Will a Spanish team reach the final of the Champions League?

Since 2014, there has been a Spanish team in the final of the Champions League as the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid keep the La Liga relevant in European football.

Spain has some of the world's best players, and their top-flight attracts global talents regularly.

Madrid has the highest number of Champions League crowns, and over the years, they have continued to defy the odds to remain among the best globally.

Can Barcelona do it?

Barcelona has not won the Champions League since 2015, when Luis Enrique had arguably the best front-three in the world with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Since then, they have struggled and never reached the competition's final, even when Messi was still on their books.

The Catalans have endured some years of mediocrity in the last few campaigns, and Xavi Hernandez came back to rescue them.

He won La Liga in the last campaign and would target the league and Champions League double this term.

His team seems to get better every week and could retain their league crown, but fans would want a better experience than failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, as was the case last season.

Will Atletico de Madrid surprise us?

Atletico de Madrid reached the final of the Champions League in 2014 and 2016. They met Madrid on both occasions and it seemed like the Spanish top flight was the best in the world then.

However, they lost both finals and since then haven't come close to that level again, even though they remain under one of the best managers in the world.

Diego Simeone has been in charge of the second Madrid side for a decade and could finish his career there.

They believe he is the best man for the job, and to be fair, the club could have been relegated to mid-table mediocrity without him.

How good is Sevilla?

Sevilla is the other Spanish side in the Champions League this term after winning the Europa League in the last campaign.

In the Europa League, Sevilla is a team that will make fans flock to a ticket marketplace to buy tickets. Can they do that on the Champions League ticket?

Historically, they do not have the best experience in this competition and often get knocked out in the group stages.

Or finish third, and they go back to the Europa League, where they will prove to be the best.

However, they will want to make an impression in the Champions League this term, and fans will expect them to deliver the type of performance that helped them defeat AS Roma in the Europa League final last term.

Real Sociedad may write an underdog story.

Real Sociedad played some superb football under the management of Imanol Alguacil last term and was rewarded with Champions League football for finishing fourth.

They are the underdogs from Spain this term and probably the most inexperienced of all the clubs representing the country.

But make no mistake, they are not in the competition to make the numbers and will prove to be tough nuts to crack.

The Spanish top flight is exceptionally complicated for other clubs apart from the top three sides, which is why, in almost every term, another club qualifies in the fourth spot.

For Sociedad to win that spot at the end of last season it proves they have some of the finest players in the country.

They added some new men to their group during the last transfer window and held Inter Milan to a 1-1 draw in their first game of the Champions League group stage, which is impressive.

Are the Madrid All-Stars ready to win?

Real Madrid is one of the best clubs in the world and the best ever in the Champions League, so they are always a favourite to win the competition.

They last won it in 2022, just two years ago, and would be eager to get back to the podium at the end of this campaign.

However, are they ready to move on with the current group of players after losing some significant influences?

Karim Benzema could not say no to the Saudi Pro League's riches and left the club in the last transfer window.

The Frenchman was in his prime and the last BBC (Bale, Benzema, Cristiano) to leave the club.

The trio were the players who helped Madrid break new grounds with three consecutive Champions League titles, alongside the likes of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.

The three attackers have left, while Modric can no longer get into the team as Madrid transitions with the likes of Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham.

The Englishman only joined them this summer, but the boy is a sensation and could land the Champions League in his first season.

In attack, they failed to permanently replace Karim Benzema after opting to bring Joselu on loan from Espanyol while waiting for Kylian Mbappe.

But Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and Brahim Diaz could all do wonders for them in the competition, especially those two Brazilians.

They come alive on Champions League nights and will be players to look out for this season's competition.

Is Barcelona ready?

Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo moved to Barcelona on loan in the last transfer window after agreeing to huge pay cuts just to play for the Catalans.

Both men add serious quality to the ranks of the Catalans, and Xavi will feel lucky that he can call on top players like that for matches in Europe and domestically.

Barca also has some serious quality in all areas of the pitch, with Lamine Yamal emerging as a force at just 16.

Robert Lewandowski remains unbelievably good at scoring goals, making it hard for him to be dropped, while Ferran Torres and Raphinha are ever-improving when you watch them play.

There is no doubt that Barca has the players to win the Champions League when you consider talent alone, but it will take more than just having good players to win the UCL and time will tell if they can build on their 5-0 win in the first group game of the term.

Atletico Madrid lacks balance.

Atletico de Madrid will always be tough opponents to face in the Champions League, which is why their games are exciting to watch.

Apart from Simeone being an animated character on the touchline, the Argentinian manager is a very good coach and has proven it over the years.

We expect his team to reach the final of the Champions League again, but that will unlikely be this term because they lack balance.

Losing Joao Felix to Barcelona is a big blow, and this means they have to rely on Antione Griezmann and Alvaro Morata for goals in the league and Europe.

These are two very good players when they are in top form, but Atletico do not have that much quality in midfield and defence to carry the team to the final of the UCL.

They will make an impression and qualify from their group but will not reach the final unless they cause several upsets along the way.

The underdogs

Sevilla and Real Sociedad would be eager to create the latest underdog story in Europe by reaching the latter stages of the competition.

Both teams play a good and exciting brand of football that is appealing to watch, but in the Champions League, experience counts much more than anything.

Teams who make the semi-final of the competition are sides who have spent the previous campaigns getting closer to that stage.

It is rare for any team to achieve that feat, having not competed for some time, so Sociedad has their work cut out.

But if they and Sevilla finish third in their group and qualify for the Europa League, they could win that competition.

Spain has top clubs and has historically done well in the Champions League. We can back Barcelona and Real Madrid to reach the final in this campaign, but that would be much easier said than done.