Champions League Quarter-Finals Best XI (Second Leg)

The quarter-finals of the 2025/26 Champions League have now concluded. Arsenal, Bayern Munich, PSG and Atletico Madrid all progressed – but who made it into our team of the round?

We’ll only be looking at games that took place in the second leg of the quarter-finals for this XI – we previously made a team of the round for the first leg.

GK: Matvéi Safónov

PSG knew what awaited them when they travelled to Anfield – the Kop End produced a fearsome wall of noise for much of the game. Nevertheless, Matvei Safonov was able to tune it out and deliver an excellent performance between the sticks.

Making no less than five saves against Liverpool, Safonov maintained his clean sheet and ensured that PSG would progress through to the next round of the competition.

RB: Achraf Hakimi

Achraf Hakimi is a polarising character, but his ability on the football pitch cannot be denied – he was utterly immense down the right flank against Liverpool.

Tasked with containing Mohamed Salah and Jeremie Frimpong (and Hugo Ekitike before his unfortunate injury), he did not allow either of them to pick up a head of steam, making numerous tackles to stifle their effectiveness.

CB: Marquinhos

Previously, audiences had written Marquinhos off as a bit of a soft touch. While he has always been a great player technically, his physicality had been called into question – those questions were emphatically answered against Liverpool.

Making some crucial defensive actions, including a goal-saving block on the line, Marquinhos led by example from the back on Tuesday evening.

CB: Gabriel

Arsenal’s performance against Sporting CP in the second leg wasn’t pretty, but the Gunners did exactly what they needed to do to progress.

The Portuguese giants couldn’t find a way past Gabriel – he stood sentinel throughout the game, ensuring David Raya didn’t have much to do in the Arsenal net.

LB: Piero Hincapié

While Gabriel did a fine job of defending Arsenal’s box, Piero Hincapie was even better – he completely shut Sporting CP out when they tried to formulate attacks down the left flank.

He made six tackles throughout the game, making sure that they could not get in behind the Gunners’ backline.

RM: Arda Guler

This may seem like an odd decision – how can a red-carded player make it into a best XI? It’s quite simple – not only was Guler’s red card dubious and largely inconseqential, the Turkish international put forth a fine display before his dismissal in added time.

Scoring two of Real Madrid’s three goals against Bayern Munich, he will be bitterly disappointed that it wasn’t enough for them to progress – Los Blancos are now facing a rare trophy-less season as a result.

CM: Joshua Kimmich

Joshua Kimmich was absolutely everywhere during Bayern Munich’s win over Real Madrid, virtually covering every blade of grass to ensure victory against Alvaro Arbeloa’s men.

This was a complete midfield performance from the German international – he also notched up an assist early on, when he found Aleksandar Pavlovic inside the opening ten minutes.

CM: Martin Zubimendi

After a startlingly lacklustre display against Bournemouth in the Premier League, Martin Zubimendi was back to his brilliant best against Sporting CP.

He made sure he was always available to receive a pass, demostrating his limitless intelligence on the pitch – he richly deserved his man of the match award.

LM: Michael Olise

Another recipient of a man of the match award, Michael Olise gave Real Madrid all kinds of issues during their all-time classic on Wednesday evening.

He went on the score the final goal of the game, cementing Bayern’s place in the semi-finals – is Olise the best winger in the world right now?

ST: Ousmane Dembele

Ousmane Dembele continued to show everyone why he is the best player in the world against Liverpool. He gave the Reds’ backline problems all game, constantly finding ways to penetrate their defence.

He would eventually score a second-half brace – PSG have to enter the semi-finals as the favourites to win the whole thing.

ST: Harry Kane

Dembele might be the best player in the world right now, but Harry Kane isn’t far behind him – the England international is in fine form ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Scoring a goal and registering an assist, the former Tottenham Hotspur ace added to his significant goal contributions tally to send Bayern into the next round.