UEFA Champions League overview: State of play so far, best performing and struggling teams

The 2024-25 UEFA Champions League campaign is living up to its reputation of being the most entertaining and competitive football tournament.

The newly introduced League phase has been a thrilling spectacle for football fans. Some teams, like Brest, have emerged as the unexpected heroes, especially after becoming Ligue 1’s surprise contenders last season.

On the other hand, Liverpool are riding high with a four-game winning streak, dominating both the Premier League and Champions League. They currently sit at the top of the league table and show no signs of slowing down, so you’d forgive Liverpool for already starting to look at buying UEFA Champions League final tickets if their form continues.

Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have had underwhelming campaigns, currently sitting in 18th and 25th place respectively.

Meanwhile, Italian champions Inter Milan have moved into fifth place with ten league phase points after a 1-0 win over Arsenal, while Barcelona trail just one point behind them, following an emphatic 5-2 victory against Crvena Zvezda.

PSV Eindhoven secured their first maximum points of this campaign’s league phase with an emphatic victory over Girona, and highly-rated youngster Georgiy Sudakov inspired Shakhtar to their first win of the season in the competition, defeating Young Boys.

In other results, Bayern Munich picked up their second win of the campaign in a 1-0 win over Benfica while Aston Villa’s perfect start came to an end with a defeat at Club Brugge.

Football Talk brings you an overview of the best-performing and underperforming teams in the competition so far.

Best Performers 

Liverpool

Liverpool have enjoyed an exceptional start to the season, losing just once across all competitions while leading both the Premier League and their Champions League group. A key factor in their success has been their defensive solidity, having kept eight clean sheets so far.

Despite being placed in what was widely regarded as the third-toughest Champions League group, Liverpool are the only team to maintain a perfect record halfway through the group stage. This achievement mirrors their 2021-22 campaign under Klopp, the only other instance where the Reds won their first four matches in a single Champions League season, eventually extending that streak to seven.

Liverpool have dominated their Champions League group this season, claiming victories over RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan, and Bologna. Across these four games, they’ve scored 10 goals and conceded just once.

A standout performer for Liverpool has been Ryan Gravenberch, who has excelled in midfield. He leads all midfielders in the competition with 26 recoveries and 10 interceptions, highlighting his immense impact on both defensive and transitional phases.

Liverpool face a daunting task as they prepare to host Real Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday, 27 November. The Reds will be eager to secure their first victory over the Spanish giants since 2009, breaking a long-standing winless streak against the reigning Champions League holders.

Sporting Lisbon

In his final European fixture and concluding home game with Sporting Lisbon ahead of taking over as Manchester United manager, Ruben Amorim bid farewell in what could be remembered as the highlight of his tenure.

Sporting turned a one-goal deficit into an emphatic 4-1 victory against the reigning European champions, Manchester City.

Despite only holding 27.3% possession and managing nine attempts compared to City’s 20, Sporting displayed remarkable efficiency.

Viktor Gyökeres shone brightly with a hat-trick, which elevated him to the joint top scorer of the 2024-25 Champions League goalscoring chart with five goals.

Gyökeres has now contributed to six goals in his four UEFA Champions League matches this season for Sporting (five goals, one assist), matching the record for most goal involvements by a Sporting player in a single campaign, set by Nani in 2014-15 (four goals, two assists).

The win against City also matched the club’s longest unbeaten streak in the European Cup or Champions League, which spanned four matches from September 1982 to March 1983.

They have secured victory in all 11 of their Primeira Liga matches, positioning themselves firmly on track for another league title. The Lions are also one of the most entertaining sides in this season’s Champions League and are just one of the six teams to never taste a defeat so far.

Gyökeres began the campaign with an opening goal against Lille, leading to a 2-0 win. Their flawless start was interrupted at home by PSV Eindhoven, with the Dutch champions holding them to a 1-1 draw, but they bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Sturm Graz. Gyökeres again stole the spotlight when they faced Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in what marked Guardiola’s 175th managerial appearance for the club.

Brest

After securing their best-ever top-flight finish last season, where they finished in third place, last season’s Ligue 1 surprise package, Brest, have continued their impressive form in their debut Champions League season, where they currently sit in fourth place on ten points—two points adrift of first-placed Liverpool.

The Pirates defeated Sturm Graz (2-1) and Red Bull Salzburg (4-0) in their opening two fixtures. On matchday three, they secured a 1-1 draw against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, with Pierre Lees-Melou equalizing after Florian Wirtz’s earlier goal.

Brest continued their undefeated streak in the competition with a 2-1 win over Sparta Prague during matchday four, putting them in a strong position to advance to the next stage.

Eric Roy’s team currently occupies fourth place in the 36-team Champions League standings. With challenging encounters against Barcelona and Real Madrid still ahead, they’ll hope to cause more upsets this season reminiscent of Leicester City’s debut Champions League run where they reached the quarter finals in the 2016-17 season.

Struggling teams 

Real Madrid 

Defending champions, Real Madrid have struggled domestically this season, sitting six points adrift of leaders Barcelona.

It appears their domestic struggles might have played a part in the Champions League this season and despite being favourites to clinch the competition, the newly introduced league phase might have just made it more difficult considering their current form.

They began the campaign with an impressive 3-1 win over Bundesliga side Stuttgart, but a 1-0 defeat to Lille at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy saw the Los Blancos fall down to the second half of the table.

A remarkable 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund, where they came from two goals down, was an indication that Carlo Ancelotti’s side cannot be written off yet. However, just as it’s been the theme of their season so far, inconsistency seems to be their undoing, and the same was the case when lost 3-1 at home to AC Milan.

Their prestige will be tested more as they’ll face an unbeaten Liverpool, Brest and Atalanta side in three of their next four fixtures.

Paris Saint-Germain 

PSG has been impeccable in Ligue 1 this season but has faced difficulties in the Champions League.

They remain undefeated in the French league with nine victories and two draws from 11 matches. PSG also leads the league in scoring with 33 goals, at least nine more than any other side, and boasts the third-strongest defence, trailing only Monaco and Lens.

Despite their domestic dominance, they have collected just four points from four Champions League fixtures, leaving them in 25th place.

Their sole victory in the competition came against Spanish team and Champions League debutants Girona in the opening matchweek, where a 90th-minute own goal from Paulo Gazzaniga gifted Luis Enrique’s side a 1-0 win.

A subsequent draw with Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven was followed by their first defeat, a 2-0 loss to a determined Arsenal team, with first-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka sealing the win.

Battling near the bottom of the standings, their hopes of a return to winning form at the Parc des Princes were crushed as Atletico Madrid came from behind to beat the French team 2-1, with Angel Correa netting the winner in the 93rd minute.

They now prepare to face Bayern later this month, aiming to break a three-match losing streak against the Bavarians and secure their second victory over the German side in seven encounters.