Pep Guardiola’s decision to pick a three-man defense and plug the midfield for last season’s Champions League elimination to Lyon was jarring.

It was at odds with Manchester City’s usual attacking style. It seemed to confuse the players. The Spaniard was overcomplicating matters rather than trusting what had made his team so successful.

Guardiola was, to reel out the hackneyed term, overthinking.

But City are different this season. As they showed in Wednesday’s Champions League progression at Borussia Dortmund’s expense, they can move between playing on the front foot and exercising caution in a way that previously eluded them. They regroup and adapt instead of cowering when things don’t go to plan.

“I know we have great players and a great team and should have been to the semis earlier. We were lacking something. We made little mistakes which led to goals,” midfielder Ilkay Gundogan said during Tuesday’s prematch press conference.

He added: “I feel like we are much more stable at the moment. We are defending well.”

There was still a defensive mistake, of course. This is City, after all. John Stones, reborn this season when he seemed destined for the exit, was so far behind the thought process that led to Dortmund’s goal that the keys to his Ford Ranchero were jangling in the pockets of his disco flares. The ball went over the daydreaming center-back’s head and, via Erling Haaland and Mahmoud Dahoud, eventually broke to Jude Bellingham. The 17-year-old’s smash swung the tie in Dortmund’s favor.

Until then, City’s structure had withstood Dortmund’s pressure. When the German team passed the halfway line, Guardiola’s side was packed into two sturdy banks of four. Riyad Mahrez also dropped back on occasion, leaving Kevin De Bruyne alone in attack.

The setup would have been alien to City on the day of that embarrassing Champions League exit a year ago. It would have been Pep overthinking again. But this season, the players can do it. It wasn’t a lack of familiarity with the system that caused Bellingham’s opener, as Rodri and Gundogan regularly clogged up the midfield until Guardiola tweaked his tactics in mid-December; it was Stones’ mistake.

Without that blip, the Premier League leaders could have seen out the game in this conservative manner. They didn’t look uncomfortable.

The way City changed their mindset and started to pick and pull at the seams of Dortmund’s defense after Bellingham’s tally should please Guardiola. City had lost eight and drawn two of the previous 10 matches in which they trailed at halftime; overcoming adversity has been difficult for these players. But this time, they turned the page with an assured flourish, like a cocksure conductor moving on to the next composition.

They were patient, almost heartened by their own belief that they could turn it around. And they did so days after losing 2-1 to Leeds United despite having 29 shots on goal.

De Bruyne was unsurprisingly at the center of it all, crashing a shot off the bar and teasing a free-kick into the area, and he was even more relentless in the second half. The Belgian misplaced passes as he tried to pry Dortmund open, but the ball was always muscled back by De Bruyne or one of his teammates. They were in the mood.

The penalty that restored City’s advantage will be debated, as all handball decisions are. But there is no denying the spot-kick Mahrez lashed past Marwin Hitz was deserved.

City were comfortable. They didn’t question Guardiola’s approach as they did in previous Champions League terms. They had seized control of the tie, and they weren’t going to give it back. De Bruyne almost scored when he shimmied through a series of challenges, and though Hitz met his effort with a fine save, it was over about a minute later: Phil Foden received the ball from a short-corner routine and drove it in from the edge of the area.

“We’ve lost both games fair and square,” Bellingham told beIN Sports. “Congratulations to them, they’re the better side on both nights – I think with the ball, just brilliant.”

Foden celebrated with his manager and teammates, enjoying more than just the culmination of a job well done. City had proved they could adapt to the circumstances and get the result. In the four eliminations that preceded this season, a failure to do this had been City’s undoing – and a clear flaw in the management of one of football’s greatest tacticians.

Perhaps Guardiola and his team have finally learned from those mistakes.

Paris Saint-Germain’s rise has been anything but linear. Though they quickly monopolized Ligue 1, winning seven of the last eight titles, PSG couldn’t quite make it work in the Champions League. And the Champions League, after all, is the reason Qatar Sports Investments bought the club nearly a decade ago.

Club chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi had hoped to win a Champions League title by now, but after numerous setbacks and missed deadlines, Les Parisiens now seem closer than ever.

PSG reached the semifinals of Europe’s top competition for the second consecutive season, fending off defending champions Bayern Munich in a relentless quarterfinal that required much more than the skill of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.

That part is crucial. Winning in Europe is about more than just star power, or else PSG – having spent more than €1.3 billion in transfer fees over the last decade – would’ve won already. This tournament is about organization and leadership, defending and game management, and, yes, a bit of luck.

PSG had all of that against Bayern.

Despite allowing 45 shots over the course of the tie, PSG looked sure of themselves. The counterattack exposed Bayern’s high line on numerous occasions, and even though they had the lead, Neymar and Mbappe searched for goals, the Brazilian hitting the woodwork twice.

The difference was in the details. PSG built a big enough cushion in the first leg, scoring crucial goals away from home, and defended well in the second, especially in one-on-one situations. They took nothing for granted, showing the mettle and poise they lacked in previous collapses against Chelsea in 2014, Barcelona in 2017, and Manchester United in 2019.

If anything, Mauricio Pochettino’s side improved in this reverse fixture, creating more chances and limiting Bayern’s time on the ball, all without club captain Marquinhos, midfield metronome Marco Verratti, and either of their starting fullbacks.

That’s the thing about PSG: The individual talent is there, and it is necessary, but there is a team behind it all. Danilo Pereira, who looked like an uninspiring signing from Porto, dropped into defense and dominated. Colin Dagba – one of the few youth players to actually get minutes with the senior team – neutralized Kingsley Coman, who decided the final against these two teams last August. Angel Di Maria ran up, down, east, and west without hesitation, hunting down the ball and twisting his way out of trouble. Finally, there was Keylor Navas, perhaps the best goalkeeper in club history and one of its best bargains at €15 million.

Everything has come together, and at a club like PSG, that has rarely been the case.

Unlike four years ago – when PSG lost 6-1 to Barcelona, throwing away a 4-0 lead from the first leg – individual errors did not sabotage their hopes of advancing. There were no excuses, and more importantly, no chances taken.

Before that fateful night in 2017, some of PSG’s players sat around a table, eating pizza and drinking soft drinks while discussing what they would do with their sizeable advantage against Barcelona. None of them seemed particularly bothered. The media roasted them for their complacency.

The scene was different last month when PSG once again found themselves with a 4-1 lead in the last 16 against Barca. Despite being at home, Pochettino gathered his players the night before to keep them focused. The game finished 1-1, and PSG moved on.

They approached Tuesday’s second leg with the same professionalism. Though PSG lost 1-0, they limited the damage, and advanced on away goals.

“PSG have grown up,” said defender Presnel Kimpembe. “The club doesn’t stop growing day by day, year by year. We’ve picked ourselves up. Tonight was a war, and we managed to win it.”

There will be immense star power on display during the Champions League quarterfinals, even without Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in action. And though the big names garner much of the attention, there are a host of players who will be equally important if their teams hope to reach the final four. Below we look at the X-factors who can swing their respective matchups.

Real Madrid: Marco Asensio

Asensio’s career hasn’t taken off the way many expected it would. In a stark reminder that progression is anything but linear, the Spanish attacker has struggled for consistency since bursting onto the scene in explosive style in 2016. At the time, his trickery on the ball and wicked left foot thrust him into the conversation as one of the game’s next great attackers. A torn ACL in 2019 provided a major hurdle, but after a long, frustrating road back, the 25-year-old appears to be rounding back into form at exactly the right time.

With goals in each of his last three appearances, including against Atalanta in the round of 16, Asensio is providing Karim Benzema with a much-needed sidekick; the Frenchman can’t score all the goals, even if it feels like he does. Zinedine Zidane clearly trusts and believes in Asensio’s talent, which is no small accomplishment. With Eden Hazard spending more time on the treatment table than the pitch and Vinicius Junior lacking consistency, Asensio has a chance to solidify himself as the team’s secondary scoring option.

Liverpool: Fabinho

Fabinho is back in midfield, and Liverpool are winning again. The Reds simply look better when the Brazilian sets the tempo in the middle of the park. That’s not to say Fabinho played poorly in the center-back position; the Brazilian actually filled the void better than most midfielders could at a time of desperate need. He’s just more effective when he’s tackling and supplying teammates at the base of Jurgen Klopp’s midfield three.

Thiago Alcantara may benefit the most from the tactical switch. With the more conservative Fabinho by his side, the Spanish international is finally free to move up and contribute in the most dangerous areas of the pitch. He doesn’t need to worry about defending against the counterattack or losing possession when Fabinho is there to tidy up. Now, Thiago can pass and carry the ball forward without fear of consequence. Expect Fabinho to provide more assurances in the Champions League, and Liverpool to continue to do damage.

Manchester City: Joao Cancelo

Cancelo is a unicorn. Much like Dani Alves and Marcelo did when they were at their peaks, the Portuguese international transcends his position. Ostensibly a full-back, Cancelo is an attacking monster whose output going forward trumps what many actual attackers are capable of producing. Only Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez have completed more key passes for Manchester City in all competitions this season, and the Belgian – arguably one of the world’s three best players right now – is the only member of the team with more progressive passes on the campaign.

After a steep learning curve upon his arrival from Juventus, Cancelo has developed into a pillar of Pep Guardiola’s team; his ability to tuck inside and play the vaunted role of the inverted full-back has been central to City’s success this season. He’s become a smarter, more dependable player without sacrificing any of the creative instincts that make him so exciting to watch.

Borussia Dortmund: Mahmoud Dahoud

Guardiola knows Borussia Dortmund have players of immense quality. But he may have surprised a few people when he name-dropped Dahoud, the 25-year-old midfielder who’s started just nine Bundesliga matches this season. Guardiola, though, is quite obviously a keen observer. Dahoud has become more and more important to Dortmund as the season’s gone on, facilitating play as a roaming No. 8.

He was also one of Dortmund’s best players in the round of 16. It wasn’t just the spectacular goal he scored in the first leg against Sevilla, but also the confidence he showed to break the lines. He did a little bit of everything in the tie: blocking passes, pressing high, and setting up another one of Dortmund’s goals with a fantastic through ball into the penalty area. City have more than just Erling Haaland to worry about in this quarterfinal fixture.

Bayern Munich: Kingsley Coman

Spoiler alert: Bayern Munich are less dangerous without Robert Lewandowski in the side. But he hasn’t been the team’s most productive player in the Champions League this season. That title belongs to Coman, who’s had a hand in a team-leading six goals in Europe’s premier competition.

Maybe Coman flies under the radar because he’s just one of many stars in the lineup. There’s too much quality on the field for any opposing manager to consider man-marking one player. Even when Coman isn’t effective, one of Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, and Leroy Sane is there to pick up the slack. But Coman should have an impact in the tie against Paris Saint-Germain. He won’t face as much resistance from opposing right-back Thilo Kehrer, who’s set to replace Alessandro Florenzi. With the Italian out with COVID-19, Kehrer will have a tough time stopping Coman from cutting in and dealing significant damage.

Paris Saint-Germain: Moise Kean

Kean is loving life at PSG, and not just because he gets to live in the French capital. After a rough debut season at Everton during which minutes were limited and goals even more so, the Italian international has reminded everyone why he was viewed as a soon-to-be superstar prior to his spell in England. Kean, 21, is finding the net with regularity once again; only Kylian Mbappe has more goals across all competitions for PSG this season. More impressively, all 15 of the Italian’s tallies have come from open play.

The team looks more fluid with Kean on the pitch as opposed to Mauro Icardi, who offers a more obvious focal point at the expense of being involved in buildup play and pressing. Kean – with his athleticism and willingness to drift out wide and run at defenders – is a better, more versatile option in support of star forwards Mbappe and Neymar. After scoring against Barcelona in the previous round, he has an opportunity to add another impressive notch to his belt against Bayern Munich.

Porto: Otavio

Otavio is Porto’s handyman. He plays everywhere in midfield and, occasionally, in more advanced roles. But he’s not exactly a No. 10, or easy to define for that matter. The value in Otavio’s game is his work rate, which he demonstrates in all areas of the pitch. He presses, tracks back, and facilitates play, a wild card Porto could use to great effect against Chelsea.

Expect Porto boss Sergio Conceicao to lean on Otavio to disrupt Chelsea’s rhythm. The Blues’ possession-based approach is effective only if teams give them the time and space to build up plays. Chelsea can hurt opponents on the counterattack, as well, but Porto’s low block should mitigate those chances. Otavio can do just about everything else.

Chelsea: Mateo Kovacic

Already boasting an impressive crop of young attacking talent, Chelsea went on a well-documented spending spree last summer, splashing big on the likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. Those signings, combined with the continued progression of internal options like Mason Mount, created a top-heavy side; to make things work, there needs to be some semblance of balance. Kovacic provides exactly that. The underrated 26-year-old is, perhaps surprisingly, the team’s primary ball carrier. The Croatian leads Chelsea in ball progressions in the Champions League, a stat that tracks how many times a player carries the ball at least five yards toward the opponent’s goal or into the penalty area. He’s played more minutes, admittedly, but Kovacic’s total of 41 is level with Neymar, of all people.

Only N’Golo Kante has completed more successful dribbles for Chelsea in the tournament this season. The former Real Madrid man is among the team leaders in tackles and interceptions, too, while acting as a vital – and prolific – cog in Thomas Tuchel’s counter-pressing game. He’s shifty in possession, energetic, and feisty. In short, he does it all. With Kante sidelined due to injury, Kovacic will play an even more influential role against Porto.