Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is reviewing a request for Pete Rose to be removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, which could lead to his eventual selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

According to reports published last Saturday, Manfred met with Rose’s daughter, Fawn, and his former lawyer Jeffrey Lenkov about reinstatement in December. A formal petition was submitted on Jan. 8.

On Friday evening, one day before that news was reported, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he planned to posthumously pardon Rose and advocated for MLB to rescind Rose’s lifetime ban, which was issued in 1989 after he was found to be betting on baseball. Rose died on Sept. 30, 2024, at age 83.

GO DEEPER

Pete Rose, MLB hit king, dies at 83

Rose had previously applied for reinstatement in 1997 and 2015 but was denied both times.

Would a Trump pardon make Rose eligible for the Hall of Fame?

No. Any presidential pardon would be entirely unrelated to MLB’s disciplinary process, which is what is keeping Rose out of the Hall of Fame. Trump didn’t specify what a pardon would be for, but Rose was sentenced to five months in prison for submitting falsified tax returns in 1990. (Rose also faced allegations of sex with a minor stemming from testimony that surfaced in a 2017 defamation lawsuit; he was never charged with a crime in that instance).

Why was Rose on baseball’s permanently ineligible list?

In the aftermath of the accusations that the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Major League Baseball instituted an official rule against gambling. MLB Rule 21(d) states: “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”

An investigation into Rose showed that he bet on baseball both as a player and a manager while with the Cincinnati Reds late in his career. Rose served as the Reds’ player-manager from August 1984 until 1986. He continued to manage the Reds after he stopped playing.

Rose denied gambling on baseball at the time. He later claimed he had an understanding that he could apply for reinstatement a year after agreeing to the punishment. The commissioner at the time, A. Bartlett Giamatti, died eight days after Rose’s banishment. His successor, Fay Vincent, never heard Rose’s appeal.

After denying that he bet on baseball for nearly 15 years, Rose admitted to betting on baseball in his 2004 book, “My Prison Without Bars.” Later, he would sign and sell baseballs with the inscription, “Sorry I bet on baseball.”

So what would need to happen for Rose to be eligible?

The first step would be removal from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list. Rose voluntarily agreed to his punishment in 1989 after an investigation determined he had violated baseball’s rules against gambling on the sport.

In 1991, the Hall of Fame instituted a rule barring anyone on the permanently ineligible list from being eligible for the Hall of Fame. Rose’s first year of eligibility on the Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame ballot would’ve been in 1991. If Rose’s ban is lifted, he would be eligible for the first time.

Who would vote on Rose’s candidacy?

If Rose is deemed eligible, he would not be on the ballot sent to the Hall of Fame voters from the BBWAA every November. Instead, he would be subject to the voting process of the Era Committee, formerly and more colloquially known as the Veterans Committee.

According to a statement from the Hall of Fame, “Voting rules require that candidates on the BBWAA ballot must have played in the Major Leagues no more than 15 years prior to each election. Since Rose’s candidacy with the BBWAA has expired, if he were to be removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, he would become eligible for consideration by the Hall of Fame’s Era Committee process.”

The Era Committee is divided into two parts — Contemporary Baseball Era and Classic Baseball Era. The Classic Baseball Era considers the cases of players, managers, executives and umpires who were most active before 1980 and the Contemporary Era handles those from 1980 to the present. The Contemporary is also divided into two parts — one for players and the other for managers, executives and umpires.

Rose’s greatest contributions to the game — the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1963, the NL Most Valuable Player in 1973, three batting titles, two World Series titles and two more NL pennants, the bulk of his 4,256 hits — came before 1980. Rose won another World Series with the Phillies in 1980, appeared in the World Series with Philadelphia in 1983 and broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record in 1985.

The Classic Baseball Era committee meets every three years and will hold its next vote in December 2027, meaning Rose’s next chance at actual induction would likely come in July of 2028.

Last December, the Classic Baseball Era committee elected Dick Allen and Dave Parker. Parker, like Rose, is a Cincinnati native and played for Rose with the Reds. He and Allen, who died in 2020, will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner this July.

The Eras Committee consists of 16 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members. As with the BBWAA ballot, a candidate must receive 75 percent of the votes from the committee to be elected to the Hall.

What has Manfred said about Rose in the past?

For Rose’s family’s appeal to be successful, Manfred would have to go back on previous statements that he believed permanent banishment is the appropriate punishment for gambling on baseball.

Rose sent a letter to Manfred in 2022 asking for forgiveness. In November of that season, Manfred told The Athletic’s Evan Drellich that he believed the punishment was just.

“I believe that when you bet on baseball, from Major League Baseball’s perspective, you belong on the permanently ineligible list,” Manfred said in 2022. “When I dealt with the issue, the last time he applied for reinstatement, I made clear that I didn’t think that the function of that baseball list was the same as the eligibility criteria for the Hall of Fame. That remains my position. I think it’s a conversation that really belongs in the Hall of Fame board. I’m on that board, and it’s just not appropriate for me to get in front of that conversation.”

When Manfred denied Rose’s petition for reinstatement in 2015, he said Rose’s conduct was among the reasons he denied the request, writing: “In short, Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, so clearly established by the Dowd Report, or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of all the circumstances that led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989.”

(Photo of Rose: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

Deion Sanders signed future Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter — the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit — to Jackson State without ever stepping foot on his high school campus.

No one on his staff visited, either. It was unprecedented, an unthinkable recruiting victory that established Sanders as a force in the sport.

But now entering his sixth season as a college coach and third season at Colorado, Sanders has a recruiting approach that has grown more traditional as his program has matured. No, Sanders still isn’t making home or school visits, a much discussed choice that is believed to have made him the only one of 136 FBS coaches to have never made off-campus contact with recruits. Even new North Carolina coach Bill Belichick is making the rounds.

But in two seasons, Sanders went from taking the most transfers of any team in college football history to a class that closely reflects the norms of roster building in a rapidly shifting sport in 2025. Colorado didn’t respond to interview requests for this story, but the adjustment illustrates a lack of need for quick fixes at a program that’s markedly improved from the 1-11 Colorado team Sanders inherited.

The Buffaloes’ 2025 class is 45 percent high school prospects (14) and 55 percent transfers (17), with 31 new faces, quite a change from the massive, unusual turnover he conducted in his first two seasons.

In 2023, Sanders brought in 73 new players, with 21 (28 percent) being high school prospects. In 2024, the high school ranks dropped even more, with 43 transfers and 12 high school prospects (21.8 percent of the class).

“The (high school prospects) that we take, we want them to play immediately,” Sanders said in November. “We want them to produce.”

Sanders highlighted Colorado’s 2025 class by flipping quarterback Julian Lewis, the nation’s No. 6 quarterback, from USC after he was committed to Lincoln Riley and the Trojans for more than a year. Weeks before the December early signing period, with USC mired in a disappointing 7-6 season, he joined the Buffs class instead as Colorado stayed in late contention for the Big 12 title game.

Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis arrived at Colorado in December. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

With former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Deion’s son, NFL-bound, Lewis will compete to win the starting job this spring against Kaidon Salter, a Liberty transfer who helped lead the Flames to an undefeated regular season and a New Year’s Six bowl in 2023 and rated as The Athletic’s No. 7 transfer quarterback.

Colorado opens spring practice on March 11 and will host a spring game on April 19.

The Buffaloes’ class ranked second in the Big 12 and 27th nationally, per 247Sports. The top two prospects behind Lewis are offensive linemen. Carde Smith of Mobile, Ala., was committed to Auburn and then USC before flipping to Colorado a week before the early signing period. Fellow four-star Chauncey Gooden, from Nashville, Tenn., committed to the Buffaloes on the same day.

The Buffaloes’ class features six four-star high school prospects, more than any other Big 12 team but Texas Tech, which fielded the conference’s top class. That’s up from four high school recruits four-stars or better in each of CU’s previous two classes. The 2025 class featured prospects from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Texas and Michigan.

How is Colorado doing it, beyond coming off a 9-4 season?

While Sanders hasn’t changed his stance on taking visits — “I don’t go to nobody’s school or nobody’s house. I’m not doing that. I’m too old to be going to somebody’s school, somebody’s house,” Sanders, 57, told talk show host Tamron Hall in December — that strategy doesn’t extend to his staff.

Sanders left untouched a $200,000 allowance in his contract for private air travel for recruiting purposes, per USA Today, but the Buffaloes spent $943,504 on recruiting in the 2024 fiscal year, according to Colorado’s NCAA financial forms obtained by The Athletic, which puts Colorado in the same ballpark as what is reported by many of its peers.

Former Colorado offensive line coach Phil Loadholt, who left for Mississippi State after last season, visited Smith in person four or five times, according to Smith’s high school coach, Antonio Coleman.

“(Loadholt) was always in constant contact with Carde, and they built a relationship that made him feel like he was at home,” Coleman said. “If (Sanders) showed up on campus, he’d probably get bum-rushed. Safety is a big deal in that also. Nick Saban came to campus, but he was always well-protected and well-surrounded.”

Sanders began his second season at Colorado with new coordinators. This year, both offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and defensive coordinator Robert Livingston are back. They have been fixtures on the road in recruiting, high school coaches said.

Many coaching staffs around the sport assign assistant coaches to build relationships in specific geographic areas and later put prospects in touch with the program’s position coaches. Colorado largely leaves position coaches to recruit their position, wherever the players may be.

And though Sanders doesn’t travel to recruit, he does frequently FaceTime prospects, usually from his office in Boulder. Players — and more importantly in some cases, players’ parents — are familiar with Sanders’ persona and playing days, which can allow Sanders to make an impression on prospects’ families long before he makes contact.

“These days, you’re dealing with a lot more people and kids where NIL is the biggest thing, and it’s the biggest topic of conversation,” said Jamie Graham, who coached Gooden at Lipscomb Academy. “Colorado didn’t forget about NIL but understood the relationship part of this and what is going to make Colorado special and stand out to someone like Chauncey.”

Coleman said Smith and his mother kept private the amount of an NIL offer Smith had been promised by Colorado but said it was less than what USC had offered.

Willie Gaston, who coached four-star wide receiver Quanell X Farrakhan Jr. at Galena North Shore in Texas, said Farrakhan — who signed with Colorado in December and enrolled last month — didn’t take the highest offer given to him by other schools.

“I know that for a fact. It was a pretty big gap. But he was going somewhere he felt comfortable,” Gaston said. “All these kids want to play at the next level, and the biggest thing for him was who could develop him to play on Sundays. That was the biggest thing for him.”

Sanders has leaned into that talking point in his program every year. It resonates with players who see the NFL credentials of Sanders and his staff and buy into the idea they enhance their pro prospects.

Shurmur and Livingston have spent nearly their entire careers in the NFL. Sanders has continued to stock his staff with former NFL players who lack experience coaching but have on-field bona fides.

Hall of Famer Warren Sapp was promoted to pass rush coordinator after joining the staff as a senior analyst last season for a $150,000 salary. He was around the program in an unofficial capacity in 2023, too. Sanders hired Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk as running backs coach last month, despite Faulk never coaching at the high school, college or professional levels. Faulk and Sanders worked together at the NFL Network. And former Colorado star Andre Gurode is expected to help coach the offensive line after an All-Pro career and having spent two seasons as a coach in the XFL.

“We, as in Deion, myself, Warren (Sapp), and a lot of guys that played that coach right now … the game has given us so much. Coaches poured into us so much. We have to give that back to these young kids coming up in football, to teach them how to get to the next level, but make sure that they go to the next level the right way,” Faulk, who will make $400,000, told the “Rich Eisen Show” last month. “It just all made sense.”

Jerrime Bell, who coached defensive lineman Christian Hudson in Daytona Beach, Fla., said multiple Big Ten schools offered Bell more money than Colorado.

“You don’t get the helicopter landing like you do with the bigger schools. But they did a good job of zeroing in on him, letting him know he’s their guy,” Bell said. “Georgia, Florida, Miami, when they recruit a kid, they come flying in and they put the full-court press on. Colorado went about it a different way, and it was more just about relationships.”

Hudson committed to UCF last summer but flipped to Colorado two weeks after taking an on-campus visit in October. He also took official visits to Iowa, Maryland and Iowa State, but Colorado was the only visit he took once his senior high school season began.

“It wasn’t about the money for him. It was about getting on the field and the relationships he had,” Bell said. “And eventually, ‘I’ll make the money up on the back end when I make plays playing college football.’”

Whether Colorado is maximizing its recruiting potential under Sanders if he’s available only in Boulder is up for debate, but it does provide an added incentive for recruits to make visits to a campus to which they may have minimal exposure and an area of the country that infrequently produces elite talent.

“It’s Deion Sanders. If you’re in America and know sports, you know Deion Sanders,” Bell said. “You know what you’re gonna get.”

Smith had never been to Boulder before his campus visit. Once he visited, his mind was made up, Coleman said.

“Him going up to Colorado was the biggest reason they were able to make him reconsider,” Coleman said. “And he saw Jordan Seaton (the No. 1 offensive tackle prospect in the 2024 class) and the success he had and he wanted to bet on himself. That’s why he chose Colorado.”

As for Sanders’ ironclad no-visit policy, even for prospects as highly rated as Hunter, who made good on his status as the nation’s No. 1 recruit to become Colorado’s second Heisman Trophy winner?

Graham said with as much exposure and access as Colorado offers on YouTube, he can get a feel for what life is like for his former player there. He suspects recruits can get a feel for Sanders and the program in the same way.

“I find myself naturally following Colorado,” Graham said. “Him not being out on the road, I don’t see it being a big deal. He has so many good people around him that can get out on the road and speak for him.”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Ric Tapia / Getty Images)

The last 12 months for Sabrina Ionescu have been like a movie.

Last February, she lit up the NBA All-Star stage in a one-on-one 3-point shootout with her role model and friend Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors. In June, the Sabrina 2 dropped, the second edition of her signature Nike shoe — embraced by men and women hoopers. In August, she won a gold medal in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. In October, she won a WNBA championship with the New York Liberty, a run that included an epic game-winning 3-pointer in Game 3.

Now, she’s a team owner. Ionescu is the latest investor in Bay FC, the NWSL’s franchise in her home area.

“I feel like I was just in high school not that long ago, playing in that community,” Ionescu told The Athletic. “When I sit back and think about how young I am and how fast everything has come, it is pretty crazy. Especially on this side of things, being an investor in a professional league. A lot of people do that so much later in their career. For me to be a part of the business side of things so early on, I think it kind of set me up for the future.

“Now being able to impact a franchise, that is pretty crazy to think about. It’s kind of like a pinch-me moment and, obviously, very humbling.”

Ionescu becoming an investor in Bay FC makes sense because of where she’s from. The Bay Area’s own. The pride of Miramonte High School. And, with apologies to the Liberty, the hope of many to be the near-future face of the new Golden State Valkyries.

Ionescu is also taking on the role of Bay FC’s official commercial advisor, which makes sense because of her place in this modern landscape of sports and business that’s carving out space for women. Her desire to be hands-on with helping Bay FC maximize that potential is a coup for the Bay Area’s NWSL squad.

Loyal to the soil.

We’re excited to welcome 2024 WNBA Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, 3x WNBA All-Star and the Bay’s own, @sabrina_i20 to the family as Investor & Commercial Advisor.

📰: https://t.co/utesbXJOmy#BayFC x #BayAreaUnite pic.twitter.com/RdsCcQVaFD

— Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) March 3, 2025

Conceptually, it’s an ideal marriage. A Bay Area-bred superstar joining the Bay Area franchise in the mix of the changing landscape of Bay Area sports. With Bay FC established, the Valkyries coming, and even the Oakland Soul — of the USL W League — growing, this region is increasingly a flex of the viability of women’s sports.

Bay FC — which set the NWSL record with 11 wins by an expansion club and made the playoffs in its inaugural season — finished top three in the league in ticket revenue and No. 1 in merchandise sales. After selling out the home opener last March, creating a moment in Bay Area history, it’s been a steady uptick.

“It’s been pretty cool to see,” Ionescu said, “just being a Bay area native, seeing how many season tickets they’ve been selling. Seeing 18,000 people at the home opener was insane. So many things go on in the Bay area, so you really understand (that was a display of) how many people really want to watch women’s sports.”

Adding Ionescu to the ownership — along with Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Andrew Luck and Manu Ginobili — suggests the growth potential. A young pioneer is now in the mix. The college basketball phenom has turned into a big dog.

Ionescu was the first women’s basketball player to have a unisex signature collection with Nike. The Sabrina 2 became the most worn among current basketball shoes across the NBA. She was also mentored and validated by the late Kobe Bryant.

“Having someone like Sabrina brings more attention,” said Jen Millet, Bay FC’s COO. “It sends the message that this is a real thing. It’s growing. It’s significant. We’re on a rocket ship. And if you get in now and you’re a part of this, you’re going to over-index. You’re going to out-punch whatever your investment is right now. This is a big win. She’s essentially entering her prime. She’s youthful. She’s on the upswing. We’re on the upswing.”

This is just the beginning of Ionescu’s growing stature in the Bay Area.​​ Ionescu is set up to be a pillar in these parts: with her strong roots in the community; with Curry as a role model; and now, with the Bay FC’s Founding Four as her co-workers. And maybe one day — she’s an unrestricted free agent after this WNBA season — calling Chase Center her home.

“Seeing 18,000 people at the home opener was insane,” Sabrina Ionescu said of Bay FC’s debut last March. “… you really understand how many people really want to watch women’s sports.” (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)

Ionescu is bringing a different paradigm. One where ballers are ballers and sports are sports and where quality matters more than identity.

It’s been one of the elements bolstering the claims of Bay FC’s potential. Brands that formerly just associated with women’s sports for the sake of looking good no longer need to make those overtures. More and more, those who do invest in women’s sports do so because they believe in its promise.

Part of Ionescu’s Bay Area legacy will be helping shift that paradigm. To where game recognizes game.

“It’s been fun to finally kind of see everyone else come along to seeing that as well,” Ionescu said. “These are all such monumental moments in what now is taking place in the rest of society, of being able to give individuals their flowers no matter if it’s a women’s sport or not. There have been so many steps that people have taken and continuously take to create that equality amongst sports. It’s fun to see the point that we’re at now, but it’s even more exciting to see where it’s going. We’re scratching the surface of where we want to go in terms of salary, respect, viewership and sponsorships.”

Ionescu has yet to make her debut at San Jose’s PayPal Park for a game. That will likely happen next month when Bay FC starts its 2025 NWSL campaign. But she’s already official like a referee whistle. Stamped with the swaggiest seal. A letterman jacket, luxuriously thick. Navy blue like the peacoat of a longshoreman with white trim and a white Old English B on the left chest. And BayFC on the back.

It’s coveted merchandise in these parts. It’s given exclusively to investors of the franchise and VIPs. Ionescu is both.

“Of course, I’ve got my jacket,” she beamed. “You know I got one.”

(Top photo of Sabrina Ionescu during the New York Liberty’s WNBA championship parade in October: Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)

The Champions League gets serious this week as the round of 16 begins.

To get to this point, 160 games have been completed — now there are just 29 left to play. But those 29 are the most consequential matches of the competition, the moments when each team’s key players must step up and perform.

But who should we be keeping an eye on? The superstars, sure, but you can’t land the European Cup with stellar names alone. Who are the key figures who have been excellent in the 2024-25 season without generating as many headlines as they should have? (And yes, let’s acknowledge that if you play in probably the most prestigious club football competition in the world, you are hardly obscure.)

Eight of The Athletic’s experts have made their choice here — who would you pick?

Desire Doue — Paris Saint-Germain

When your name means “Desired Gifted” and you are sold for a €50million (£40m; $53m) transfer fee at age 19, you attract a certain spotlight. Happily for Paris Saint-Germain, Doue seems to thrive under it.

To see a teenager play with such joy and freedom on the Champions League stage calls to mind something Julien Stephan, his coach at Rennes, said midway through last season. Some young players breaking into the first team are told to conform to a more rigid, less spontaneous way of playing, but Stephan said the key for Doue was to play with more “insouciance”, not less.

Initially, it was unclear where Doue would fit in at PSG after his summer transfer; by mid-December, he had started just four games in all competitions and had shown only glimpses of his dribbling and creative spark. But after coming off the bench to score his first goal for the club in a crucial Champions League win away at Red Bull Salzburg, he went into the winter break in high spirits and hasn’t looked back.

(Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

He excelled on the right of the front three in PSG’s 4-2 victory over Manchester City in January, tormenting Josko Gvardiol, but his future appears to lie in a slightly deeper role, where his ability to carry the ball from midfield has brought another dimension to Luis Enrique’s team.

Oliver Kay

Igor Paixao — Feyenoord

Some wingers are schemers, masters of subtlety who worm their way into your heart slowly, one delicate little flick at a time. Paixao is not one of those wingers. He is the embodiment of a different archetype: the wideman as shaken-up soda can, all big gestures and bigger grins, fizzing away with energy he can’t possibly suppress.

Case in point: his performance in the first leg of Feyenoord’s Champions League knockout play-off against Milan. The Brazilian ran at Kyle Walker with such relentless ferocity that you felt like calling a helpline. His winning goal may have owed more to poor goalkeeping than anything else, but he also hit the bar and went close from the halfway line. “Paixao makes fun of Milan” ran one Dutch headline the morning after.

It was no one-off. The 24-year-old was influential in the staggering comeback against Manchester City, brilliantly setting up David Hancko’s late equaliser. That was one of four assists in the competition. Take the Eredivisie into account and he has 19 goal involvements in 34 matches this season.

That return, coupled with his direct running and speed, should earn him a big move in the summer, with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Roma being credited with interest. In the more immediate future, he looks like Feyenoord’s key man against Inter.

Jack Lang

Benjamin Pavard — Inter

The thing about Inter is that pretty much all their players have played a part in the team’s ascendence to being one of the best sides in Europe. Therefore, choosing any player from Simone Inzaghi’s side should have no place in an ‘under-the-radar’ pick, so to add to that, my choice is a former World Cup and Champions League winner.

Pavard doesn’t often get the headlines, but his solid and consistent performances in Inter’s back three have been a cornerstone of the side’s defence since he arrived in the summer of 2023.

(Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

In addition to his well-timed tackles and smart positioning, Pavard has adapted well to the role of the wide centre-back in Inzaghi’s side. He is now comfortable moving forward and playing as a pseudo midfielder, a role that allows Hakan Calhanoglu or Nicolo Barella to drop into the back line and help the build-up phase. Pavard’s underlapping runs are also an important attacking solution against deep defences as the right centre-back, as illustrated in Inter’s 1-0 victory against Juventus last season.

Despite being part of successful Bayern Munich, Inter and France teams, Pavard doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

Ahmed Walid

Vangelis Pavlidis — Benfica

“When you‘re playing as a 15-year-old, you dream of playing in front of 65,000 people on a Champions League night,” Pavlidis told Benfica’s official club website recently.

Now is his time to shine. The Greek striker has been on the periphery of Europe’s big time for a few seasons — he scored regularly in the Europa League and Conference League with AZ and finished joint-top goalscorer in the Eredivisie last season. After a slow start to life with Benfica — only four league goals before the turn of the year — he has exploded in recent weeks.

He’s scored 10 goals in his last nine matches, generally close-range finishes with his right foot. He kicked off that run with a hat-trick in the crazy 5-4 defeat against Barcelona, a decent omen considering Benfica face the same opposition in the round of 16 — although it will presumably be a tighter, tenser encounter this time. Pavlidis isn’t all about speed, but he does linger on the shoulder of the last defender and go in behind, which should be a threat against Barcelona’s defensive line, surely the most aggressive in Europe.

(Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

Only four players have scored more goals than Pavlidis (seven goals) in the Champions League this season. Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy (10) is still in the competition but Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (eight) has already been eliminated. Robert Lewandowski (nine) and Raphinha (eight) will be playing for the opposition. Another three goals in this tie and Pavlidis will likely find himself top of the charts.

Michael Cox

Jamie Gittens — Borussia Dortmund

With Dortmund floundering in 10th in the Bundesliga, the Champions League provides a helpful distraction to an otherwise miserable season for Nico Kovac’s side.

If they are to stand any chance of progressing against Lille, then the pace and trickery of star winger Gittens will certainly be required. The 20-year-old has bagged four goals to help Dortmund progress to the knockout phase, but his dribbling ability is undoubtedly his strongest attribute.

Cutting inside from the left wing onto his stronger right foot, Gittens has an insatiable tendency to shift his body, drop a shoulder, and accelerate beyond his opposite number with ease. For context, only Jamal Musiala (57), Vinicius Junior (57), Bradley Barcola (60) and Rafeal Leao (77) have attempted more than Gittens’ 56 take-ons in the Champions League this season — quite the company.

He is on the radar of many elite sides but there is little doubt that this is his breakout season, with seven goals and three assists in the Bundesliga already being more than his previous two campaigns combined.

Dortmund have nurtured young English talent in recent years and it seems Gittens is the next player on the production line. If you don’t already know about his attacking qualities, you will soon.

Mark Carey

Raphael Onyedika — Club Brugge

There are times when it is possible to believe that Pep Guardiola is not being entirely sincere when he lavishes praise on one of Manchester City’s opponents. It can feel as though he might be exaggerating for effect. There is, though, no reason to doubt that his admiration for Raphael Onyedika was anything other than sincere.

The day before City’s decisive encounter with Club Brugge in January, Guardiola managed to single out the 23-year-old without actually naming him. “The defensive patterns are really good, especially with the holding midfielder,” he said. The term is fitting. When watching Brugge, you do not need to be Guardiola to spot that Onyedika is the player who binds everything together.

(Carl Recine/Getty Images)

The Nigeria international has all the attributes elite teams cherish in a defensive midfielder. He is dynamic, industrious, combative almost to a fault: his red card in the group stage defeat by Milan was his second in four European appearances. His greatest virtue, though, is a little less tangible. Onyedika is just always in the right place at the right time.

Brugge are not the most glamorous team left in the competition, but that is not to say they are short of talent. Joaquin Seys and Chemsdine Talbi, the hero of the win against Atalanta, are 19; bright futures surely lie ahead. Maxime De Cuyper and Ardon Jashari are unlikely to remain in Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League for much longer either.

It is Onyedika, though, who is almost certain to feature in the Champions League next season, whether Brugge qualify or not. Aston Villa, their opponents in the last 16, have watched him previously. So have Milan, and PSG and Bayern Munich. Everyone, Guardiola included, will know his name soon enough.

Rory Smith

Lucas Chevalier — Lille

By Ligue 1 standards, Lille do not have the most reputable academy, but Chevalier has been a cornerstone in the past three seasons. The 23-year-old is a graduate of their academy and was third choice in their 2020-21 Ligue 1-winning season. The following campaign, when Lille were last this deep in the Champions League, Chevalier was cutting his teeth on loan at Valenciennes in Ligue 2.

Bruno Genesio, who succeeded Paulo Fonseca as head coach in the summer, stuck with Chevalier as first choice and has been duly rewarded. Lille only have one clean sheet in eight European games this season, but Chevalier’s shot-stopping has been excellent. Based on post-shot expected goals (PSxG) data, his saves have prevented nearly three goals more than a statistically average goalkeeper.

He is the youngest goalkeeper to be featuring regularly in the competition and played every game last season when Lille made the Conference League quarter-finals. While he is not particularly dominant in his box nor as a sweeper-keeper, he distributes every bit like a modern goalkeeper: short passes in build-up, plenty of launched goal kicks.

He made five saves in an iconic 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the league phase this term, including one-v-one against Endrick, and reacted smartly to a late Arda Guler free header from only eight yards out.

After being chipped early on one-v-one by Mohammed Salah, Chevalier showed good aggression and decision-making in Lille’s 2-1 defeat at Anfield, another game where he made five saves. If Lille are to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their history, Chevalier must perform.

Liam Tharme

Johan Bakayoko — PSV

To followers of Dutch football, Bakayoko is a flashing red dot on the radar. The right-sided winger was a standout performer in the Eredivisie last season, contributing 12 goals and nine assists to help PSV clinch the title.

For those less familiar, expect an electric, prolific dribbler capable of giving Arsenal’s back line a tough time on Tuesday night. No player has completed more than his 93 progressive carries — defined as a dribble that moves the ball at least five yards and 15 per cent of the remaining distance towards goal — in this season’s Champions League.

When it comes to creating chances from wide areas, Bakayoko typically likes to drive towards the byline before delivering a cross — only three players have delivered more than his 32 in this season’s competition. Yet he is just as dangerous when cutting inside, as evidenced by his brilliant solo goal against Girona in the group stage. Receiving the ball in the right corner, he weaved inside past two defenders, drove to the edge of the box, and unleashed a low strike past Paulo Gazzaniga.

Bakayoko has already proven his ability against English opposition this season, playing a key role in PSV’s 3-2 victory over Liverpool in the final round of group matches. Receiving the ball in the box, he shaped to shoot before shifting onto his right foot instead, deceiving Andy Robertson and Jarell Quansah, before coolly placing his effort into the left corner. Arsenal will hope to avoid a similar fate.

Conor O’Neill

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Will Tullos)