Champions League 2025-26 Power Rankings: Manchester City and Liverpool on the rise again but Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter are all moving in the wrong direction

After three months and six matchdays featuring a whopping 108 games, this season's Champions League is finally getting interesting, as we now have a much better idea of which sides are on course to qualify directly for the last 16, who is likely to end up in the play-off round, and whether any top team is running the risk of falling at the first hurdle.

Arsenal remain on track to finish first after maintaining their 100 per cent record with a comfortable win in Bruges, while Bayern Munich got back to winning ways against Sporting CP, after suffering their first defeat of the season at the Emirates last time out, while Manchester City also bounced back from their shock loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen by piling more misery on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso at the Bernabeu.

Elsewhere, Barcelona came from behind to beat Eintracht Frankfurt, but defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held by Athletic Club at San Mames and Chelsea were stunned by Atalanta in Bergamo, casting serious doubt on the Blues' title prospects. 

Of course, there are still an awful lot of games yet to play but, as it stands, which sides are looking like potential champions? And who is running the risk of suffering an embarrassingly early exit? GOAL ranks and rates all 36 participants in the 2025-26 Champions League below…

AFP36Kairat Almaty ⬇️

Despite the best efforts of Player-of-the-Match-winning goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov, Kairat were beaten 1-0 by Olympiacos on Tuesday, thus effectively ending what little chance the Kazakhstani side had left of making the play-offs.

They're not mathematically out of the running just yet, but they're six points off 24th place and their goal difference is -11. All that Kairat’s players can do now is to try to pick up their first win when they host Club Brugge on matchday seven – and then do their best to enjoy the exercise in damage limitation that will be their trip to the Emirates on January 28.

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport35Villarreal ⬇️

It's just so hard to make sense of Villarreal. Marcelino's men are currently third in La Liga, having lost just two of their 15 games so far this season – and yet they've managed to pick up just one point in six Champions League outings. Villarreal twice came from behind in Wednesday's 3-2 defeat at home to Copenhagen, but their desperate need for a victory meant they took more risks than they normally would have in the closing stages and ended up conceding a 90th-minute winner to Andreas Cornelius.

The Yellow Submarine could yet make it to seven points, but that won't be anywhere near enough for a play-off place, and it looks beyond them anyway, especially as they must travel to Leverkusen on matchday eight.

Getty Images Sport34Slavia Prague ⬇️

Jindrich Trpisovsky couldn't fault his players for effort in Tuesday's 3-0 loss at Tottenham, and felt that the final scoreline was not a fair reflection of the game.

"We had some good chances and then we conceded two goals from penalties and an own goal," he pointed out. "But the speed of the game was incredible, so it's a good experience for our team – as it's different when you see it on TV!"

Trpisovsky's troops are set for another eye-opener when they face Barcelona on matchday seven, but they could at least pick up their first win in the Champions League proper since 2007 when they play Pafos away in their final fixture, on January 28.

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AFP33Ajax ⬆️

With just over 10 minutes to play in Baku, Ajax, the four-time champions of Europe, were 2-1 down to Qarabag and facing the most humiliating Champions League exit possible. However, two goals from Oscar Gloukh, either side of a sweet strike from Anton Gaaei, saw the Dutch outfit end a bitterly embarrassing run of five consecutive defeats in the league phase.

Of course, Ajax's first win has likely come far too late to salvage their play-off hopes but, with games to come against fellow strugglers Villarreal and Olympiacos, the Eredivisie strugglers could at least finish what has been a trying campaign on a high.