Whether you were a fan of the new Champions League format last season or not, it provided some unexpected twists and plenty of drama as Paris Saint-Germain won the competition for the first time.
After a busy summer of transfers and the FIFA Club World Cup, it’s time for a second showing under the revamped format.
This is The Athletic’s guide to this week’s opening games and the key storylines to follow throughout the competition.
How does the format work again?
Last season, a new 36-team format, which is set to be in place until at least 2027, was introduced.
Rather than facing the same three sides twice, as happened in the old group-stage version, this league phase has each team playing eight games against different opponents.
Teams are paired against two teams from four pots based on UEFA coefficient, one home and one away. However, clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other, and nobody can face more than two opponents from the same association. This changes from the knockout round, where teams from the same country can meet.
Last season, the final gameday of the league phase, where all 18 matches took place at the same time, created drama as the league table changed multiple times and there was uncertainty around whether some big-name clubs such as PSG and Manchester City would progress to the knockout rounds.
Following the conclusion of the league phase next January, the top eight teams in the table will progress automatically to the round of 16 in March. Teams finishing ninth to 24th will contest eight home-and-away play-offs in February to decide the other qualifiers, with the eight beaten teams eliminated.
Key Storylines
Six English teams
This will be the first time any European country has had more than five clubs competing in the Champions League at one time. Five clubs — Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United — qualified through league position and Tottenham Hotspur won the 2024-25 Europa League for their berth.
While they will not be allowed to meet in the league phase, they can be drawn against each other in the knockouts
The newcomers
Look out for the four new teams in this year’s Champions League competition.
Bodo/Glimt (Norway)
Kairat (Kazakhstan)
Pafos (Cyprus)
Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium)
Brighton & Hove Albion majority owner Tony Bloom holds a minority stake in Union SG, helping them return to the Belgian first tier in 2021 after 48 years out of the division and win the championship for the first time in 90 years last season.
Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma and former player Simon Adingra, now at Sunderland, were both loaned to the Belgian club from Brighton during their development.
PSG back-to-back?
PSG were head and shoulders above the rest, winning last year’s final 5-0 against Inter.
PSG celebrate winning the Champions League for the first time (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Earning plaudits last season for a team-first philosophy, they will be tough to beat once again. But outside of Real Madrid, the 15-time winners who won three times in a row between 2015-16 and 2017-18, no side has won back-to-back titles since Milan in 1988-89 and 1989-90.
Since the impressive win over Inter, however, PSG have parted ways with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, now at Manchester City, and lost against Chelsea in the Club World Cup final.
Trouble at Inter?
Inter have reached two Champions League finals in the past three years. Last year, they knocked out Bayern Munich and Barcelona on their way to the final.
But might they now be less tricky opponents? Simone Inzaghi, the head coach since 2021 who delivered a Serie A title in the 2023-2024 season, has now departed for Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and has been replaced by the inexperienced 44-year-old Cristian Chivu, who won the tournament in 2009-10 as an Inter player.
Saturday’s 4-3 defeat by Juventus leaves them 13th in Serie A after two league defeats in three games. Ajax away on Wednesday could prove a difficult tie.
Sleeper teams
Who do you think will be this year’s giant killers? Last year’s shock results included Aston Villa beating Bayern Munich 1-0 at home in the league phase, as Unai Emery led them to the quarter-finals.
Brest went three games unbeaten to start the league phase and Ruben Amorim’s Sporting CP beat Manchester City 4-1 thanks to a Viktor Gyokeres hat-trick in gameweek two.
Galatasaray have added Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gundogan since being knocked out of the Europa League knockout play-offs last season. Visiting them in Istanbul could be a real test.
Likewise, Newcastle United beat PSG 4-1 at St James’ Park during the 2023-2024 campaign and were unlucky to be drawn against tough opponents that year in PSG, Milan and Borussia Dortmund.
Athletic Club have had an impressive start to their La Liga campaign, winning three out of four games. Saturday’s 1-0 defeat by Alaves is the only blot on their copybook. They kept their star player, Nico Williams, over the summer after a possible move to Barcelona broke down, but he is a doubt for Tuesday’s game against Arsenal because of a left adductor injury.
Standout matches this week
Tuesday: Tottenham Hotspur vs Villarreal
This is the Amazon Prime pick game of the day, as Thomas Frank makes his Champions League managerial debut. Spurs, last year’s Europa League winners, were last in the Champions League in the 2022-2023 season. They reached the final under Mauricio Pochettino in 2019.
Villarreal, who secured qualification through a fifth-place finish in La Liga last season, reached the semi-finals the last time they were in the competition in 2021-2022 under Emery. A year earlier, they beat Arsenal in the semi-final and Manchester United in the final on the way to a Europa League title.
Wednesday: Take your pick
On Wednesday, we are in for a treat as there are plenty of games featuring historically strong European sides: Ajax vs Inter, Bayern Munich vs Chelsea, and Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid.
If we’re forced to choose one fixture, it’s worth watching PSG get their title defence underway at home to Serie A side Atalanta.
Thursday: Newcastle United vs Barcelona
Newcastle and their passionate fans are rarely intimidated by Europe’s biggest clubs visiting, as shown by their 4-1 victory over PSG two seasons ago. At St James’ Park they are capable of beating anyone, even a Barcelona side led by Lamine Yamal and one which reached the Champions League semi-finals and won La Liga last season.
England international Marcus Rashford could also play for Barca, which will make for interesting watching for Manchester United fans, too, should their on loan academy product feature.
How to watch
CBS Sports and Paramount+ are the exclusive English-language rights holders in the United States. In the United Kingdom, rights are split between TNT Sports (also available on discovery+ Premium) and Amazon Prime, which has the best selection of the Tuesday night fixtures. The BBC shows highlights across its platforms.
Week 1 fixtures
Tuesday, September 16
Athletic Club vs Arsenal, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
PSV vs Union Saint-Gilloise, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
Benfica vs Qarabag, 15.00 ET/ 20.00 BST
Juventus vs Borussia Dortmund, 15.00 ET/ 20.00 BST
Real Madrid vs Marseille, 15.00 ET/ 20.00 BST
Tottenham Hotspur vs Villarreal, 15.00 ET/ 20.00 BST (UK: Amazon Prime)
Wednesday, September 17
Olympiacos vs Pafos, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
Slavia Prague vs Bodo/Glimt, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
Ajax vs Inter, 15.00 ET/ 20.00 BST
Bayern Munich vs Chelsea, 15.00 ET/ 20.00 BST
Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid, 15.00 ET/ 20.00 BST
Paris Saint-Germain vs Atalanta, 15.00 ET/ 20.00 BST
Thursday, September 18
Club Brugge vs Monaco, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
Copenhagen vs Bayer Leverkusen, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Galatasaray, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
Manchester City vs Napoli, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
Newcastle United vs Barcelona, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
Sporting CP vs Kairat, 12.45 ET/ 17.45 BST
(Top photo: Getty Images)