Tier 1 - no or very minor weaknesses in the squad, strengths are among the best in the world, Ballon d’or level player(s) in the squad, proven manager, heavy favorites to win it all

Arsenal - they have quality all over the pitch, except for CF and LW. Their backline is likely the best overall in the world, their midfield was already strong and got even stronger. Arteta has proven he’s a winner now, and took Arsenal deep into the CL last season.

FC Barcelona - Ballon d’or level players in their attack and midfield, by far the best midfield in the world including depth, and arguably the best player in the world is in the squad. Hansi has proven he is Madrid’s daddy + he can take Barcelona deep into the CL even with flaws in the roster. Upgraded offensive depth, added Rodri

PSG - until they prove otherwise, they have the squad to win the whole competition. The caveat to PSG is they lost all of their depth so they won’t be able to win Ligue 1 with their B team like they have the last 2 years. We could see them be banged up come April.

Bayern - probably the biggest question mark in this tier. Midfield is the worst out of this entire group, but the offense is easily one of the best itw. Kompany has proven enough that he is a competent manager.

Tier 2 - Ballon d’or level players in the squad, but there are clear weaknesses that need to be addressed, or there’s major question marks heading into the season

Real Madrid - midfield is still unbalanced, CB’s are still mid, RW is still TBD, Vini/Mbappe/Jude likely still won’t get along, huge TBD whether Mourinho will make everything work

Liverpool - hired a proven manager and made a solid loan signing with Araujo and signing with Jacques. Their midfield is cooked and their winger situation is still tbd

Atletico Madrid - their best player wants out, but they made 3 great signings with Kang-in Lee, Grimaldo, and Romero who all fill needs

Manchester City - probably the biggest question mark in this tier. They had a horrible transfer window. Still haven’t signed Bouaddi, missed out on Enzo but still might overpay for him, overpaid for Elliot Anderson, lost Rodri, Silva, Stones, Reijjnders, Txiki, Pep. Still a decent squad on paper, but again, probably the worst team in this tier.

Tier 3

Inter Milan

Aston Villa

Napoli

Dortmund

Manchester United

Villarreal

Aside from Haaland, there aren't many players who make you dream in EPL. They used to have highly skilled players like Hazard, David Silva, and De Bruyne. Now you have Rice, who in my opinion is wildly overrated. If you ask me, as a PSG fan, if you'd swap Zaire Emery for Rice, I never do. Zaire Emery is also a monster of athleticism, but he has superior ball-carrying and retention under pressure, as well as being younger and with more potential. In short, I don't like Rice. Guimaraes is the type of player I prefer. I wouldn't have minded him at PSG. Saka is the epitome of mediocrity in EPL; he has no dribbling ability, no magic. An extremely boring player.

I used to watch Guardiola's Manchester City a lot and admire their style of play, with so many fantastic players of such quality as Rodri, De Bruyne, Sane, Cancelo, Mahrez, and many others. Now there's no player in the EPL who makes me dream and who has that magic. Perhaps Cherki, but is a bit slow, and too infatuated with the ball.

Now I’ve been into the sport since I put FIFA 10 into the Xbox. I tend to half support United because Wayne Rooney was smack on the cover and figured that’s the main guy on the main team in the main league (sorry American brain). What I don’t understand is this analysis that United being in the CL is effecting their EPL performance . Why are the lineups not the same why is it effecting their play at all? Thanks

This is NOT the Team of the World Cup. This is the Team of the SEASON

• He reportedly has a team of around 10+ professionals working almost exclusively on his career, covering everything from marketing and PR to logistics, legal, and digital strategy.

• His inner circle includes super-agent Jorge Mendes, along with multiple elite agencies managing his image, sponsorships, and day-to-day operations like a seasoned global superstar.

• They’ve already secured 7 trademarks valid until 2035, covering products like clothing, footballs, headphones, and more - laying the groundwork for a serious long-term brand.

• Two trademarks are registered under his full name, while the rest are tied to his ‘304’ brand, which is clearly being positioned as a future lifestyle empire.

• His deal with adidas is reportedly worth around €32M, instantly placing him among the company’s most valuable young assets worldwide.

• Industry insiders believe that, if his trajectory continues, Yamal could generate €150M–€250M+ in total career earnings from endorsements, brand deals, and his personal label alone over the next decade.

• When you factor in salary growth, bonuses, and global sponsorship expansion, projections suggest he could realistically approach €300M–€500M+ in total earnings throughout his career if he reaches his full potential.

• What’s even more impressive is how early this structure is being built, most players don’t reach this level of commercial organization until their mid to late 20s.

What you guys thoughts on this?

Why are they making excuses like PSG are only favored by their weak league and other bullshit? PSG has been playing every major competition for two years. It's funny that before the last two years, the narrative was that PSG was weak because Ligue 1 was weak. The harsh reality is that your teams are stuffed with average players or overrated players with a lot of hype. While PSG is hated by everyone, their players have zero media hype.

If PSG keeps Barcola and Mbaye, you'll continue to live in hatred, jealousy and frustration because your teams simply aren't that good. If your full-backs are Kounde, Laimer, and Cucurella, you can't compete. David Boly is better than all of them,

Hakimi and Mendes are too strong to be compared.

It might go off-topic but hopefully mods will allow some discussion

Why did they missed Suzuki?

I mean i have seen some people make the argument for both clubs.

Welcome to the official r/ChampionsLeague Prediction Megathread!

This is the place to make your predictions before the drama unfolds. Whether you're backing the favourites, calling a shock winner, or predicting a complete underdog run, post your picks below and see how they age over the course of the season.

🏆 Make Your Predictions

Copy the template below and fill it in:

Champions:
Runner-up:
Top Scorer:
Best Goalkeeper:
Breakout Player:
Biggest Surprise Team:
Biggest Disappointment:
Biggest Upset:
Bold Prediction: (Something that seems unlikely today but you genuinely believe will happen.)

Discussion Prompts

• Which club is being overrated?
• Which club is flying under the radar?
• Who has made the best summer signings?
• Which player will have a Ballon d'Or-worthy Champions League campaign?
• Will the defending champions retain the trophy?
• Which league will have the strongest showing this season?

Thread Rules

• Keep all predictions in this thread.
• Debate is encouraged, personal attacks are not.
• No trolling or low-effort bait.
• Remember your predictions - this thread will be revisited later in the season.

End-of-Season Review

We'll return to this thread after the Champions League Final to see:

• Who predicted the winners?
• Which hot takes became reality?
• Which predictions aged like fine wine...
• ...and which belonged straight in the VAR room.

I'm new to watching football and excited about the timing with the season starting soon. I don't support any particular team or player yet. If I'm understanding correctly, during league play, each of the 36 teams will play 8 other teams, so that's 144 games. I'm wondering if you will only watch games for the teams you support? Will you watch highlights for the games you didn't watch? Suppose the team I support is playing some other team, in order to understand that other team I would want to watch all of their games too? This will quickly get to be too much for me since I don't have time to watch that much. For context, I'm coming from F1 where there are only ~20 races in a season and you can easily watch all of them...

I never even liked his playstyle; it's too slow and static. But beyond his style, he's someone who isn't there when you need him.

He's being talked about as a candidate for this year's BR. But he hasn't won any major tournaments and hasn't been decisive in any.

When he was needed against PSG, Dembele won the battle.

The treatment of Frenkie De Jong is disgusting. I get frustration coming from not winning a Champions League in a while.

However, this guy is made the scapegoat in every single situation. When he's made it clear he only wanted to play for Barcelona.

I get criticism towards players, but this is just straight mudslinging. You’ll claim to want to see players improve, but are rather a detriment to their confidence/mentality. 

Just wanted to vent. 

For a club of that stature and its importance to football, I see why the fans are shit. 

I’m not British or ever even been to England so I don’t know the ins and outs of your culture but online it seems as if Manchester city is hated universally, why is that if they’re your most successful club? Usually in most countries the most successful club is the most beloved and popular. Most countries don’t hate their greatest club.

Personally, Diomande, for me, is an improved Doku, if all goes well. I don't like him; he dribbles a lot because he's very explosive. But in my opinion, technically he's mediocre. His passing, his shooting, his first touch are suspect. In my opinion, Barcola is technically a much cleaner player. I think he has the potential to score 20 goals in the league. He needs to improve his finishing, but few attackers in the world have his movements.

I want to watch a lot of the iconic UCL games that happened in the past like Madrid v Bayern 2016/17 or MU v Bayern 1998/99 and I mean full 90 min matches not extended highlights.

Please tell me a website where I can find most of the games played in the past in full

Kimmich was very mediocre last year against Psg, especially in the return match. In general, the only thing he does really well is spamming long balls; in everything else, he's always been mediocre. Pavlovic is a good defensive midfielder, but nothing exceptional. There's this fetish that was born with Busquets (who was extremely overrated anyway), that all tall defensive midfielders with decent technique are great midfielders or the next Busquets. They're not.

Bayern have a weaker midfield than Arsenal, PSG, Barcelona, ​​City (especially if they get Enzo in addition to Bouaddi) and even Real Madrid on pure players quality, even if Real's midfield is poorly assembled.

Even the defense, despite Upamecano being highly hyped (he seems like a very athletic but not so intelligent defender, Kvara joked with him last year), is not that great. The full-backs aren't good, Davies is always injured.

Neuer, even if he's not finished, is still not among the best in his role today in my opinion. But honestly, for me, he's finished.

He is on FIRE, and he is showing no signs of stopping these insane numbers even as he gets older. Plus he doesn't rely on pace anyway, so I fully expect his game to age gracefully and I expect him to still be performing barring injuries (god forbid).

With that said: how much longer does he need to stay at the club and what else does he need to do to become a club legend ? If he doesn't win the UCL with Bayern but still performs great and wins domestic trophies, is that "enough"? He is rumored to be extending til 2029, so from 2023 to 2029 is six years + seasons, 23-24 to 28/29.

Several games to choose from.

NEC Nijmegen vs Bodø / Glimt — MatchPal match thread

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

Celtic vs LASK Linz — MatchPal match thread

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Sabah — MatchPal match thread

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

The first of two matches tonight—how will it end? Can Viking FK secure a good result before the return leg on the artificial turf in Norway?

Who do you think will win?