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| champions league |
The 2025-26 edition of Europe’s premier club football competition, the UEFA Champions League, has kicked off under its refreshed “league phase” format — and already it’s delivering on drama, upsets and record-breaking performances.
Format refresh & tournament structure
This season marks only the second time the competition features a 36-team single-table league phase (instead of traditional four-team groups). Each club plays eight matches: four at home and four away. NBC Sports+3Wikipedia+3UEFA.com+3
The timetable for league phase matchdays is:
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Matchday 1: 16-18 Sept 2025
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Matchday 2: 30 Sept-1 Oct
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Matchday 3: 21-22 Oct
… through to Matchday 8 on 28 Jan 2026. Al Jazeera+1
From the table: -
Teams ranked 1-8 proceed directly to the Round of 16
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Teams ranked 9-24 head to knockout play-offs
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Teams ranked 25-36 are eliminated from European competition. Wikipedia+1
Strong starts & standout clubs
Several big clubs have gotten off to positive starts:
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Paris Saint‑Germain are off to a perfect start: 3 wins from 3 with a +10 goal difference, leading the standings. NBC Sports
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Inter Milan and Arsenal have also recorded three straight victories and sit among the top rankings. NBC Sports
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On the flip side, historically elite clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool and Juventus face tougher early waters, occupying lower positions in the table. NBC Sports
The fresh format means there’s less margin for error and more immediate pressure — the traditional “group stage warm-up” is gone.
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