Overview
The premier club competition in world football — 36 clubs in a single league phase, then a knockout to the final.
The UEFA Champions League is the leading club competition in European football and, by common consent, the strongest club tournament in the world. From 2024–25 it uses a single league phase of 36 clubs, each playing eight different opponents, replacing the group stage that had run since 1991.
The top eight advance directly to the round of sixteen; clubs placed ninth to twenty-fourth contest a two-legged playoff for the remaining places. The knockout rounds are two-legged until a single-match final at a neutral venue in late May or early June.
2026-27 League Phase
Single 36-team league phase after the first matchday. Table order as published in the feed (points, then the competition's tiebreakers). 36 teams. Captured 6 October 2026 from the ESPN public standings feed.
| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Saint-Germain | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 3 |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 3 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 3 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 3 |
| 5 | Como | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 3 |
| 6 | Sporting CP | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| 7 | VfB Stuttgart | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| 8 | Manchester City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 |
| 10 | Lens | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 |
| 11 | Real Betis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 |
| 12 | Borussia Dortmund | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 |
| 13 | Liverpool | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 14 | Real Madrid | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 15 | Arsenal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 16 | AEK Athens | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 17 | AS Roma | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Fenerbahce | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | PSV Eindhoven | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Villarreal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
| 22 | Club Brugge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
| 23 | Lille | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
| 24 | Slavia Prague | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
| 25 | Atlético Madrid | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 26 | Internazionale | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 27 | LASK Linz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 28 | Napoli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 29 | Galatasaray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| 30 | Viking FK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| 31 | FC Porto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| 32 | RB Leipzig | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
| 33 | Feyenoord Rotterdam | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0 |
| 34 | Sabah FK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 |
| 36 | Bodo/Glimt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
Season Format
Recent Champions
Most recent first. Seasons still in progress are marked.
History
The European Cup was founded in 1955 as a straight knockout between national champions. Real Madrid won the first five and have won fifteen in all, more than twice as many as anyone else.
The competition was renamed and restructured in 1992 to admit more than one club per country and to add a group stage, a change driven by the same commercial logic that produced the Premier League. It expanded repeatedly thereafter.
In April 2021 twelve clubs announced a breakaway European Super League; supporter protests killed it within 48 hours. The Champions League's own 2024 restructuring into a 36-club league phase was in part a response to that pressure. PSG became only the second club to retain the title in the Champions League era when they beat Arsenal on penalties in Budapest in May 2026.
Governance
UEFA, based in Nyon, organises the competition for its 55 member associations. Financial sustainability rules limit squad spending as a proportion of revenue.