We won't mention the early Champions League, let's only talk about the situation after the Champions League restructuring and expansion, that is, after 2000. After the quarterfinals of this season's Champions League were announced, many people reached a consensus that this is the strongest quarter-finals in the history of the Champions League. Eight teams, without exception, are all from the top five leagues, and all of them are top European teams. Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, has been a very active team in the Champions League over the years. Arsenal's return to the Champions League after 7 years is also very refreshing. Barcelona and Paris are also going well in the Champions League this season, and the team is also on an upward trajectory. Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid, although they look a little weaker, are definitely the tough ones in the Champions League.
Every season's Champions League, there will be no shortage of top giants, but many times, there will be at least one or two, or even two or three teams in the top eight that are not too strong, either non-five league teams, or second-tier teams in the five major leagues, and like this season, the blood and color of the Champions League eight are so noble, it is indeed rare. I have the impression that the quarterfinals of the Champions League in the 02-03 season are close to this specification, but Ajax is a non-top five league team among the 8 teams.
Since this season's Champions League quarter-finals are generally considered to be the strongest in history, what season is the weakest quarter-finals in history? Note again, the time frame is limited to more than 20 years since the beginning of the new century.
As mentioned earlier, if the overall strength of the top eight is limited, it will either include non-top five league teams or non-top teams including the five major leagues, so that the weakest top eight will be called.
19-20 season.
Because of the epidemic, the format of the second half of the Champions League was overhauled, starting from the quarterfinals, canceling the two-legged format and changing it to a one-game match. Perhaps it was objective reasons that provided a breeding ground for the underdog, and a lot of surprising things happened in the Champions League that season. The most shocking thing is, of course, the battle of Lafite in Bayern Barcelona.
Bayern and Barcelona are both in the quarter-finals, is the overall strength of the quarter-finals still weak? RB Leipzig, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Grand Paris, Manchester City, Lyon.
At that time, RB Leipzig was just emerging, and they reached the last four of the Champions League that season, and they were veritable dark horses, but in terms of heritage and strength, they certainly can't compare with the top giants. Atalanta don't say much about it, maybe not as good as RB Leipzig.
Let's look at a few other big teams. Manchester City has strengthened its heritage after several seasons of experience, and the quarterfinals also defeated Real Madrid, which has declined in strength, but judging from the fact that they were eliminated by Lyon, Manchester City at that time must not be comparable with now, and it is still in the nouveau riche stage, not a real top giant. Atletico Madrid had already passed the golden stage of falling in love with Real Madrid at that time, and its strength was not as good as in previous years. Lyon can knock out Manchester City, but they can also be comfortably beaten 3-0 by Bayern, who have long since lost the intimidation of the seven-game title era in the era of Grand Paris. As for Barcelona, it was definitely at a low point at the time, and an 8:2 game was enough to characterize them.
In fact, even the Grand Paris, which reached the final, had very limited background. Speaking of which, the only top team that was really at the top of that season was Bayern.
Now think about the Champions League that season, it's just one word, chaos. It's about the pandemic, and it's about the format. If there were any flaws in Bayern's treble that season, it was perhaps that they did not meet many top teams along the way, encountered limited resistance, and played fewer games.
Is there any other season in which you think the Champions League quarter-finals are weaker?