Champions League

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The Champions League was expanded to 36 teams from the 2024-25 season, with each side playing eight different teams - four at home and four away - in a league phase.

Teams who finish in the top eight will qualify automatically for the last 16.

But those who place ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off in February 2026 for the chance to join the top eight in the Round of 16.

Whoever finishes 25th or lower will be eliminated from the competition, and will not drop down to the Europa League.

Clubs that finish in the top eight of the league phase will be seeded and will be drawn against winners of the knockout play-offs in the last 16, which will continue to follow its previous format, with a series of two-legged knockout games culminating in the final in Budapest on 30 May.

Champions League

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There are a record six English clubs in the Champions League this season - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Tottenham.

Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle find themselves in the top eight after three matchdays and are currently on course for last 16.

Meanwhile, Liverpool (10th) and Chelsea (11th) sit just outside the automatic qualification spots (1-8).

Tottenham, with five points in 15th, are not too far behind and remain within the play-off spots for the knockouts (9-24).

Avoiding an extra round of Champions League football in February will be the main aim for all six English sides.

Last season, Aston Villa needed 16 points to finish eighth and become the last team to book a direct berth in the last 16 while Club Brugge, who finished 24th as the last unseeded side to play-offs, had 11 points.

Champions League

Three games in, defending champions Paris St-Germain are top of the Champions League table following a faultless start to their title defence with three wins.

They are tied on nine points with four other clubs - Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Arsenal and Real Madrid.

Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City are also unbeaten in Europe this season but sit sixth and seventh respectively - two points adrift of the top five.

Meanwhile, it is Newcastle United who occupy eighth place on goal difference with six points.

Liverpool and Chelsea also have six points but are 10th and 11th currently while Tottenham are 15th with five points.

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According Opta's Supercomputer, Arsenal are favourites to win the Champions League after three matches played (21.13%).

Holders Paris St-Germain (14.03%) are second and Manchester City are third at 12.12%.

Bayern Munich (9.33%) and Real Madrid (5.48%) are next.

Liverpool (12.31%) are seventh and Chelsea are ninth (5.43%).

Newcastle (5.43%) and Tottenham (1.05%) are in 11th and 12th.

Could PSG, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid stop an English side winning the competition?

All three look in fine form.

Ben Ramsdale
BBC Sport

Now now Matt, it's not even 9am!

Match reports from all of Wednesday evening's fixtures, including English team number SIX are now in for your viewing pleasure and don't forget we have highlights of all of those games plus Tuesday's matches available for you to view here.

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Atalanta wasted several excellent goalscoring chances as they were held to a Champions League stalemate by a resilient Slavia Prague side in Bergamo.

Prior to Wednesday evening, only two matches in this year's league phase had ended 0-0, both involving Pafos.

The hosts only had themselves to blame for their failure to take all three points against opponents who had lost nine of their previous 10 matches against Italian sides.

Ivan Juric's team created enough opportunities to win several matches but were left to rue some errant finishing against the Czech champions.

Montenegrin forward Nikola Krstovic was unable to convert two glorious opportunities in a two-minute spell just before the half hour mark, while Ademola Lookman dragged one effort wide and had another deflected behind when well placed.

Slavia, who have not won a game in the competition since September 2007 - a run of 14 matches - briefly threatened to pull off a famous victory with Michal Sadilek and Tomas Chory both having chances on the break.

However, in the closing stages Atalanta piled forward and substitute Gianluca Scamacca, making his first appearance after injury since August, headed over from close range and then had a thumping drive well saved by Jakub Markovic.

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Athletic Club came from behind to beat Qarabag 3-1 and claim a first Champions League win of the season after opposition midfielder Leandro Andrade made European football history.

Andrade gave Qarabag the lead after just 48 seconds when he pounced on a defensive mix up between Aymeric Laporte and Aitor Paredes and slotted past Unai Simon.

In doing so, the Cape Verdean became the first player in a major European football competition history to score in the first minute of three different games.

Athletic Club cranked up the pressure and eventually converted a chance in the 40th minute when Gorka Guruzeta produced a neat one-on-one finish.

The Bilbao club remained on top after the break and went ahead when substitute Robert Navarro curled a delicious strike into the top corner five minutes after replacing Nico Williams.

Moments after Yuri Berchiche cleared Oleksii Kashchuk's would-be equaliser off the goal-line, Guruzeta scored his third goal in as many Champions League games with a fierce volley into the bottom corner.

It was only a second win in 10 games in all competitions for Ernesto Valverde's side, who began their European campaign with 2-0 and 4-1 defeats by Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

Ben Ramsdale
BBC Sport

Five goals without Salah last night and the best Liverpool performance for some time.

Makes you think.

We'll have more on that later but first, the last of the match reports before diving into some general Champions League debrief.

Everyone's favourite Opta supercomputer inbound...

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Sporting scored late on to come from behind and beat ten-man Marseille in the Champions League.

Alisson Santos cut inside then curled in with his right foot in the 86th minute to reward the Portuguese side's consistent second-half pressure.

Geny Catamo's 69th-minute curling effort into the bottom corner had cancelled out Igor Paixao's brilliant first-half goal from the edge of the penalty box.

The equaliser came after Marseille's Emerson was shown a second yellow card in first-half stoppage time for diving in an attempt to win a penalty, forcing Roberto de Zerbi's side to play the entire second half with 10 men.

The Ligue 1 side were on course for a second victory in Europe this season after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang set up Paixao to net his third goal of the competition this year.

But Sporting's resilience eventually paid off and victory moves them up to 12th in the table with two wins and a loss, while Marseille are 18th with two defeats and one win.

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Victor Osimhen scored twice and contributed to another as Galatasaray recorded their second successive Champions League win in comfortable fashion against Bodo/Glimt.

The Nigeria forward produced a superb display, scoring two first-half goals and setting up Yunus Akgun after the break to seal back-to-back wins in the competition for the first time since December 2012.

Osimhen's double also meant he became the first Galatasaray player to score in seven consecutive games in major European competitions, breaking the mark set by Burak Yilmaz between October 2012 and March 2013.

Substitute Andreas Helmersen hit a late consolation for the Norwegian champions, who have yet to claim a victory in the league phase.

Having narrowly defeated Liverpool in their previous outing, the result lifted Okan Buruk's Galatasaray side up to 14th in the table from 21st.

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Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso said Jude Bellingham is "one of the most complete players in the world" after the midfielder scored his first goal of the season in a narrow Champions League win over Juventus.

Bellingham has endured a difficult campaign so far, starting just three matches and appearing as a substitute in four more after recovering from a shoulder injury.

The England midfielder had featured for only 10 minutes in Europe this season before Wednesday's match against Juve and had not scored since the Club World Cup in the summer.

But the 22-year-old was on hand to stab home a rebound after Vinicius Jr showed good feet to drive into the box before his shot struck the post.

After a bright start by Juve who forced Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois into two early saves, the hosts peppered the visitors' goal with 14 shots in the first half.

Dusan Vlahovic came close to an opener from a counter-attack before Vinicius' moment of quality set up Bellingham for what proved to be the winning goal.

Fifteen-time winners Real sit fifth in the table with three wins from three while Juventus are 25th and without a win in the competition so far.

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Harry Kane scored his 20th goal in only his 12th game of the season as Bayern Munich thrashed Club Brugge to maintain their 100% start in the Champions League.

The England captain scored one of the easiest goals of his career in the 14th minute when he was left unmarked to tap in Konrad Laimer's ball across the face of goal.

Neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo scored their first 20 goals in a season in as few as 12 matches.

Kane's strike followed a sensational one by teenage sensation Lennart Karl nine minutes earlier as, aged 17 years and 242 days, he became the youngest player to score for Bayern in the Champions League, surpassing Jamal Musiala's previous record by 121 days.

On his first start, Karl fired in a stunning left-foot shot into the top corner after shimmying past two defenders.

Luis Diaz smashed in a third off the underside of the crossbar in the 34th minute - his seventh goal since his summer move from Liverpool - before Kane hit the post from a tight angle just before the break.

Substitute Nicolas Jackson scored Bayern's fourth from close range minutes, sealing a third successive win in the competition, after Diaz had an effort cleared off the line.

While we continue to rattle through some of these match reports, it's worth putting in a shout for your thoughts on the Champions League campaign so far.

We're only three games in but who has stood out for you in the early stages?

Current champions Paris St-Germain are unbeaten and looked mightily impressive as they hit SEVEN on Tuesday while Arsenal, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich all also hold 100% records.

It's worth nothing that PSG had only four points at the same stage last season so maybe you've eyed a team further down the table that could throw a surprise or two.

For that, or anything else you want to have your say on - click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page.

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Tottenham Hotspur keeper Guglielmo Vicario produced a superb performance to defy Monaco as Thomas Frank's side survived to earn an important Champions League point.

Italian Vicario has had his critics this season, but was the main reason Spurs survived an indifferent performance in Stade Louis II to leave with a draw.

He made four fine saves in the first half, three from former Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun, then another clawed effort to deny Maghnes Akliouche.

Spurs had to put in a battling defensive display against a side that had drawn 2-2 with Manchester City, but came close themselves when Micky van de Ven headed just over before half-time.

But it was the Vicario show after the break when he again thwarted Akliouche and Balogun, then produced the pick of his saves to brilliantly block Jordan Teze's header from point-blank range.

Former Liverpool midfielder Takumi Minamino also missed three more opportunities, leaving Frank grateful to take something away from this game thanks to a Vicario-inspired rearguard action.