UEFA Champions League standings: Struggling Real Madrid, Milan, Bayern Munich and PSG face a massive week

We are four games into the UEFA Champions League as we approach the fifth round of league phase play with Liverpool the only team with four wins from four for a 100% points total of 12. With 10 points expected to be enough to secure a top 24 berth and a UCL knockout spot, Arne Slot’s men could already be there along with Sporting CP, AS Monaco, Stade Brestois 29 and Inter. At the wrong end of the new-look standings, these fifth games could be massive for the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and even Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich with the Germans meeting the French giants in the pick of Tuesday’s games. Three points can go a long way right now which is why it is so vital that PSG win as they are already in an elimination spot while the Rossoneri, Los Blancos and the Bavarians could get sucked back in. Real away at Liverpool also has the potential to be massive in terms of its impact on how things look come Wednesday.

We take a closer look.

Surprise performers

French pair Monaco and Brest being two of the top four sides was absolutely not what was expected early on in this league phase while Sporting CP shot up to second but have since lost Ruben Amorim to Manchester United. Inter in the top five is far less surprising than the Ligue 1 duo who will hope to remain in contention while Aston Villa can also maintain their unexpected top-eight placing if they can beat Juventus. Lille OSC are also on the rise having beaten both Real Madrid and Atletico as well as drawing with Juventus while Atalanta are also unbeaten despite not yet being in the top eight. 

Surprise strugglers

PSG’s losses away at Arsenal and at home to Atletico as well as a draw with PSV Eindhoven in Paris have put them in an elimination spot ahead of their trip to face Bayern with just four points from a possible 12. Both Red Bull sides — Leipzig and Salzburg — are also struggling with just three points between them while Bayern, Real and Milan are all finding the new league phase much harder than expected. The early evidence is that UEFA’s format shakeup is actually making things interesting but PSG need to make sure that they are not cut adrift at the bottom in this week’s fixture with some tough games coming up including Manchester City at home.

Coefficient storylines so far

One of the most absorbing storylines so far in this edition of the Champions League has been how the league phase is impacting the UEFA coefficient system. England and Portugal are the two leading the way at present with seven Premier League sides holding off their five Portuguese pursuers at present. Behind those two, Italy, Germany and France have swapped places regularly with Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 sides all faring reasonably well across all UEFA competitions with Spain the surprise strugglers with La Liga lagging behind and in danger of being overtaken by Czechia and to a lesser extent Belgium. Sporting vs. Arsenal could directly impact the coefficient race this week and is therefore arguably compulsory viewing along with the likes of Bayern vs. PSG and Liverpool vs. Real.

Key 5th round games

All 3 p.m. ET

• Tuesday 26 November: Bayern vs. PSG, Sporting vs. Arsenal and Barcelona vs. Brest.
• Wednesday 27 November: Monaco vs. Benfica, Villa vs. Juventus and Liverpool vs. Real.

Bayern vs. PSG is big at any stage of the season but especially now with the French giants struggling and the Germans not faring that much better coming into Tuesday. Sporting vs. Arsenal is a big coefficient showdown while Brest’s incredible European journey continues away at Barca on the same day. On Wednesday, Liverpool vs. Real is the undoubted highlight at Anfield — as it would be at any other time given that these two giants of European soccer are as big as it gets. Villa vs. Juventus and Monaco vs. Benfic are also underrated alternatives on the same day.

Standings

Key: Positions 1-8 qualify for Round of 16 while positions 9-24 qualify for Knockout Phase Play-Offs and positions 25-36 are eliminated.

Pos	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Liverpool	4	4	0	0	10	1	+9	12
2	Sporting CP	4	3	1	0	9	2	+7	10
3	Monaco	4	3	1	0	10	4	+6	10
4	Brest	4	3	1	0	9	3	+6	10
5	Inter	4	3	1	0	6	0	+6	10
6	Barcelona	4	3	0	1	15	5	+10	9
7	Borussia Dortmund	4	3	0	1	13	6	+7	9
8	Aston Villa	4	3	0	1	6	1	+5	9
9	Atalanta	4	2	2	0	5	0	+5	8
10	Manchester City	4	2	1	1	10	4	+6	7
11	Juventus	4	2	1	1	7	5	+2	7
12	Arsenal	4	2	1	1	3	1	+2	7
13	Bayer Leverkusen	4	2	1	1	6	5	+1	7
14	Lille	4	2	1	1	5	4	+1	7
15	Celtic	4	2	1	1	9	9	0	7
16	Dinamo Zagreb	4	2	1	1	10	12	-2	7
17	Bayern Munich	4	2	0	2	11	7	+4	6
18	Real Madrid	4	2	0	2	9	7	+2	6
19	Benfica	4	2	0	2	7	5	+2	6
20	AC Milan	4	2	0	2	7	6	+1	6
21	Feyenoord	4	2	0	2	7	10	-3	6
22	Club Brugge	4	2	0	2	3	6	-3	6
23	Atletico Madrid	4	2	0	2	5	9	-4	6
24	PSV	4	1	2	1	7	5	+2	5
25	PSG	4	1	1	2	3	5	-2	4
26	Sparta Praha	4	1	1	2	5	8	-3	4
27	Stuttgart	4	1	1	2	3	6	-3	4
28	Shakhtar Donetsk	4	1	1	2	2	5	-3	4
29	Girona	4	1	0	3	4	8	-4	3
30	RB Salzburg	4	1	0	3	3	10	-7	3
31	Bologna	4	0	1	3	0	5	-5	1
32	RB Leipzig	4	0	0	4	4	9	-5	0
33	SK Sturm Graz	4	0	0	4	1	6	-5	0
34	Young Boys	4	0	0	4	1	11	-10	0
35	Red Star Belgrade	4	0	0	4	4	16	-12	0
36	Slovan Bratislava	4	0	0	4	2	15	-13	0