24) Galatasaray
Galatasaray failed to make last year’s league phase following a play-off defeat to Young Boys. They enter this season’s Champions League off the back of five consecutive domestic victories having scored fifteen and only conceded once.
Victor Osimhen is the dangerman, with Mauro Icardi, Leroy Sané, Barış Alper Yılmaz and Yunus Akgün providing the reinforcements. İlkay Gündoğan and Lucas Torreira form part of an experienced central midfield for Galatasaray.
23) Benfica
Having defeated Nice and Fenerbahce in the qualifiers, Benfica have reached the Champions League for the fifteenth time in sixteen years. Only Real Madrid have competed in more Champions League (and the historic European Cup) tournaments than the Portuguese giants.
It was a busy transfer window for Benfica, with the departures of Álvaro Carreras, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Ángel Di María, João Mário and Orkun Kökçü balanced out with the arrivals of Richard Ríos, Franjo Ivanović and Dodi Lukébakio.
Benfica will be targeting a winning start to this season’s campaign as they welcome Qarabag to the Estádio da Luz.
22) Eintracht Frankfurt
Fired on by one of the best atmospheres in Europe, Eintracht Frankfurt will be looking to emulate their last appearance in the Champions League in 2022/23 where they reached the Round of 16.
Hugo Ekitiké will be missed up top, but the arrival of Jonathan Burkardt and Ritsu Doan provides firepower. Rasmus Kristensen is a shrewd signing from Leeds, whilst Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Can Uzun look to be young gems.
Frankfurt welcome Galatasaray to the Deutsche Bank Park on Thursday.
21) Monaco
Monaco were Champions League regulars during the second half of the 2010s, including a famous run to the semi-finals in 2016/17. It would be a surprise to see this Monaco side replicate that success, but they retain a slim hope of reaching the knockout phases.
Monaco did well to keep hold of Maghnes Akliouche, and were able to add big names without breaking the bank. Paul Pogba, Ansu Fati, Eric Dier and Lukas Hradecky bring a host of European experience.
20) Villarreal
Marcelino’s second stint in charge of Villarreal has seen them return to the Champions League for the first time since their run to the semi-final in 2021/22.
The departed Yéremy Pino will be a big miss, but the arrival of Georges Mikautadze and Alberto Moleiro should help to ease the blow.
A trip to a rejuvenated Tottenham is up first for Villarreal.
19) Marseille
Marseille will be one of the big unknowns of the Champions League; they seem just as likely to beat Real Madrid away as they are to lose to Union Saint-Gilloise.
Roberto de Zerbi’s men have had a mixed start to their Ligue 1 campaign, with two big victories and two close 1-0 defeats. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still amongst the goals at 36, with Benjamin Pavard and Nayef Aguerd providing an experienced centre-back partnership.
The Stade Velodrome is never an easy place to visit for any travelling side – Marseille hosts Ajax, Atalanta, Newcastle and Liverpool.
18) Atalanta
Gian Piero Gasperini leaving over the summer was massive; the Italian will be remembered as the manager who took Atalanta from relegation contenders to European contenders. The arrival of Ivan Jurić, following his short stint at Southampton, might not appear the most inspiring of appointments, but he is the manager who will most closely follow Gasperini’s tactical philosophy.
Prolific striker Mateo Retegui made a big money move to the Saudi Pro League, Nikola Krstović has been signed to replace his goals.
17) Athletic Club
Ernesto Valverde’s third permanent spell in charge of Athletic Bilbao is proving to be his most successful. Athletic secured passage to the Champions League with a fourth-placed finish in last season’s La Liga.
Nico Williams signed a monster 10-year contract extension, undoubtedly the most important bit of transfer activity from the club. Aymeric Laporte’s return after 7 years proved popular and will shore up the Bilbao defence.
A tricky first set of fixtures sees Athletic at home to Arsenal before travelling to Dortmund on the second match day. Qarabag at home in October could be Athletic’s first realistic chance of points in Europe.
16) Newcastle
It wasn’t the ideal summer for Newcastle, especially off the back of such an iconic season for The Magpies.
Isak’s transfer saga was well-documented, as was Newcastle’s struggles to land a replacement. Nick Woltemade scoring on his debut will have eased a few nerves about how well the tall German will adapt to Eddie Howe’s side.
This is Newcastle’s first appearance in the Champions League since 2002/03 where they were placed into a ‘group of death’ with Inter, Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen. Newcastle’s run in this year’s competition presents many winnable games, with their most challenging test coming in the final gameweek with a trip to PSG.
15) Bayer Leverkusen
Eric ten Hag didn’t last long enough to lead Bayer into the Champions League. Instead, Kasper Hjulmand will be hoping his success in reaching the Euros semi-finals with Denmark will transfer over into European success with the German giants.
Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong have joined Liverpool, with Jonathan Tah, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky, Amine Adli and Odilon Kossounou following out the exit door.
The back three of Quansah, Badé and Tapsoba looks balanced on paper, giving the experienced Spanish pair of Grimaldo and Vázquez licence to bomb forward. Patrik Schick prolific domestic goalscoring has yet to be replicated in the Champions League, which needs to change should Bayer Leverkusen hope to advance far into the latter stages of the competition.
14) Tottenham
Spurs are back in the Champions League following last season’s Europa League success. The European trophy wasn’t enough to keep Ange Postecoglou in his job, following a shambolic domestic campaign that saw Tottenham finish an embarrassing 17th.
Thomas Frank has settled in quickly, embedding a 4-3-3 built upon defensive stability and attacking overloads. Joao Palhinha is already a contender for signing of the season, providing a solid base in midfield. Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus are exciting additions, but have big boots to fill following Son Heung-min’s departure to Los Angeles FC.
13) Juventus
Juventus had a poor 2024/25 Champions League campaign, finishing 20th with only 3 victories out of 8 in the league phase before being knocked out by PSV in the first knockout phase play-offs.
Juve had plenty of arrivals and departures in the transfer window, but the starting XI remains largely unchanged from last season. 20-year-old Kenan Yildiz will be looking to build on a strong previous campaign where he emerged as one of Juve’s key attacking threats.
