Best represented nations in Champions League last eight

A thrilling first installment of quarter-final action took place in the Champions League this week - and all four ties have life left in them ahead of the decisive second legs. 

Two Spanish sides - Atletico Madrid and Barcelona - earned narrow victories, over Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain respectively, while both remaining English sides are all square following Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich and Man City's 3-3 thriller against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. 

With Euro 2024 on the horizon, it is interesting to note which players are sparkling in Uefa's premier club competition and perhaps unsurprisingly German, Spanish, French and English players make up the majority of those that featured midweek. 

England manager Gareth Southgate has often bemoaned the lack of talent at his disposal, but a healthy 11 English players saw game-time in the quarter-final first legs this week - and that XI wasn't restricted to just the two Premier League clubs.

Harry Kane and Eric Dier featured for Bayern against international team-mates Bukayo Saka, Ben White and Declan Rice at the Emirates, while Jadon Sancho and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens played for Dortmund in their 2-1 defeat at the Civitas Metropolitano.

The previous day, Jude Bellingham had been front and centre in Real's gargantuan clash against a Man City side for whom John Stones, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden all started - the latter scoring an absolute pearler of a strike at the Bernabeu. 

Although Southgate will know he has a number of top-level operators to call upon, the English contigent in the Champions League last eight was outnumbered by French (12), Spanish (19) and German (20) players. 

Check out the graphic below for the full picture!

🏆 Best represented nations (#UCL quarter-finals*):

2⃣0⃣: 🇩🇪 GERMANY
1⃣9⃣: 🇪🇸 Spain
1⃣2⃣: 🇫🇷 France
1⃣1⃣:🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England
9⃣: 🇧🇷 Brazil
8⃣: 🇵🇹 Portugal

* inc. used subs

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿: Rice, Saka, White; Foden, Grealish, Stones; Dier, Kane; Bellingham; Sancho, Bynoe-Gittens#ThreeLions #PL pic.twitter.com/pRADQvKMVq

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) April 11, 2024