The league phase of the 2025-26 edition of the UEFA Champions League is now over and the 24 teams that qualified will now enter into the next stage of the tournament. While the first eight teams of the league phase table with directly play the Round of 16 starting in March, the other 16 sides will face each others in the playoffs that will take place from Feb. 17 to Feb. 25. Meanwhile, the final 12 clubs have been officially eliminated from the tournament, including European heavyweights such as Antonio Conte’s Napoli, Olympique Marseille, and Ajax.
Let’s take a look at our weekly power rankings:
1. Arsenal (–)
The team coached by Mikel Arteta ended up at the top of the league phase standings, winning all the eight matches played in the tournament so far. The Gunners have also scored 23 goals and only conceded four, showing off the best attack and the best defense of the Champions League. Considering they are also at the top of the Premier League standings with a six-point gap on Manchester City, they are currently the top contenders for both competitions.
Arsenal make Champions League history with perfect eight wins in league phase play, but does it matter?
James Benge
2. Bayern Munich (–)
If there is one team that showed as much strength as Arsenal, that’s Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich. The German giants only lost one match in their eight league phase games and considering they are also dominating the Bundesliga table there are many reasons to think they can focus more on the European tournament starting from March when the knockout phase will kick off.
3. PSG (–)
Despite the fact they will have to play in the playoffs, after a Matchday 8 draw against Newcastle I still consider them one of the biggest favorites to win the tournament this season. PSG didn’t have their best start of the year also due to injuries that deeply affected the rotations of Luis Enrique, but at the same time they are now back at the top of the Ligue 1 standings and will meet AS Monaco in the playoffs, similarly to last year when they had to face Brest in the playoff round before their historic first ever Champions League win.
4. Barcelona (–)
Hansi Flick’s team need to be mentioned here especially because they have a lot of room for improvement in the coming weeks. Spanish winger Lamine Yamal is not having his best season, as he’s still affected by groin pain issues, but his performances have drastically improved ahead of the final and crucial stint before the 2026 World Cup.
5. Manchester City (–)
This has not been the best season of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City but the Citizens are still in the race for both Premier League and Champions League as they were able, thanks to the incredible last minute Benfica win against Real Madrid, to qualify in the top eight of the league phase. It remains unclear what the manager’s future will be at the end of the season, a situation that is inevitably raising questions about Guardiola’s own future beyond Manchester City.
6. Inter (+1)
Despite winning their last away game against Borussia Dortmund, Inter will need to face the playoffs where they will meet Bodo/Glimt, to play the knockouts. However, they were also lucky as Inter could have faced their former manager Jose Mourinho and Benfica. Meanwhile, the Nerazzurri are back at the top of the Serie A standings with a solid margin on both AC Milan and Napoli.
7. Real Madrid (-1)
The Spanish giants are a bit unpredictable this season, even after the managerial change that led to the sacking of Xabi Alonso and the appointment of Alvaro Arbeloa as the new head coach. They are winning but not convincing with their performances and this is why they are not where they should be in our power rankings. And of course they had the spectacular meltdown to lose to Jose Mourinho and Benfica and fall into the playoffs. But they’ve got Kylian Mbappe, who already scored 37 goals this season. Yes, I had to check twice.
8. Chelsea (+1)
The new head coach Liam Rosenior immediately brought positive results and the right spirit in the team, despite having had to replace Enzo Maresca who had done a brilliant job at the club. Chelsea ended up in 6th place in the standings and will play the knockouts in March while they are fully in the race for the Premier League’s top four.
9. Liverpool (+2)
The best team in the tournament’s league phase table after Arsenal and Bayern Munich as they ended up in third place, but at the same time they have showed some inconsistency during the first part of the season under Arne Slot. They are not as good as in the past season and this probably will make the difference when the knockouts will start next March. I don’t see them among the best teams in Europe this season.
10. Atletico Madrid (-2)
There is too much confusion at the club this season to see them competing for the top spots. The feeling is that we’re reaching the end of the Diego Simeone era and too many players are leaving and arriving every six months. They’ve just signed Ademola Lookman from Atalanta this winter, a player with a great potential who can improve a lot under the Argentinian coach.
11. Atalanta (-1)
Since Raffaele Palladino took over the club things have drastically improved. Atalanta needed a change after a disappointing start under Ivan Juric who replaced Gian Piero Gasperini in the summer 2025. They narrowly missed out on a top-eight finish in the Champions League and they will now face the playoff tie against Borussia Dortmund.
12. Newcastle (–)
They are where we could expect them to be at this stage of the tournament. They don’t have much chance to win the competition but they can be a difficult opponent for the title contenders. The playoffs against Qarabag will tell us more about their potential ahead of the knockouts.
13. Juventus (+2)
They are a completely different team since Luciano Spalletti took over and replaced Igor Tudor. They play better, they seem happier and USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie is shining under the Italian coach. My advice for the club in the coming weeks? Give McKennie and Spalletti new deals as soon as possible.
14. Borussia Dortmund (–)
I thought they could do much better against Inter in their last home match of the league phase, and it was a bit disappointing to see them losing 2-0 in front of their home fans.
15. Sporting CP (+2)
What a season for Sporting CP. They are in the Champions League’s top eight, but sadly for them there is Porto doing something absolutely incredible with 18 wins and one draw in 19 matches so far.
16. Tottenham (+5)
It’s difficult to understand what’s going on at Tottenham. They ended up in fourth place in the League phase standings but they are struggling a lot in the Premier League, same as in the past season when they also ended up by winning the Europa League in the final against Manchester United.
17. Galatasaray (-1)
I was definitely expecting more from this team that will now face Juventus in the playoffs. It’s very unlikely for them to play the knockouts but never say never.
18. Bayer Leverkusen (–)
Some ups and downs for them this year but we could expect this from them after parting ways with Xabi Alonso at the end of the past season.
19. AS Monaco (+3)
It will be difficult, if not impossible, for them to advance to the knockouts as they will have to meet the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League title holders in the playoffs. It’s not their best season.
20. Benfica (+4)
Jose Mourinho did it again. The incredible 4-2 win against Real Madrid completely changed the look of their Champions League season as they will be able now to play in the playoffs. Sadly, they will meet Real Madrid again and I think this time things will be much more complicated and difficult.
21. Qarabag (+2)
The biggest surprise of the league phase. They were able to shock the world with some incredible results and this is why I love this new format. Next step: Newcastle.
22. Club Brugge (+4)
The good news is that Atletico Madrid are not the worst opponent they could have faced in the playoffs, but if they play like they did for most of the league phase they won’t advance.
23. Olympiacos (+4)
They needed a win against Ajax on the last matchday and they did it. Now they will face Bayer Leverkusen and they will have a chance to make it to the knockouts.
24. Bodo/Glimt (+5)
If you’ve followed them over the past few years, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see them reach this stage, though facing Inter will likely prove too much for them.
Teams eliminated
- Olympique Marseille
- Pafos
- Union SG
- PSV
- Athletic Club
- Napoli
- FC Copenaghen
- Ajax
- Eintracht Frankfurt
- Slavia Prague
- Villarreal
- Kairat
