Wow not already started?

Match Day 1

Arsenal winners

RMA up 2-1 but down to 10 men

RMA wins

Juventus and Dortmund draw 4-4

Benfica lose 3-2

Spuds also squeak by 1-0 on an own goal

Juventus-Dortmund was bonkers

Benfica lose to a Azerbaijani team. crazy after leading 2-0 early in the game too

ttt

Good lord. I figured Liverpool and Tottenham had some pride but apparently I was mistaken.

Uh, Bodo/Glimt...

Probably not enough to survive the return leg, but who knows?

And I'm a fool. I forgot it's still the League Phase.

I was open minded about this new format, but it feels like it's a lot harder to keep track of what's going on and if this thread is any indication - people aren't as into it.

The fight for the top 8 is about to get wild 🤯

Our coverage of #UCL Matchday 8 starts at 2 PM ET on @paramountplus 📺 pic.twitter.com/1grkd8uOo3

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 28, 2026

Absolute drama today, that was a lot of fun

Total meltdown from Madrid and amazing win for Benfica. ANd the goalie. My goalie daughter said 'That goalie is going to sleep good tonight'

Watching the Golazo show was a real treat. These final matchdays are really entertaining under the new format… much fewer games that mean nothing to either team's future in the tournament than the old group format. Not sure that makes the new format better overall but I do enjoy these last matchdays better.

And yeah that Benfica ending was so crazy… for so long they were playing as if they were happy to just sit on a win… like they didn't know they needed another goal for GD. Then that miracle happened.

The drama in Brugge was amazing too. Loved seeing Marseille get dumped like that. Trashy fans and club.

And heck of a result for Bodo Glimt again! Glad they made it through.

Bodo!

Bodo!

Bodo beating City and Inter is nuts and I love it

And Atletico Madrid in Madrid. These guys are on a heck of a run.

Interesting that the Norwegian league is still in offseason… these guys are only playing UCL games. Tons of prep and rest.

And a 2nd goal. Holy crap. Their counterattacking is masterful.

Valverde take a bow.

Indeed. Great goals.

All EPL teams lost except for Arsenal who drew. Nice start.

Probably doesnt help that all the English teams have played 5-7 matches more than the other leagues. They all looked out of gas. Completely different results from the league stage

I'd say that the bigger factor is that they were all away yesterday, except for Newcastle (who also didn't lose).

Also, I'd say that number of games itself is a red herring as EPL teams use heavy rotation for those extra cup games. Those games are a moot point because for the star players, they barely exist.

Where the EPL does face a very real challenge is in level of competition within the league itself. They simply can't rotate as much as Bayern or PSG (or even the La Liga teams) can within their leagues. Bayern finished their last league game with like zero regular starters on the pitch and still won 4-1. PSG faced a tougher team but still rotated a decent amount… and lost, but who cares? They know that they can afford to rest guys and take a loss because they'll still dominate against the rest of the field.

Mid-table teams in any other top league would struggle to beat EPL bottom-feeders. EPL UCL teams simply don't have the luxury to rotate too heavily because even bad EPL teams have enough talent to bunker, counter, and steal a win. And more importantly, there's too many other real contenders for the title and UCL spots.

Real Madrid v Bayern Munich

Hala Madrid y nada mas! This should be an excellent and entertaining game.


Sporting CP v Arsenal

Only watch this if you enjoy root canals.

RMA 0 - 2 Bay

Bayern have been the better side all match. RM needs to pull at least 1 back.

Not going the way you wanted but you were right on that it'd be a real treat to watch for neutrals.

I thought I'd be noble and watch the multicast and that lasted like 5 mins until I switched to just this one.

Vini Jr blows RM's best opportunity of the game. furk

Nah, Neuer would've gotten that too if it had been on target.

(Mostly kidding - but seriously, it's crazy how high-level he is still at 40)

Munich still threatening at times. But, RM look like the subs have woken up the squad.

Mbappe pulls one back!

RM 1 - 2 BM

75th

Neuer having an incredible game.

excellently entertaining match. on to Munich we go.

What a game. Both teams were brilliant.

2-1 scoreline flatters Bayern… 5-4 might've been a better reflection of the game.

Watching Barca try to atone for last week's sins ought to be interesting today. They have the firepower, but if they're gonna pull this off the game is gonna be nuts. I think we see at least 5 total goals scored. But I hope they pull it off. There aren't many teams that I always root against but Atletico is one of them.

I might start out watching multicast today but I suspect the other game isn't gonna be worth watching unless you really loathe LFC and want to bathe in their desperation and frustration.