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After a three-week absence, the Champions League is back with a bang as Europe's biggest clubs battle it out for continental glory.
What started with 32 teams way back in September has been whittled down to the final eight and the quarterfinals draws served up four potentially exciting fixtures.
If the last round was anything to go by, then we can be sure of enthralling edge-of-your-seat action over the next week as the final eight clubs battle it out for a spot in the semi-final.
One of the eight clubs still left in the hat is Barcelona and given their status and pedigree, the Catalans were among the pre-tournament favourites for this competition.
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The Blaugrana would very much fancy their chances of going all the way as they bid to win the third treble in their illustrious history.
However, despite the presence of some of the best players in the world (read Messi) at Camp Nou, there are still a number of clubs who are more than capable of stopping Barcelona in their quest for a first continental crown in four years. In this piece, we shall be having a rundown of four clubs who could stop Barcelona from winning the Champions League this season.
#4 Manchester United
When the draws were made and Barcelona was drawn out from the pot as Manchester United's quarter-final opponent, there must have been lots of groans and gasps from Red Devils all over the world and rightly so.
Barcelona have been in almost pristine form throughout the season, still in the running on all fronts, with their charge led by the almost unplayable Lionel Messi.
The 31-year-old is in the form of his life (at the risk of sounding cliche) and more than a few United fans must have been scratching their heads as to how they could stop the Argentine maestro.
The Messi factor among others firmly establishes Barcelona as heavy favourites to progress in this tie, which begs the question as to how exactly Manchester United can be considered a threat to knocking the five-time champions out.
First of all, it must be remembered that for all of their recent struggles, United themselves are no slouches when it comes to pedigree and as three-time winners of this competition, they know what it takes to triumph in major competitions, while they have a history almost as illustrious as that of their opponents.
The Red Devils had overachieved in reaching this far, as virtually no one gave them a chance when they were paired in the last round with PSG and much less when they posted a 2-0 first leg loss at home.
However, in shocking scenes, the Mancunians rallied in the second leg in Paris to pull off one of the shocks of the season by defeating the French moneybags on their own perch to advance to this stage.
Even though they might be some way off matching the quality on offer at Barcelona, Manchester United have enough players of ability within their ranks to trouble the Spaniards and the early part of Solskjaer's reign when the club played some of the most exhilarating football post-Fergie serves as proof of their ability.
Manchester United eliminating Barcelona would be a shock, make no mistake about it, but it would not necessarily be the most surprising result of the season or even this round for that matter and given Barcelona's recent history of falling at this stage to lesser opponents (Roma anyone?), they would be keen to avoid any slip-ups.
#3 Liverpool
Provided that Barcelona scale through the Manchester United hurdle (which they are expected to), the next hurdle that would lie in their path would be Liverpool (who themselves are expected to qualify ahead of Porto).
The Reds have made steady progress since the appointment of Jurgen Klopp in 2015, growing from Premier League laughing stock to genuine title contenders in England.
Last season, the Merseysiders made it all the way to the final where they fell to Real Madrid and this term, they would be keen to take it a step further by winning the continental trophy for the sixth time in their history and the first time since 'The Miracle of Istanbul' in 2005.
Liverpool have been one of the most compact teams in all of Europe this season, with their impressiveness in taking Manchester City all the way in the Premier League title race serving as proof of that.
With an attack comprising the terrific trio of Mo Salah, Bobby Firmino and Saido Mane, Liverpool would fancy their chances of breaking Barcelona's defence, while Messi and co would have a bit more trouble breaching their rearguard marshalled by the ever impressive Virgil Van Dijk.
#2 Manchester City
The earliest Barcelona and Manchester City can meet in this season's Champions League in the final and if it does happen, what a fixture that would be, as it would signify a clash of similar styles, reuniting student with teacher as the master tactician himself Pep Guardiola attempts to stop unarguably his best prodigy.
The Manchester City manager was the coach of Barcelona for four absolutely blissful years and under his management, the club enjoyed the most successful period of its history, conquering all before them to win 14 out of 18 trophies available, with the pinnacle being the total sextuple sweep in 2009, while he also spent 17 years of his playing career with the club.
The 48-year-old has expectedly taken his methods with him to England at Manchester City and their fortunes have been transformed since he took charge, with the club blitzing all before them to win the Premier League title last season, while they remain on course to become the first English team to win a quadruple.
Given the size of their pockets, it comes as no surprise that City has the largest squad depth in all of Europe and it says a lot that the club has been able to cope without the services of world class performers like Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva but to name a few for long periods without batting an eyelid.
With Guardiola's in-depth knowledge of Barcelona's players and the quality of City's squad, the Cityzens have more than enough to deny Barcelona although they would have their hands full eliminating Tottenham first.
#1 Juventus
This post has been operating on a lot of premises - i.e that the bigger teams would progress at the expense of the minnows and the favourites would go all the way. However, as football and in particular this season's Champions League has shown us, pedigree and class counts for nothing hen it comes to knockout football.
Nevertheless, in keeping with the premise, this season's Champions League has the potential to give all football fans that long elusive dream - a Ronaldo/Messi final.
The one time this happened back in 2009, both men were arguably not yet at the peak of their powers, only reaching unimaginable heights once they went in direct competition with one another in La Liga.
The El Clasico rivals' strength and quality meant that it was expected that the pair would contest at least one Champions League decider, but try as it may, that dream eluded us all for so long.
Even though they might no longer be rivals in Spain, the two extraterrestrials remain at the very peak of their powers and are still the driving forces behind their respective club's push for continental glory.
When the draws were made, both men were put on different routes to the final and a lot of fans (at least this writer did) licked their lips in glee when they realized that if all went well, Barcelona (Messi) and Juventus (Ronaldo) could clash in the final.
The Old Lady are desperate to get their hands on the 'Big Ears' after 22 years of near misses - so desperate in fact that they were willing to break the bank on a 34-year-old who they saw as the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle and if Barcelona were to stand between them and their dream, you can be sure they would go all out to exact revenge for their 2015 loss.
