 when they were 16th in the table and won the German Cup with them in 2018. He joined Bayern after that success and won the double there the following season, before spells at Monaco, where he scooped the Coupe de France, and Wolfsburg.

Key player: Serhou Guirassy
An imposing striker with a quick turn of pace and an innate nose for goal, Guirassy has scored ten goals in the Champions League this season. The Guinea international failed to score against Lille in Dortmund's round of 16 tie, but he provided the assist for Maximilian Beier's decisive goal in the second leg.

Did you know?
Guirassy made it 12 goals in his first 13 appearances in the Champions League proper in the first leg against Sporting CP. Only Erling Haaland (18 goals) scored more in his first 13 appearances.

League phase: W6 D1 L1 F28 A13 (2nd place)
Round of 16: Benfica 4-1 agg (1-0 a, 3-1 h)
Next: vs Borussia Dortmund, quarter-final first leg, 9 April
UEFA coefficient ranking: 9
Top Fantasy Football points scorer: Raphinha (105)
Best European Cup performance: Winners (1991/92, 2005/06, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2014/15)
Last season: Quarter-finals (L4-6agg vs Paris)

UEFA.com Barcelona reporter Graham Hunter: When Barcelona began the campaign going down to ten men and losing at Monaco, not even the most optimistic fan, perhaps even coach or player, would have predicted that seven confident wins would follow in their remaining league phase games. For the club, and their debutant coach Hansi Flick, the most crucial things were the points total and ensuring qualification for the knockout phase. But for any neutral who adores flowing, daring football, the wins against Bayern, Dortmund and then that nine-goal carnival in Lisbon against Benfica will live long in the memory. A gritty round of 16 first-leg victory against the same opponents shows this Barça side can also win ugly when required, before Raphinha and Lamine Yamal displayed their class in the return with starring performances to seal quarter-final progression.

Coach: Hansi Flick
A thoughtful and considered coach, Flick was largely employed in behind-the-scenes roles until he was appointed interim Bayern boss in 2019. He immediately guided the club to a German Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League treble, winning the UEFA Men's Coach of the Year award. After further domestic success the next season, Flick sought a new challenge in charge of Germany's national team but left that position following a group stage exit at the 2022 World Cup. Flick became the third German coach in Barcelona's history after joining in May.

Key player: Lamine Yamal
Following a triumphant and record-breaking EURO 2024 with Spain, teenager Yamal has cemented his status as one of the most exciting players in the world. He became the youngest-ever player to appear in the Champions League knockout stage when fielded in the round of 16 first leg against Napoli last season aged 16 years 223 days, and he has broken several other international records since. A generational talent.

Did you know?
This is the first time two Barcelona players (Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha) have scored six goals or more in a Champions League campaign since 2015/16 (Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi).

League phase: W5 D0 L3 F20 A12 (12th place)
Knockout phase play-off: Celtic 3-2 agg (2-1 a, 1-1 h)
Round of 16: Leverkusen 5-0 agg (3-0 h, 2-0 a)
Next: vs Inter, quarter-final first leg, 8 April
UEFA coefficient ranking: 3
Top Fantasy Football points scorer: Harry Kane (78)
Best European Cup performance: Winners (1973/74, 1974/75, 1975/76, 2000/01, 2012/13, 2019/20)
Last season: Semi-finals (L3-4agg vs Real Madrid)

UEFA.com Bayern reporter James Thorogood: With this season's showpiece in Munich, Bayern have made no secret of their desire to contest another Champions League final on home soil like they did in 2012. After becoming the first side ever to score nine goals in a single game at Europe's top table, against GNK Dinamo on Matchday 1, the Bavarians couldn't quite produce the consistency needed to stay among the pacesetters; away losses to Aston Villa, Barcelona and Feyenoord took their top-eight hopes out of their hands, Bayern eventually finishing 12th. They left it late to beat Celtic in their knockout phase play-off, Alphonso Davies scoring the decisive goal in the 94th minute of the second leg, and comfortably defeated domestic rivals Leverkusen for the first time in six attempts with a convincing 5-0 aggregate win in the last 16.

Coach: Vincent Kompany
An inspirational centre-back who won four English titles with Manchester City, Kompany accepted his first full-time head coach role at Anderlecht in 2020 before heading back to England two years later to take charge of Burnley. In his first term at Turf Moor, his side cruised to the Championship crown, amassing 101 points in a mightily impressive campaign. Although the Clarets were relegated from the Premier League the next season, Bayern had been suitably impressed and Kompany was installed as their new coach last May.

Key player: Harry Kane
Kane immediately hit the ground running in Munich following his 2023 switch from Tottenham, finishing as the top scorer in the Bundesliga in his debut season with a remarkable 36 goals in 32 games, while he added a further eight in the Champions League to finish as joint-top scorer. The England captain will now be desperate to win an elusive first trophy with the Bavarians.

Did you know?
Bayern became the second club to reach 300 Champions League games when they triumphed away to Shakhtar on Matchday 6.

League phase: W6 D1 L1 F11 A1 (4th place)
Round of 16: Feyenoord 4-1 agg (2-0 a, 2-1 h)
Next: vs Bayern München, quarter-final first leg, 8 April
UEFA coefficient ranking: 6
Top Fantasy Football points scorer: Stefan de Vrij (59)
Best European Cup performance: Winners (1963/64, 1964/65, 2009/10)
Last season: Round of 16 (D2-2agg vs Atlético de Madrid, L2-3 pens)

UEFA.com Inter reporter Paolo Menicucci: Simone Inzaghi's Inter have established themselves among the European elite in recent years and they confirmed their solidity by conceding only one goal in eight league phase games before managing yet another clean sheet in the round of 16 first leg win over Feyenoord, going on to progress 4-1 on aggregate. The 3-5-2 system with Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco pushing on the flanks is well-oiled, much like the attacking partnership between Marcus Thuram and captain Lautaro Martínez, even if the goals did not come aplenty in the league phase (four 1-0 victories) – a contrast to Serie A where the Nerazzurri scored 55 in their first 21 games – and they saw off Feyenoord in clinical fashion.

Coach: Simone Inzaghi
A Serie A and three-time Coppa Italia winner as a player with Lazio, the 48-year-old also brought a domestic cup to Rome as a coach. He took over from Antonio Conte at Inter in summer 2021, winning the domestic Super Cup and Coppa Italia in his first campaign at the helm. He retained both those trophies and reached the Champions League final in 2022/23, and added a Serie A title last season.

Key player: Lautaro Martínez
The Argentina forward finished as Serie A top scorer in 2023/24 for the first time with 24 goals in 33 appearances in the division, the third campaign in a row he had registered more than 20. Best known for his relentless work rate, intelligent positioning and ice-cool finishing, Martínez continues to lead from the front as captain of the Nerazzurri.

Did you know?
Inter's run of five clean sheets in this league phase was their longest streak without conceding in their European Cup/Champions League history.

League phase: W4 D1 L3 F14 A9 (15th place)
Knockout phase play-off: Brest 10-0 agg (3-0 a, 7-0 h)
Round of 16: Liverpool 1-1 agg (aet, 4-1 on penalties) (0-1 h, 1-0 a)
Next: vs Aston Villa, quarter-final first leg, 8 April
UEFA coefficient ranking: 5
Top Fantasy Football points scorer: Achraf Hakimi (85)
Best European Cup performance: Runners-up (2019/20)
Last season: Semi-finals (L0-2agg vs Dortmund)

UEFA.com Paris reporter Alex Clementson: Paris struggled to hit top gear in the league phase. While wins over Girona and Salzburg boosted their challenge, their campaign became fraught with jeopardy after a dramatic late defeat at home to Atleti on Matchday 4. Luis Enrique's men have no problem fashioning chances, but converting them was their downfall until a remarkable comeback against Manchester City. After a commanding dismantling of Brest in the knockout phase play-offs, that same lack of clinical edge was on show again as Paris missed numerous chances in a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their round of 16 tie with Liverpool. But they dug deep to recover at Anfield, winning 1-0 on the night before keeping their cool to triumph on penalties, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma the hero with two great saves.

Coach: Luis Enrique
The former Barcelona and Real Madrid player won nine trophies during a hugely successful three-year spell in charge of the Blaugrana, including two La Liga crowns and the 2014/15 Champions League title. He led Spain to the EURO 2020 semi-finals and the 2021 Nations League final before succeeding Christophe Galtier at Paris in 2023, winning a domestic double and making it to the Champions League semi-finals in his first campaign.

Key player: Vitinha
The crucial ingredient that makes Paris tick, Vitinha is an elegant creative midfielder who also has a knack for popping up with important goals, as shown by a strike in each leg of the 6-4 aggregate win against Barcelona in last season's quarter-finals. He was included in the 2023/24 Champions League Team of the Season and will again play a crucial role for Paris in the knockout phase.

Did you know?
Paris became the first team to have seven different goalscorers in a Champions League match (Matchday 1 to final) in their 7-0 success against Brest.

League phase: W5 D0 L3 F20 A12 (11th place)
Knockout phase play-off: Man City 6-3 agg (3-2 a, 3-1 h)
Round of 16: Atleti 2-2 agg (aet, 4-2 on penalties) (2-1 h, 0-1 a)
Next: vs Arsenal, quarter-final first leg, 8 April
UEFA coefficient ranking: 1
Top Fantasy Football points scorer: Vinícius Júnior (66)
Best European Cup performance: Winners (1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1965/66, 1997/98, 1999/2000, 2001/02, 2013/14, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2021/22, 2023/24)
Last season: Winners (W2-0 vs Dortmund)

UEFA.com Real Madrid reporter Graham Hunter: An atypical performance from the reigning champions in the league phase. They rarely fail to score in this tournament but did so, twice, in consecutive away defeats to Lille and Liverpool. Moreover, Los Blancos hadn't lost at home in the Champions League group stage/league phase since 2021, but Milan broke that record on a dramatic Bernabéu night. Madrid's thrilling win at Atalanta and five-goal dispatching of Salzburg emphasised that the holders still brim with character and quality, a notion they only reaffirmed as they bettered Man City and Atleti on their way to the quarter-finals.

Coach: Carlo Ancelotti
The man who led Madrid to 'La Décima' in 2014 came back for a second spell in charge in summer 2021 and rewrote the history books by becoming the first coach to win the European Cup/Champions League four times before adding a fifth last term. The first coach to win championships in Italy, England, France, Germany and Spain when he led the side to the La Liga title in 2021/22, his trophy haul as Madrid boss now stands at 15, one ahead of Miguel Muñoz's previous club record.

Key player: Vinícius Júnior
Scorer in both the 2022 and 2024 Champions League finals, Vinícius Júnior has shown he is a man for the big occasion plenty of times already in his relatively young career. Boasting pace, trickery and skill in abundance, the Brazilian forward is close to unstoppable when playing at his very best.

Did you know?
Kylian Mbappé has scored 11 goals in his last seven Champions League knockout phase matches in Spain.