UCL as it stands: The eight teams leading the pack

With the culmination of Wednesday’s games, we are officially halfway through the league phase of the 2025/26 Champions League.

The 36 teams have all played four of their eight league phase games and the table is starting to take shape. Once each team has played the full eight-game schedule the top eight teams in the table will advance directly to the Round of 16, while the teams placed 9th-24th will compete in an additional knockout round. Here’s a look at the automatic qualifiers as it stands...

As it stands, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, and Inter Milan are the only teams with a 100% record. Bayern and the Gunners are level on goal difference at the top; the German side has scored 14 goals and conceded only 3, while the London club has scored 11 and conceded none.

“I would have loved to have played in the second half,” Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany said after a hard-fought 2-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. “Defending everything away and always putting pressure on the man. Every situation is dangerous, but as a defender, you’re naturally trained for these moments.”

At the other end of the table, 12 teams will be eliminated after the conclusion of Matchweek 8. Among them at the moment are Benfica and Ajax, both former European champions who are yet to win a single point in this year’s competition.

Other big names with work still to do are Barcelona, currently sitting in 11th place with 7 points from four games. Club World Cup holders Chelsea are in 12th place, while Atlético Madrid are in 17th.

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