Champions League returns in 2026: surprises and disappointments | OneFootball

For the first time in 2026, the world of football will once again host matches of the Champions League. Starting this Tuesday, the European competition returns for the seventh and penultimate round of the league phase.

To refresh the memory of football fans, Gazeta Esportiva recalled the standings situation, as well as the surprises and disappointments of the tournament so far.

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The Standings

In the current format of the Champions League, the top eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16. From ninth to 24th place, teams will compete in a kind of playoff to continue in the competition. Finally, the team finishing between 25th and 36th position will be eliminated.

The leader of the Champions so far is Arsenal, with a perfect campaign of six wins in six matches. Bayern Munich follows closely with five victories in six games. The defeat was precisely against the English team.

At the other end of the table, two teams have only one point and have remote chances of qualifying for the playoffs: Villarreal from Spain, and Kairat Almaty from Kazakhstan.

Standings provided by Sofascore

Surprises

Among the surprises of the Champions League so far, Atalanta stands out the most. The Italian club is in fifth place, with 13 points in six matches. The Bergamo team achieved a great 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the last round.

Qarabag from Azerbaijan and Copenhagen from Denmark are also having surprising campaigns. The teams have seven points in the competition and are fighting for a spot in the playoffs. The Azerbaijani team is in 22nd position, while the Danes occupy 24th place.

Disappointments

However, there are also disappointments in this edition of the Champions, with two rounds remaining in the league phase. Barcelona, the leader of the Spanish Championship, is surprisingly only in 15th position in the table.

Currently, Benfica is outside the playoff zone, in 25th place, with six points in six rounds. The traditional Spanish club, Athletic Bilbao, has only one victory so far and is in 28th place.

The Champions League trophy – Photo: Reproduction / @ChampionsLeague

See the matches of this Champions League round:

Tuesday (01/20)

Wednesday (01/21)

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.