Champions League 2025-26 power rankings: Mark Langdon ranks all 36 teams from best to worst

The Champions League begins on Tuesday with 36 teams competing in Europe’s biggest football tournament. Paris St-Germain are the holders, but Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich will all fancy their chances of lifting the trophy. 

In this guide, we rank all 36 Champions League teams from strongest to weakest, highlighting the favourites, potential dark horses and those likely to struggle.

1 Barcelona 6-1
My idea of the Champions League winner. Injuries hit hard in a dramatic semi-final loss to Inter last season, but with Pau Cubarsi (18-years-old), Pedri (22), Alejandro Balde (21), Gavi (21), Fermin Lopez (22) and, jewel in the crown, Lamine Yamal (18) there is so much scope for further improvement and that's without even mentioning Raphinha, Dani Olmo, Jules Kounde and Frenkie de Jong who are at the absolute peak of their powers.

2 Paris St-Germain 13-2
Last season's winners are another side who have players at the right age to continue to make their mark at the highest level. Luis Enrique is helped by being able to heavily rotate domestically and a difficult league-phase draw is unlikely to stop them qualifying. However, PSG have taken a slight risk in pushing out influential keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

3 Liverpool 6-1
The best team in England and therefore obviously one of the best in Europe. Liverpool were only denied on penalties by PSG last season and have been on a huge spending spree this summer in an attempt to liven up their attack, with Alexander Isak the biggest arrival. However, any injury to Ryan Gravenberch or Virgil van Dijk could be devastating.

4 Real Madrid 8-1
New coach Xabi Alonso has been laying down the law early, dropping Trent Alexander-Arnold and Vinicius Junior, and punters should expect a more balanced side as a consequence. Young players are being given a chance to shine and the team looks set to be built around Kylian Mbappe, who should be top of the Golden Boot list at 15-2.

5 Arsenal 7-1
Arsenal's women are the champions of Europe, but Mikel Arteta's side are the nearly men and will be hoping this season is when a big prize is landed. An early-season 1-0 loss at Liverpool did not suggest a major mentality shift forward and is Viktor Gyokeres going to score enough at the very highest level? The jury remains out.

6 Bayern Munich 12-1
Unlucky last season when key injuries hit hard at the wrong time and they have attempted to bolster the squad as a consequence. The superb Jamal Musiala remains a long-term absentee and there is probably more star quality above them in the market but they are fairly priced.

7 Man City 9-1
Pep Guardiola's reset is still in its early days and with this new team there will be inconsistency in results and performance. They are still capable of beating anyone on their day and a spine of Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Rodri and Erling Haaland is good enough to compete, but there are just too many sloppy moments to bet City with confidence.

8 Chelsea 12-1
Chelsea showed with their Club World Cup success and dismantling of PSG in the final that they are a proper threat at this level, particularly if Joao Pedro maintains his early-season form. Centre-back and goalkeeper are the two weaknesses, but they are not without a chance.

9 Newcastle 33-1
Newcastle are better than the odds suggest and they could cause a few upsets along the way if Eddie Howe is able to manage squad rotation. Isak has departed but collectively the replacement signings of Nick Woltemade, Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa have the potential to contribute as much together as the Swede did alone.

10 Atletico Madrid 33-1
Diego Simeone spends a fortune every summer and doesn't seem to be getting more out of an Atletico side who are less progressive than a number of teams around them in the betting. Two points from a possible nine in La Liga was not a good start after significant investment.

11 Napoli 25-1
Napoli boss Antonio Conte's Champions League record is shocking. It's nearly 13 years since his last knockout win (against Celtic in March 2013) despite managing Juve, Chelsea, Inter and Tottenham and he has never been past the quarter-finals.

12 Inter 33-1
Finalists in May but that feels a long time ago now. Simone Inzaghi left after the 5-0 humiliation against PSG, they were terrible at the Club World Cup, and new boss Cristian Chivu has already seen his team turned over by Udinese at San Siro. Even putting them 12th on this list might be generous.

13 Athletic Bilbao 80-1
Looked on course for a home Europa League success until they bombed out against Manchester United, where a first-half red card caused significant damage. Better than the odds suggest and Nico Williams is a star, but somewhere around the last 16 looks the limit.

14 Tottenham 33-1
Computer models rate Tottenham's draw among the easiest in the league phase, which should allow Thomas Frank's new-look side to reach the knockout stage. However, the Europa League winners seem unlikely to get near to their final appearance of 2019.

15 Juventus 50-1
Lois Openda and Jonathan David are smart summer recruits and Bremer's return from injury is a significant boost. The Old Lady might be a bit better than the odds suggest.

16 Dortmund 66-1
Visiting Dortmund is always a test of courage for opposition teams but their lack of quality was evident in the Club World Cup. The signing of Fabio Silva looks bizarre and they seem to have lost their touch in the transfer market.

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17 Villarreal 100-1
The less said about the Thomas Partey signing the better, but another former Gunner Nicolas Pepe has made an eye-catching start to the new campaign. They picked up 70 points in La Liga last season and should make at least the playoff round.

18 Bayer Leverkusen 66-1
Erik ten Hag lasted 62 days at the helm and replacement Kasper Hjulmand looks a more suitable coach for what is a tricky job following the loss of Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Piero Hincapie and Granit Xhaka among others.

19 Monaco 100-1
There's a fair bit of hype around young trio Maghnes Akliouche, Mika Biereth and Lamine Camara, while coach Adi Hutter is talented too. Akliouche is a delight to watch but the draw looks tricky.

20 Atalanta 66-1
Atalanta have punched above their weight for years but the departure of coach Gian Piero Gasperini to Roma could be a knockout blow. Ivan Juric has a huge job on his hands and a slow start to Serie A suggests he might not be up to it.

21 Eintracht Frankfurt 100-1
Superb talent-spotters and they will be hoping Jonathan Burkardt and Ritsu Doan can come off as so many others have in recent years. Europa League quarter-finalists last season suggests qualification is possible, although Hugo Ekitike's departure to Liverpool is an obvious blow.

22 Galatasaray 200-1
Dominant domestically, Gala will be good to watch in the Champions League with Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gundogan charged with supplying Victor Osimhen. They can qualify.

23 Benfica 150-1
Second-best in Portugal last season but selling left-back Alvaro Carreras for €50m - they paid €6m for him from Manchester United - has enabled a decent burst of new signings, including Richard Rios, Dodi Lukebakio and Georgiy Sudakov.

24 Olympiakos 300-1
A draw that sees the Greeks take on Pafos and Kairat gives Olympiakos a real shot at qualification which would please owner Mr Marinakis.

Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille are big outsidersCredit: Getty Images

25 Marseille 125-1
Everything about Marseille is chaotic and a fight between Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe ended with both players being kicked out of Roberto De Zerbi's squad. Touch-and-go for qualification.

26 Sporting 150-1
Portuguese champions Sporting might take a step backwards after losing Viktor Gyokeres.

27 Club Brugge 250-1
Destroyed Rangers in the qualifying round and they are a well-run club with a focus on youth. Played well in last season's competition.

28 Union-SG 500-1
Belgian champions so logic would dictate that Tony Bloom's side would be above Club Brugge in this ranking. However, the Champions League can take time to adjust for newcomers.

29 Ajax 200-1
Devon Loch-style collapse lost Ajax the Eredivisie title but rumours suggest John Heitinga is not a universally popular appointment within the dressing room and Dutch football just isn't very good.

30 PSV 150-1
Took advantage of Ajax's slip to become Dutch champions, but their draw is brutal. Barcelona, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Leverkusen, Napoli and Newcastle are among their league-phase rivals. Good luck with that.

31 Copenhagen 500-1
Facing Kairat and Qarabag in the league phase gives Copenhagen a qualification sniff and it was not that long ago new arrival Youssoufa Moukoko was seen as one of the biggest talents around before losing his way at Dortmund. However, it would be a massive effort to be in the top 24.

32 Bodo/Glimt 500-1
Home is where the heart is for Bodo, who surprisingly reached the Europa League semi-finals last season. Juve and Manchester City are not going to enjoy the weather on their trips to the Arctic Circle either side of Christmas.

33 Slavia Prague 1000-1
Direct qualification was a touch for Slavia, who romped to the Czech title. Local followers have suggested Sparta losing their manager was a major reason why it was such a one-sided championship race and it's much closer early on this term.

34 Qarabag 1000-1
Don't expect too many away points but home dates with Copenhagen, Ajax and maybe even Eintracht Frankfurt mean they can avoid wooden-spoon shame.

35 Pafos 500-1
Ex-Pompey owner Roman Dubov is involved at Pafos and they have David Luiz in their squad. But Red Star were odds-on to beat them in the qualifiers and 12-1 to finish bottom is generous.

36 Kairat Almaty 1000-1
Kairat, conquerors of Celtic in the last round of qualifying, are clearly the worst team in the competition but 6-4 to finish last is too short a price given they host Pafos.

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Read more from Mark:

From the boardroom to the dugout: Mark Langdon on a wild week in football 

Mark Langdon: End the transfer circus – it's time to get on with the actual football 

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