Barcelona could get absolutely anyone out of the seven remaining teams in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Let's analyse all the possible opponents and rank them from most to least desired.
Borussia Dortmund
Arguably the least competitive side left in the tournament. Their last-16 clashes against PSV were pretty even, although the latter looked more creative on the ball while Dortmund would mostly hit them on counters.
The BVB head coach, Edin Terzic, is under some heavy pressure at the club amid unconvincing results in the Bundesliga this season (Dortmund are only fourth at the moment).
Atletico Madrid
Although Diego Simeone's side have surprisingly beaten the dark horse of this Champions League edition, Inter Milan, it would still be a pleasure for Barcelona to face them in the knockout stage.
Xavi has won all of his four clashes against Atletico as a coach, with Barca keeping clean sheets in three of them. We're not Real Madrid to be scared of them!
Bayern Munich
This season seems like the perfect opportunity to take revenge against Barca's main offender of the recent years. Bayern are close to missing out on their first Bundesliga title in ages and their internal crisis is obvious.
One thing that still makes them unwanted for Blaugrana is their record since Thomas Tuchel's summer departure was announced – three wins and one draw with an aggregate score of 15-4. Xavi can relate.
Paris Saint-Germain
It's never easy to play against Luis Enrique's teams. Their second-leg outing against Real Sociedad proved they are really smart and adaptive tactically which was barely the case before.
They are not in the form of their life, however, dropping points on three occasions in their last... three Ligue 1 matches. While Lucho's team expectedly prefers to dominate possession, they are still quite vulnerable at the back. Thus beatable.
Real Madrid
O-of... what do we think about two El Clasicos in the quarterfinals? We would rather wait on that until the semis when both Frenkie de Jong and Pedri are surely fit. We can't afford losing to them again this season.
Real Madrid's unconvincing performances against RB Leipzig (in both legs) have displayed the Whites' weak links, especially defensively, but they are still the kings of the competition who can get a positive result out of the blue.
Arsenal
The Premier League title contenders look formidable in 2024, showing zero signs of stopping. Their last-16 showings against Porto were not the best, though, and they had a real chance of losing it all at an early stage.
Anyway, Arsenal look like the semi-final material at least. Their style and structure of play show they do everything the way Barca fans want Blaugrana to do. Facing them at this stage seems too early.
Manchester City
Getting Pep Guardiola's team in the QFs would possibly mean Barca's Champions League path ends here. They're not having their best season, but no matter what they are the favourites of the competition.
Actually, the Catalans reportedly want to avoid facing the Citizens at all cost. Barcelona should have their best players available to compete against the Premier League giants.
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