UEFA Champions League

2024/25

Women's Champions League X-factors: Each club's key player

The Women's Champions League is back! Here is a look at the players who will have the biggest say on who becomes European champions this season.

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Manchester United’s engine room runs out of steam as fans voice frustration | Jacob Steinberg

Carrick’s side were short on inspiration, despite the summer spend in midfield, and the lack of quality in the final third was starkOne of the more damning aspects of Manchester United’s tortured rebuild is their inability to multitask. So much money has been frittered away, pushing United into the ridiculous position of going one position at a time each summer. Last year was all about the attack and the recent window was about central midfield, even though the options at full-back do not look strong enough to cope with a season back in the Champions League.United remain a listless, drifting operation. The ownership is reviled and the fanbase is becoming increasingly mutinous. It was not just Gary Neville seeing red as he commentated on United’s dismal efforts away to winless Fulham. There was an ominous shift in the mood in the away end at Craven Cottage, summed up by the boos that greeted Michael Carrick substituting Kobbie Mainoo with 10 minutes to go. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/20/manchester-uniteds-engine-room-runs-out-of-puff-as-fans-begin-to-voice-frustration">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Zidane’s next move as France coach may reveal the wizard behind the curtain | Jonathan Wilson

It is apt that the most perplexing football country will now be guided by the most enigmatic of leadersEven in his playing days, Zinedine Zidane seemed unknowable. As a manager, the sense of distance has only grown. He won three Champions Leagues with Real Madrid without ever giving a sense of what his idea of football looked like.France are perhaps the most perplexing football country: a squad that teems with such talent that a B team would be serious contenders at a World Cup, that reached three major finals under Didier Deschamps with a sense of unfulfilment, a team that progressed but rarely entranced, or at least didn’t until this summer’s World Cup, when they attacked with gusto and ended up <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/14/france-spain-world-cup-semi-final-match-report">overrun in midfield by Spain</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/19/zinedine-zidane-france-coach-wizard-behind-curtain">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Women's Champions League Power Rankings: Are Barcelona favorites again?

This season's UEFA Women's Champions League is going to be better than ever. So which teams stand a chance of lifting the trophy?

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Europa League roundup: Ferencvaros pile more misery on troubled Celtic

<ul><li>Hoops beaten again after chastening loss to Rangers</li><li>Juventus hammer NEC, Besiktas pile woe on Marseille</li></ul>Celtic suffered another European embarassment as the Scottish champions were beaten 3-1 at home by Ferencvaros in the Europa League. Just weeks on from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/25/champions-league-celtic">crashing out of the Champions League qualifiers</a> to Austrian side Lask, despite at one point holding a four-goal lead, Celtic’s defensive flaws were exposed once more.Martin O’Neill’s team also suffered a chastening <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/13/rangers-celtic-scottish-league-cup-match-report">3-0 defeat to rivals Rangers</a> last weekend and failed to deliver on their manager’s promise to respond. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/17/europa-league-celtic-ferencvaros-besiktas-marseille-juventus-nec">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Laura Kaminski relishing trophy hunt at Brann after Crystal Palace ‘crash course’ | Moving the Goalposts

Former Palace head coach has won a cup final in Norway and says chance to challenge for league title was a pull“When it’s a good day, it’s absolutely stunning, so we’ll take that,” Laura Kaminski says with a laugh about the rainy west coast of Norway. The English former promotion-winning Crystal Palace coach is referring to Bergen, the place she now calls home, whose football club, Brann, she has taken to her heart since her appointment in January.She could easily be speaking about the job itself. After Brann failed to qualify for the Women’s Champions League owing to a 4-0 second-leg defeat by Austria Vienna, they secured a cup final success against Aalesund, handing Kaminski a first major trophy on the continent. Her team are four points clear at the top of the league with seven games remaining. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/17/laura-kaminski-brann-crystal-palace-moving-the-goalposts">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Harwood-Bellis has chance to make his mark at Villa

Left out of Aston Villa's Champions League squad and yet to feature since his arrival, Taylor Harwood-Bellis has the chance to shine in the EFL Cup.

bbc

Iranian football returns in the shadow of war and with row over last league title

Prolonged league suspension due to war and falling behind Saudi spending power are weakening the sport in IranJust three months ago, Iran was one of the biggest stories in football as Team Melli arrived at the World Cup to try to play in the US, a country that had been bombing and firing missiles at Tehran and other targets. A disallowed goal and a last-minute effort that hit the bar in the final group game against Egypt confirmed Iran’s group-stage exit – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/30/top-us-government-official-so-happy-with-irans-world-cup-elimination">to the delight of some US officials</a> – by the narrowest of margins. It also signalled the abrupt end of international attention.This week there was a return, however, to international action as Esteghlal and Tractor SC started out in the AFC Champions League Elite. It comes after the Persian Gulf League kicked off in mid-August, almost six months after it was postponed at the end of February, and subsequently abandoned as the war continued. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/16/iran-football-esteghlal-tractor-sc-afc-champions-league-elite-asia">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Ronaldo suffers biggest loss with Al Nassr in Asian CL rout

Cristiano Ronaldo suffered his heaviest loss since joining Al Nassr as the Saudi Arabian champion kicked off its Asian Champions League Elite campaign with a 4-0 defeat to Al Ain

espn

Munich to host '28 UCL final; Barcelona in '29

The Munich Football Arena and Barcelona's Spotify Camp Nou will host the 2028 and 2029 UEFA Champions League finals, European football's governing body confirmed Tuesday.

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Cardiff to host 2029 women's Champions League final

Uefa have confirmed a number of host appointments for upcoming finals, with Cardiff's Principality Stadium set to host the 2029 women's Champions League final.

bbc

Arsenal's Gabriel 'eager' to take another UCL final pen

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães has said that he is "eager" for another chance to take a penalty in a Champions League final.

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Arsenal's Gabriel 'eager' to take another UCL final pen

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães has said that he is "eager" for another chance to take a penalty in a Champions League final.

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Stefan Borson: This is how much Man United must spend to win the Champions League

football_insider

Kartal still Fenerbahce boss despite resigning

Ismail Kartal remains as head coach of Fenerbahce, despite resigning following Thursday's Champions League game with Roma.

bbc

Man City's midfield options prove Rodri is replaceable after all

By Enzo Maresca's own admission, Manchester City "complicated" their 2-0 win over Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday. The patchiness of their performance led Alan Shearer to call Maresca's side "weak" on Prime Video's co-commentary.

sky_sports

Champions League opening data shows English dominance and too few shocks

The numbers from the first round of the league phase point to Italian teams struggling even if Inter impressed in defeat at Real MadridThe 2026-27 Champions League is under way. There are still 126 matches to play until we know which 24 teams will feature in the knockout phase but that doesn’t mean we haven’t learned anything yet. Here are the key data talking-points from week one. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/11/champions-league-opening-data-shows-english-dominance-and-too-few-shocks">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

I disrupted pre-season travel plans to prepare players - Arteta

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal were ready for their midweek Champions League flight delay - because he deliberately disrupted their training and travel plans in pre-season to prepare them.

bbc

Champions League review: Irish heroics, rejected resignations and Mourinho’s return

The league phase has begun. From Olise’s brilliance to Sabah’s pub cleaner turned quiz contestant turned manager, there was plenty to talk aboutThe league phase has been previewed as Barcelona’s first step toward reclaiming a crown last lifted in 2015, with disappointments aplenty since. Lionel Messi claiming just one Champions League title in the last decade of his time at Camp Nou is the starkest statistic. The player anointed as Messi’s successor, Lamine Yamal, is already a European and world champion for Spain, so this is the next frontier. A soggy Wednesday evening at Camp Nou saw Hansi Flick’s team show their attacking chops remain of the highest quality in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/09/champions-league-roundup-barcelona-paris-saint-germain">a 5-1 defeat</a> of Feyenoord. The club presidential regime of Joan Laporta continues to pull levers to confound financial experts, with Gabriel Jesus, one of the summer’s arrivals, scoring his first Barca goal. Yamal got on the scoresheet via a scruffy free-kick after Raphinha had reminded there are further dimensions to that all-star attack, his first goal of his pair two sending Feyenoord defenders skidding. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/11/champions-league-review-troy-parrott-jose-mourinho-michael-olise">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Three things we learnt from United's 4-0 over Sabah | The Verdict

Danyal Khan gives us his verdict on Manchester United's 4-0 victory over Sabah in the Champions League.

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