The primary phase of this year's UEFA Champions League gets underway the second week of September, with 36 clubs across Europe playing the first of their eight matches that will decide who advances to the knockout stage.
Paris Saint-Germain has won the tournament two years in a row, beating Arsenal on penalty kicks in last season's final after defeating Inter in 2025. Only one team has won three in a row in the past 50 years, when Real Madrid did it from 2016 to 2018.
Other top contenders for this year's crown include Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Manchester City, with Arsenal still seeking its first-ever title and Real Madrid hoping to get back on top after a rough 2025-26 season across the board. The 2027 final will be held at Estadio Metropolitano
in Madrid, Atletico Madrid's home ground.
The 36 teams compete in one "league" with the top eight (three points for a win, one for draw) advancing directly to the round of 16. The clubs who finish 9th-24th compete in the playoff round to earn their spots in the last 16.
Here's how every team in this year's league phase ranks:
UEFA Champions League power rankings
1. Paris Saint-Germain ๐ซ๐ท
- Three in a row? It's only been done four times: Real Madrid in 1956-1960 and 2016-2018; Ajax from 1971-1973; and Bayern Munich from 1974-1976.
2. Bayern Munich ๐ฉ๐ช
- Harry Kane has still yet to achieve European glory. Can the England star make the most of his incredible form?
3. Arsenal ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
- Went unbeaten in 13 Champions League matches before losing the final on penalties last season.
4. Barcelona ๐ช๐ธ
- Last won the Champions League in 2015.
5. Real Madrid ๐ช๐ธ
- Second Jose Mourinho era begins.
6. Manchester City ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
- Struggled in Europe last year, Pep Guardiola's final season in charge.
7. Liverpool ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
- Andoni Iraola takes over just a year removed from Premier League title.
8. Atletico Madrid ๐ช๐ธ
- The Julian Alvarez transfer saga is going to define this team.
9. Borussia Dortmund ๐ฉ๐ช
- Keep an eye on Jobe Bellingham as he pushes for an England call-up.
10. Inter ๐ฎ๐น
- Defending Italian champions add Manchester City veteran John Stones on a free transfer.
11. Villarreal ๐ช๐ธ
- USMNT World Cup sensation Alex Freeman joined the Spanish club in January.
12. Manchester United ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
- Back competing in the Champions League, Manchester United may be stretched thin this fall.
13. Roma ๐ฎ๐น
- Making its first Champions League appearance in eight years.
14. RB Leipzig ๐ฉ๐ช
- Didn't play in the Champions League last season after qualifying the previous six years.
15. Napoli ๐ฎ๐น
- Massimiliano Allegri begins his tenure as Napoli boss.
16. Real Betis ๐ช๐ธ
- A bust for Manchester United, Antony has 23 goals in 74 matches with Real Betis.
17. Como ๐ฎ๐น
Making the club's Champions League debut thanks to manager Cesc Fabregas.
18. Stuttgart ๐ฉ๐ช
- Second Champions League appearance since earning promotion back to Bundesliga in 2020.
19. Sporting CP ๐ต๐น
- Lost out on the Portuguese title to FC Porto after back-to-back championships.
20. FC Porto ๐ต๐น
- Captained by Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
21. PSV ๐ณ๐ฑ
- Major USMNT representation with Sergino Dest and Ricardo Pepi both regulars for the Dutch giants.
22. Lille ๐ซ๐ท
- France legend Olivier Giroud still scoring goals at age 39.
23. Lens ๐ซ๐ท
- Thorgan Hazard returns to his boyhood club after following his brother to Chelsea in 2012.
24. Fenerbahce ๐น๐ท
- In the Champions League proper for the first time in 18 years, this squad features a number of big names, highlighted by new signing Romelo Lukaku.
25. Aston Villa ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
- Basically an entirely new team after selling most of the main characters from last year's Europa League-winning squad.
26. Galatasaray ๐น๐ท
- Victor Oshimen has 63 games in 76 games for the Istanbul club.
27. Feyenoord ๐ณ๐ฑ
- Giovanni van Bronckhorst is club's new manager after Robin van Persie was fired.
28. Bodo/Glimt ๐ณ๐ด
- Last year's darlings notched notched shock wins over Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and two against Inter en route to the round of 16.
29. Club Brugge ๐ง๐ช
- Last year's Belgian champions sold talisman Christos Tzolis to Arsenal this summer.
30. Slavia Prague ๐จ๐ฟ
- Finished 34th in last year's league phase.
31. Shakhtar Donetsk ๐บ๐ฆ
- Ukrainian champions will play their Champions League home games at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's stadium in London.
32. AEK Athens ๐ฌ๐ท
- Reached the quarterfinals of last season's UEFA Conference League.
33. Viking ๐ณ๐ด
- Two Norwegian clubs in the Champions League proper for the first time in 27 years.
34. Slovan Bratislava ๐ธ๐ฐ
- Coached by ex-Man City star Yaya Tourรฉ, Slovan Bratislava is eight-time defending champion in Slovakia.
35. LASK ๐ฆ๐น
- Coming off the club's first Austrian league title since 1965.
36. Sabah FK ๐ฆ๐ฟ
- Founded in 2017, the Azerbaijani club is the youngest to ever quality for Champions League proper.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Champions League power rankings: Every team from 1-36 in this year's tournament
