Ranking Man City's potential Champions League quarter final opponents from best to worst

Manchester City were one of the big winners in a Champions League last 16 stage full of shocks, and will now plot their route to the final.

City had their last-16 tie with Sporting won in the first half of the first leg, taking a 4-0 lead in Lisbon. When it was five after an hour, the remaining 120 minutes of the tie were purely academic. Only Bayern Munich recorded a bigger aggregate victory, but they had been held 1-1 with RB Salzburg after the first leg.

While City and Bayern progressed with ease, other big names crashed out as Paris Saint-Germain threw away a 2-0 lead over Real Madrid and Juventus collapsed against Villarreal.

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With no restrictions over who City could draw, there is an equal chance that the Blues could face Liverpool over two legs as much as a more favourable draw against Benfica. With the crucial Premier League showdown against Liverpool falling in between the two legs of the quarter final.

We've looked at the seven other quarter finalists and ranked them from best to worst in terms of who City would prefer to face.

1. Benfica

City's last-16 trip to Portugal didn't go too badly, and Benfica sit below Sporting in the Portuguese league. Nicolas Otamendi's side recorded an impressive win at Ajax after a 2-2 home draw, but City would be a significant step up for Benfica.

Every other side will be hoping to draw them, or Villarreal, and City in particular would be happy to wait for one of the big guns considering the importance of the Liverpool fixture in the Premier League.

2. Villarreal

The second of the favourable draws, Villarreal wouldn't scare City too much — although they raised eyebrows with a 3-0 win at Juventus on