The Champions League is back! This season’s campaign begins in earnest Tuesday with Matchday 1 of the league phase. Will PSG complete a three-peat? Is it finally Arsenal’s year? Who’ll be the biggest surprise and letdown? theScore’s Michael J. Chandler, Caio Miari, and Gianluca Nesci offer their predictions on all that, and more, for Europe’s elite club competition.
After coming within inches of winning the coveted big-eared trophy last season, Arsenal have all the tools in place to finally get over the line and take home the Champions League title for the first time in club history.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich, the reigning champions in Spain and Germany, respectively, are attacking juggernauts that can score goals in bunches and overwhelm even the stingiest backlines. Incredibly, they’ve combined to reach just one Champions League final in the last 10 years. Surely that will change this season, right?
Despite their continued ability to rest and rotate players during the Ligue 1 season and focus on their European ambitions, nobody has picked Paris Saint-Germain to complete a rare Champions League three-peat …
Why PSG won’t 3-peat
Chandler: Because history suggest that it’s extremely difficult to do. It’s happened on just four occasions since the European Cup’s inception in 1955 and only once since 1976. Also, the top-end of the tournament has never been as competitive as it currently is. PSG need Ferran Torres and Mika Godts to replace the continental contributions from Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos in attacking positions.
Miari: As good as PSG have been, winning three consecutive Champions League titles is very rare, as Chandler points out. Real Madrid are the only team to accomplish that feat in the modern UCL era, and it took a legendary squad with Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Marcelo, and Sergio Ramos, among other stars, all in their primes. PSG aren’t on that level. In fact, Luis Enrique’s men are off to a sloppy start to the new season; they lost the French Super Cup to Lens and are winless after their first three league games.
Nesci: On top of the historical precedent outlined above, simply maintaining the same level of hunger will be difficult enough for PSG. At this level, even the slightest drop-off in motivation can make the difference. Margins are so fine among Europe’s elite clubs. PSG, remember, escaped a thriller against Bayern Munich last season before winning on penalties in the final, and they barely made the knockout stage the season prior before hoisting the trophy. What are the chances all those things break just right for them once again?
Who’ll reach the semis?
Top 8 in league phase
The top eight league-phase finishers advance directly to the round of 16, avoiding the potential pitfall (and extra matches) of the knockout playoff stage.
Best league-phase match
There are plenty of delicious storylines to watch during the league phase of this season’s competition. Real Madrid return to north London on Matchday 6, two years after the Gunners humbled Los Blancos in arguably the greatest night at the Emirates Stadium courtesy of Declan Rice’s two stunning free-kicks. This year’s clash also has the added wrinkle of Vinicius Junior’s participation after this summer’s Arsenal transfer saga that ultimately resulted in the Brazilian extending his Real Madrid contract.
Meanwhile, Barcelona are involved in two of the most intriguing league-phase contests following a busy summer window. They’ll experience both sides of a marquee reunion. The Blaugrana will face Spanish World Cup hero and new PSG forward Ferran Torres in October, while fellow World Cup winner Rodri will take on his former club Manchester City in December.
Biggest surprise
Cesc Fabregas’ billionaire-backed Como aren’t exactly a Cinderella story considering their financial strength, but their meteoric rise has nonetheless been brilliant to watch. The Italian debutants have an unenviable slate of league-phase matches with away trips to PSG and Barcelona, home fixtures with Manchester United and RB Leipzig, and some tricky visits to Real Betis, Feyenoord, and Lens. Still, Fabregas’ side boasts one of world football’s best young talents in Nico Paz and employs a possession-based and fluid style that will cause problems for everyone.
Borussia Dortmund were one of the biggest winners from the league-phase draw. A favorable schedule could help catapult Niko Kovac’s men to a top-eight finish and afford them the luxury of not having to battle through the grueling knockout playoff round.
Austrian champions LASK should also benefit from what looks, at least on paper, like a decent slate of fixtures. Fresh off their spectacular playoff comeback against Celtic that got them into the league phase to begin with, LASK will rely on Moses Usor and Samuel Adeniran to find the net and help author the kind of fairytale story that Bodo/Glimt delivered last season.
Biggest disappointment
Six-time Champions League winners Liverpool have endured a tricky start to life under Andoni Iraola and might prioritize domestic results over continental successes as the season progresses. A shaky backline is cause for concern – the Reds’ defense is being held together by Virgil van Dijk and … not much else. It’s not a great recipe for success against the brilliant attacking teams they’ll face in Europe this season.
Atletico Madrid have continued to evolve into a more attack-minded unit in recent seasons, shedding the ultra-defensive identity that was the foundation for so much of their previous success under Diego Simeone. It’s not been the easiest transition, and the Julian Alvarez saga is also a dark cloud hanging over the club right now.
As for Inter, they’re comfortably the best team in Italy right now and have made two of the last four Champions League finals. In that context, expectations should be high at the San Siro. While a modest summer shouldn’t hinder them domestically, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that the Nerazzurri can conquer Europe, especially after last season’s shocking exit at the hands of Bodo/Glimt.
Top scorer
Barcelona and Arsenal, two tournaments favorites that all three editors expect to either make deep runs or win it all, don’t lean on traditional No. 9s for goals. Barca are playing Raphinha through the middle to start the season – to great effect, in fairness – while Mikel Arteta clearly prefers the more well-rounded game of Kai Havertz to Viktor Gyokeres up front.
Reigning champions PSG, meanwhile, score by committee more than any other top club in the competition.
That eliminates a trio of contenders here, and leaves two obvious candidates. Mbappe, who led the Champions League in scoring last season, looks immediately comfortable playing in Jose Mourinho’s system at Real Madrid, while Kane found the net an astonishing 61 times in 51 games for Bayern Munich in 2025-26, including 14 tallies in this competition.
Breakout star
Every year, a collection of unheralded players – youngsters and late bloomers alike – announce themselves to the world with memorable European displays. This year will be no different.
Dowman, 16, burst onto the English scene last season with a record-shattering goal vs. Everton, and he’s primed to become a household name with mature performances in Europe’s elite competition. Argentina’s Paz, 21, is the headline act and creative fulcrum on a Como team with several ascendant players – Martin Baturina will catch the eye, too. Karetsas is another teenager primed for a breakout season. The Greek international, 18, is capable of bringing the crowd to life every time he touches the ball.
Most excited about …
Chandler: Lille’s strike tandem of Olivier Giroud and Ayase Ueda. Les Dogues pulled off a thrifty €15-million deadline-day move for the Japanese forward who led the Dutch Eredivisie in scoring last year with 25 goals in 31 matches. Ueda’s high-intensity work rate should pair nicely with Giroud’s veteran craft to form a must-watch attacking duo.
Miari: Heavyweight clashes. The Champions League’s revamped format once again delivers world-class matchups right away in the league phase. Real Madrid kick off their campaign against Inter Milan. PSG face Manchester City and Barcelona in two of their first three tests. Matchday 3, in particular, stands out with PSG-Barca AND Bayern-Arsenal. Soccer fans are also in for a treat with Bayern-Atletico, Real Madrid-Arsenal, and Barca-Manchester City all on the schedule before the end of the calendar year.
Nesci: Contrasting styles. European club soccer is becoming more uniform and regimented all the time as teams seek the same edges and efficiencies in the modern game. There are stylistic differences between clubs within the same domestic leagues, to be sure, but the Champions League is the best place to find that variety at an elite level with world-class talent. How will Arsenal’s defensive structure and control match up against the likes of Barcelona, PSG, or Bayern Munich, for example? Can Real Madrid’s mystique carry them, and Jose Mourinho, back to the top in Europe? Coming off the back of a World Cup, where the clash of philosophies and soccer cultures is at its most pronounced, it’ll be nice to have a version of that at the club level.
Leave your own predictions in the comments below!
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