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UCL This is an updated version of this article, originally published in August. Less than four months after Paris Saint-Germain lifted their inaugural Champions League title by thrashing Inter, the 2025-26 edition is upon us. The 36-team league phase of Europe’s premier club competition kicks off on Tuesday, with Arsenal facing Bilbao’s Athletic Club in one of the two early kick-offs. There are plenty of other highlights this week too, with Bayern Munich facing Chelsea in a rematch of the 2012 final, Liverpool coming up against Atletico Madrid and Newcastle United hosting Barcelona. Advertisement So, how do we assess each of the teams involved in the first round? This is our definitive — but also entirely subjective, and extremely debatable — ranking. The most easterly team to ever reach this stage of the Champions League, Almaty is closer geographically to Tokyo than it is to England. It is further east, in terms of longitude, than Mumbai. But its remote location is potentially the best chance they have of causing any upsets: the Opta Power Rankings have them as the 441st best team in the world, which puts them a place below Swiss Super League leaders Thun, and 18 places below Luton Town. They will relish hosting record 15-time winners Real Madrid, who will make the 3, 985-mile trip to Kazakhstan to face the minnows on September 30. Qarabag have only been in the group stages of the Champions League once before, and this is where the ‘new’ format has its advantages for the smaller sides: they have more of a chance of making the knockouts than when the Azerbaijanis were drawn against Roma, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid in 2017-18. They also have the longest-serving manager in the competition, Gurban Gurbanov having been in charge since 2008. Liverpool are the hardest of their opponents (they visit Anfield in January), while they also face Chelsea, Italian champions Napoli, Benfica, Athletic Club and Ajax. Another Champions League debutant, Pafos FC are a pretty remarkable story, if only because they were only formed two days before the 2014 World Cup, the result of a merger between AEP Paphos and AEK Kouklia in the Cypriot second division. Owned by Russian billionaire Sergey Lomakin, Pafos beat Crvena Zvezda in the qualifiers thanks to a dramatic 89th-minute goal from Brazilian winger Jaja. He is not the only Brazilian in their side: you will probably be more familiar with David Luiz, who signed for them this summer. The visit of six-time European champions Bayern Munich on September 30 will be a big draw. The northernmost team in Champions League history, Bodo/Glimt have become a relative stalwart of the more minor European competitions in recent years, probably best known for humiliating Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the Conference League group stages in 2021. Managed by Kjetil Knutsen, perennially linked with jobs in England, the Norwegian side are the definition of a banana skin draw for teams not keen on playing football in the Arctic Circle. Tottenham Hotspur will be familiar with them having beaten them in the Europa League semi-finals last season and travel there in relatively balmy September. Manchester City’s January visit there is likely to be substantially tougher. Advertisement One of the more interesting, low-key transfers of the summer was Youssoufa Moukoko’s move to Copenhagen. Once thought of as a wunderkind at Borussia Dortmund, the striker’s star has fallen and this feels like it could be something of a reset. Few will fancy them to progress, but they did get to the knockout rounds in 2023-24, so they are a potential outside bet to qualify. Conference League winners in 2024, Olympiacos were Greek champions last season after what was, for them at least, an unthinkable dry spell of two seasons without a league title. They are enjoying an uncharacteristic period of managerial stability (this is Jose Luis Mendilibar’s third season in charge), their squad is a mishmash of names you half-recognise. Gelson Martins! Roman Yaremchuk! Remy Cabella! Automatic qualifiers after winning the Czech title last season, this is Slavia Prague’s first appearance in the Champions League proper since 2019-20. Without wishing to be unkind, they will be the sort of team Inter, Arsenal, Tottenham and Barcelona will be pleased to have been drawn against. Club Brugge surprisingly got to the round of 16 in the Champions League last season, before they were thrashed by Aston Villa. But since then they have lost three key players — Ardon Jashari, Maxim De Cuyper and Chemsdine Talbi. Given that level of upheaval, even being at this stage is a success. Galatasaray are, quite rightly, proud to be the only Turkish side to ever win a European trophy, and while they are very unlikely to double that tally this season, they are a decent bet to qualify. They have lost just seven league games over the last three seasons, and with Victor Osimhen now signed up permanently and Leroy Sane feeding him from the wing, they will be a lively proposition. Union Saint-Gilloise finished the regular Belgian season in third place, 13 points behind Genk… but still emerged champions, thanks to the labyrinthine structure of the Belgian play-offs. But they remain one of the more remarkable success stories of European football, that title being their first since 1935. This will be their first ever appearance in the Champions League: how extraordinary it would be if they go one step further. Advertisement Benfica’s capacity for regeneration is remarkable, usually losing at least one big player a year (it was Alvaro Carreras this summer, off to Real Madrid for €50m), and still consistently making the knockout stages of European competitions. With the exciting Greek forward Vangelis Pavlidis leading the line this time, they are in with a chance of extending that record. Last season Sporting were almost completely derailed by the departure of Ruben Amorim to Manchester United: they had taken 10 points from their first four Champions League games before he left, but in their remaining four only managed one point, scraping into the playoffs where they were beaten by Borussia Dortmund. They still managed to win the Portuguese title and have some talents such as defender Ousmane Diomande, but the question this season is how they will cope without Viktor Gyokeres’s 54 goals in all competitions. If you want eye-catching signings that could go either way, Monaco is the place to look. They brought in Paul Pogba, Ansu Fati and Eric Dier, the first two of whom are perhaps the epitome of ‘high upside’ recruits. They also have exciting winger Maghnes Akliouche, although midfielder Soungoutou Magassa moved to West Ham United before the transfer deadline. The question about Villarreal this season is whether they will have enough punch up front, following the departure of Thierno Barry to Everton and Yeremy Pino’s move to Crystal Palace. They finished fifth in La Liga last season, their best for some time, but you wonder whether they will be able to repeat that, particularly with their first three games being against Tottenham, Juventus and Manchester City. Borussia Dortmund’s status as Germany’s second club has slipped significantly in the last couple of years, but Niko Kovac stabilised them last season after a difficult start. It will be interesting to see how Jobe Bellingham fits in after treading the same path as his brother, and centre-forward Serhou Guirassy could score plenty this season. Ajax only needed six points from their final five games to wrap up the Eredivisie title last season, but somehow managed to make a mess of it, leading to coach Francesco Farioli tearfully resigning. John Heitinga has returned to replace the Italian, but with a relatively uninspiring squad, will they have much impact in Europe? In the last two windows they have lost Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitike, their bank balance thus bulging, and their recruits have mostly been ‘shrewd’, relatively low-key additions from other Bundesliga teams. Therefore, they are one of the more interesting sides in the Champions League this season: will they be able to cope with so much change? Advertisement Last season’s non-PSG Ligue 1 title winners (they finished second, 19 points behind the champions, in what was essentially a different division) still have Roberto De Zerbi in charge. Whatever happens, it won’t be dull. They travel to the Bernabeu for their opening game on Tuesday. Are Atalanta a little high, considering they are a team managed by Ivan Juric, who won two of his 16 games in charge of Southampton last season? Perhaps, but they are a team who have constantly surprised European competition over the last few years. The question is whether they will be able to cope without the architect of their recent success, Gian Piero Gasperini. Football fans across the continent are giddy with anticipation to see how Alexander Isak will get on as he returns to the Champions League with Newcastle. No wait, that line was written in July — and Isak has since finally completed his Premier League record move to Liverpool. It remains to be seen whether Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa can fill the hole left by the Sweden forward. Eddie Howe’s side start with a mouthwatering-looking home fixture against Barcelona on Thursday. After dramatically winning the Dutch title on the final day of last season, this PSV squad has undergone some significant changes, with Malik Tillman, Noa Lang and Johan Bakayoko all departing. One to keep an eye on is winger Ruben van Bommel, who shares his father Mark’s name, but not many of his playing characteristics. What on earth to expect from last season’s Two-Face; i. e. the Europa League winners or the 17th-best team in the Premier League? Well, goals from set pieces presumably, under new boss Thomas Frank. There will be specific tactical plans tailored for individual matches too, in a bold new brainwave. Frank’s first venture into the Champions League will be fascinating, although a small squad may hinder him. And travelling to the reigning champions PSG at the end of November seems a daunting task, although they played well against them in the UEFA Super Cup in August. You could make a decent argument that the most significant signing of the summer in Spain, maybe even beyond, was not a new arrival, but Nico Williams agreeing to stay in Bilbao. Athletic will back themselves to qualify, maybe even for an automatic spot in the knockout phase, even if Williams sustained a thigh injury with Spain which makes him a doubt for their home game against Arsenal on Tuesday. They have also been hit by the 10-month doping ban handed to their centre-back Yeray Alvarez, although Aymeric Laporte’s signing from Al Nassr finally going through last week is a boost. Not the force they were. Scraped into the Champions League on the final day by finishing fourth in Serie A, while they lost to PSV in the knockout phase play-offs in last year’s Champions League. Difficult to envisage anything much better under Igor Tudor, although Jonathan David and Joao Mario are decent additions from Lille and Porto. Advertisement Plenty of clubs have undergone significant change this summer, but perhaps none more than Bayer Leverkusen. Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Granit Xhaka, Jonathan Tah and, most significantly, Xabi Alonso have all gone. Alonso’s replacement, Erik ten Hag, lasted just three games before being sacked and replaced by former Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand. How will they cope with that disruption? It was only a few short months ago that Inter were in the Champions League final, but the prospects of a repeat look far-fetched. Paris Saint-Germain made Inter look like Dad’s Army that night, although the departure of head coach Simone Inzaghi has not been followed by a dismantling of that squad. New boss Cristian Chivu has added a few younger faces, but Inter remain a big unknown due to that dugout change. Almost guaranteed to impressively navigate the group stage while going under everyone’s radar, then when the draw for the round of 16 is made they’re described as “really tough opposition, that’s not an easy draw for Team X, you know exactly what you are going to get with a Diego Simeone team”. And then Atletico will heroically lose on penalties. Wednesday’s trip to Anfield is a tough one, but they have history when it comes to winning there. The 2023 quarter-finalists look a decent bet to match that this time around, with Antonio Conte still in charge having led the team to the Scudetto last season. Conte does not have a glorious history in the Champions League but he has kept his title-winning team together and added Kevin De Bruyne. Either way, expect a rowdy Naples to be the proverbial ‘tough place to go’. It will be intriguing to see how De Bruyne and company do against his former employers Manchester City on Thursday. Chelsea are back in the Champions League after two seasons away, their longest gap since the pre-Roman Abramovich era. In those two years they have proved their mettle by winning a prestigious new competition, but aside from their Conference League success they also won the Club World Cup. Dark horses. Quarter-finalists two years ago, semi-finalists last year… what chance of Arsenal, just like in the Premier League, making almost continual progress in Europe, too? Well, their squad looks far better prepared to cope with the inevitable injury issues they will suffer. Again, like in the league, their fate may depend on the form of Gyokeres. City have a complicated history with this competition and it remains an underachievement by Pep Guardiola to have only won it once in his nine years at the club. If Guardiola has fixed City’s midfield, expect them to go all the way… to the quarter-finals, where they will lose against Real Madrid — who they face for the 11th time in the 2020s in the league phase. Untouchable in the Bundesliga and with one of the best front threes in Europe (Harry Kane, Luis Diaz and Michael Olise), but Bayern look a little light at the moment, an opinion voiced by Kane last month. While their knockout stage credentials are unquestionable, it is hard to make a case for this squad and manager Vincent Kompany taking them all the way. A first game against world champions Chelsea on Wednesday will be a stern test. The English champions are probably the most likely winner from the Premier League. They sauntered through the early stages last year before getting pretty unlucky by drawing PSG in the round of 16, but their squad is much improved now. Even their 16-year-old back-up players are utterly brilliant. They will be looking forward to hosting Real Madrid in November after that Conor Bradley tackle last year — but what reception will their former right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold get? This is their competition. The 15-time tournament winners always turn up for the Champions League; they could field their under-16s and still make it to the knockout stages. They were undone by Arsenal last year, though, and have responded to a poor season the only way they know how: by spending loads of money. Adding three new defenders and an Argentine wonderkid in Franco Mastantuono means they will surely be there or thereabouts again. They have not won the competition — nor reached a final — for 10 years but if they continue last season’s ridiculous goalscoring form (they were top scorers in the Champions League and netted 102 in La Liga, 24 more than anyone else), Lamine Yamal keeps being brilliant and tighten up their defence a little, it could be their year. They have also been given a relatively comfortable league-phase draw, although opening fixtures against Newcastle and PSG will be a test. The reigning champions are undoubtedly favourites to retain their crown, with manager Luis Enrique and last season’s squad still in place, plus they’ve added defender Illia Zabarnyi and goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier. They were exposed by Chelsea’s direct tactics at the Club World Cup and squeaked past several English teams in 2024-25, so they are not infallible. Plus how hungry are they for more? (Top photo by Maja Hitij – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Nick Miller is a football writer for the Athletic and the Totally Football Show. He previously worked as a freelancer for the Guardian, ESPN and Eurosport, plus anyone else who would have him. Follow Nick on Twitter @Nick Miller79