The UEFA Champions League returns for the first time in the new year, cutting its winter break short as the new phase of the league comes to an exciting end.
The final two weeks of league stage action begin on Tuesday as teams race to move into the top 24, with several high-profile clubs fighting for survival in the final rounds of play. That includes Paris Saint-Germain, who are in 25th place heading into matchday seven, and host 22nd-place Manchester City on Wednesday. Meanwhile, reigning champions Real Madrid will try to climb out of 20th place with a match against RB Salzburg on the same day. On the other side of the table, Liverpool are looking to maintain their perfect record when they host Lille on Tuesday and teams like Barcelona and Arsenal will hope to remain in the top eight when they reach the finish line of the league stage.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of an important week in the Champions League.
how to watch
Paramount+ will have every minute of the action, with CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network offering complementary coverage. Each day’s coverage begins with the Champions League match on CBS Sports Golazo Network before the UEFA Champions League Today pre-match show begins at 2 pm ET on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+. Some matches will air on CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network before the UEFA Champions League Today post-show airs on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+. CBS Sports Golazo Network will conclude coverage each day with new editions of Scoreline and Champions Club. The Golazo Show will also air on Paramount+ during the final round of games.
Champions League standings
Key: Positions 1 to 8 qualify for the round of 16, while positions 9 to 24 qualify for the Play-Offs of the knockout phase and positions 25 to 36 are eliminated.
| Pos. | Equipment | family doctor | W. | d | l | bride | Georgia | God | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | +12 | 18 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 15 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 13 |
| 4 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 13 |
| 5 | Villa Aston | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 13 |
| 6 | Bury | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 13 |
| 7 | Brest | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 13 |
| 8 | Lille | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 13 |
| 9 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 12 |
| 10 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 12 |
| 11 | Atlético de Madrid | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 12 |
| 12 | AC Milan | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 12 |
| 13 | Atalanta | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 11 |
| 14 | Juventus | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 11 |
| 15 | Benfica | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 10 |
| 16 | Monaco | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 10 |
| 17 | Sporting Lisbon | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 10 |
| 18 | Feyenoord | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 15 | -1 | 10 |
| 19 | Club Bruges | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 10 |
| 20 | real Madrid | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 9 |
| 21 | Celtic | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 9 |
| 22 | city of manchester | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 8 |
| 23 | PSV | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 8 |
| 24 | Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 6 |
| 25 | Paris Saint Germain | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 26 | Stuttgart | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 7 |
| 27 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 13 | -8 | 4 |
| 28 | Sparta Prague | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 18 | -11 | 4 |
| 29 | Sturm Graz | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 3 |
| 30 | Girona | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 3 |
| 31 | Red Star | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 19 | -9 | 3 |
| 32 | RB Salzburg | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 18 | -15 | 3 |
| 33 | Bologna | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 2 |
| 34 | RB Leipzig | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 0 |
| 35 | Bratislava Slovakia | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 21 | -16 | 0 |
| 36 | young boys | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 22 | -19 | 0 |
Television schedule for matchday 5
All Eastern Time
Arguments of day 7
1. High-stakes battle in Paris
Without a doubt, the most anticipated match of matchday seven is Manchester City’s trip to Paris Saint-Germain, a match that both teams must win. Surprisingly, the continental heavyweights are struggling to stay in the competition, with City’s place inside the top 24 just one point away and PSG just one point away from a place that would take them to the knockout rounds. PSG’s poor run in the Champions League comes after a difficult draw that included matches against Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich, failing to impress much in their post-Kylian Mbappe era. They will have to change course with a convincing win on Wednesday to lessen the risk of early elimination, and they have acted accordingly in the transfer window.
PSG will return to Champions League play with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who officially joined the club from Napoli on Friday. He failed to play in the 2-1 win over Lens on Saturday but could make his debut against City on Wednesday, when he could be eager to justify his big move. Kvaratskhelia is among the best attackers in Europe, but he scored just four goals for Napoli before leaving and needs a big performance as much as his new club. It’s a fascinating dynamic against City, who have four wins in their last five, but three were against teams ranked 14th or lower in the Premier League and the other was against League Two side Salford City in the FA Cup. Pep Guardiola’s team may not be in crisis mode at the moment, but Wednesday’s game will answer the question of whether their previous problems are behind them or if the schedule only gave them a brief respite.
2. Lille and Brest’s quest to stay in the top eight
While the struggles of teams like PSG and City have provided some of the biggest surprises of the league phase, a pleasant surprise has been the ability of teams like Lille and Brest to maintain positions in the top eight heading into matchday seven. . to advance to the round of 16 anyway, but with direct passage to the round of 16 as an option, those two will no doubt do everything they can to stay exactly where they are.
Brest has a favorable game on matchday seven against Shakhtar Donetsk, who are in 27th place, although the same cannot be said for Lille. They travel to Champions League leaders Liverpool, who have a perfect record so far and are a lock for the round of 16. However, the Reds haven’t been in great form lately – they only have two wins in their last match. five, one of which was against League Two’s Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup. The fatigue of a long season could already be affecting them, perhaps making them especially vulnerable against Lille, so Tuesday’s game will also be a test of their mettle.
3. Atlético and Leverkusen face each other
Another game worth watching closely on Matchday 7 is Bayer Leverkusen’s trip to Atlético Madrid on Tuesday, a match between two in-form teams who have ambitious goals this season after surviving some bumps in the road early on. seasonal.
Leverkusen, Bundesliga champions last season, have done well enough in the Champions League to sit in fourth place heading into Tuesday’s game, and are also just four points behind Bayern Munich in the race for national title. They are on a 13-game unbeaten run since a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool on Matchday 4, winning all but one of those games and conceding just nine goals, bouncing back from a defensively shaky start to the season. Meanwhile, Atlético are on a 16-match unbeaten run that has breathed new life into Diego Simeone’s approach, leaving them 11th in the Champions League and just two points behind Real Madrid in La Liga.
Both teams have achieved important victories during their careers, with Leverkusen beating Inter in the Champions League and Atlético beating Barcelona just before the new year. Whether or not they can add another to their impressive unbeaten streak is the big question in Madrid on Tuesday.
