Make or break time

The Champions League knockout stage kicks off this week with a blockbuster showdown between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich topping the bill, doubts surrounding all of the English contenders and talk of a breakaway Super League resurfacing again.

Three and a half months have passed since the group stage ended, an unprecedented Champions League pause caused by the break for the World Cup.

Since the tournament in Qatar there has been last month's record transfer spending by Premier League clubs, whose 815 million (HK$7.7 billion) outlay was 79 percent of the total across Europe's biggest five leagues.

Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of the A22 group promoting the Super League, said "the foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing. It's time for a change."

He presented the idea of a league with 80 teams, all places based on sporting merit and no permanent members.

But there is not yet anything concrete in place, and for now clubs from outside England will be aiming to stop the cash-rich Premier League teams dominating the latter stages of the Champions League.

Still there are doubts surrounding all the English sides in the last 16, even Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.

The 2021 runners-up are desperate to get their hands on the trophy for the first time but are still reeling after being charged with over 100 breaches of financial rules by the Premier League, leaving them at risk of serious punishment including the possibility of relegation.

The Abu Dhabi-backed club are still favorites to overcome Leipzig but have appeared flawed of late.

Tottenham Hotspur, runners-up in 2019, have been up and down under Antonio Conte but will be fancied against an AC Milan side.

Chelsea spent more than a third of all the money lavished by the Premier League in January, but only three of their January recruits can feature in their European squad.

The 2021 Champions League winners have won just once in eight games and now face a Borussia Dortmund that have won six on the bounce, and have Sebastien Haller fit again after treatment for testicular cancer.

Then there is Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, languishing in mid-table ahead of their rerun of last season's final against reigning champions Real Madrid, which just won the Club World Cup for a record fifth time with a pulsating 5-3 win over Al Hilal on Saturday in Morocco.

Then again, with key players like Karim Benzema and Luka Modric in the twilight of their careers, Real do not look like the force they were last season, although which of Europe's superpowers is in peak form?

Not PSG, who have lost four times already in 2023 and are without the injured Kylian Mbappe for the first leg against Bundesliga leaders Bayern.