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The 2025-26 Champions League season is finally here. After the league phase draw that took place on Thursday, we know who will play who, with PSG aiming to defend their title after winning the last edition in the 5-0 final against Inter. Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid are all considered the top contenders, but it's a wide-open competition with chaos expected. As we have learned from the past edition, the first one of the new format that replaced the group stage, we know that all the matches will be crucial until the very end of the first phase, and some teams can create issues for the top ones. Let's now go around Europe to see the five most underrated teams in the tournament: 

As always, you can watch every minute of Champions League action all season long on Paramount+

League phase schedule

  • Matchday 1: Sept. 16-18
  • Matchday 2: Sept. 30-Oct. 1
  • Matchday 3: Oct. 21-22
  • Matchday 4: Nov. 4-5
  • Matchday 5: Nov. 25-26
  • Matchday 6: Dec. 9-10
  • Matchday 7: Jan. 20-21, 2026
  • Matchday 8: Jan. 28, 2026

Olympique Marseille

The team coached by Roberto De Zerbi is one of the most interesting projects around Europe, despite what recently happened in the dressing room when French midfielder Adrien Rabiot and English winger Jonathan Rowe, who signed with Bologna in the meantime, had an argument that led the club to decide to exclude them from the roster. Last season, OM ended up in second place in the French Ligue 1 and qualified for the Champions League league phase. This will be the second time the Italian boss will play Champions League soccer as a manager after the 2021-22 season, when he was the Shakhtar Donetsk head coach. Marseille also play their home games at the Velodrome, which will be a tough place to go for every team this season. 

Schedule: Liverpool (H), Real Madrid (A), Atalanta (H), Club Brugge (A), Ajax (H), Sporting CP (A), Newcastle (H), Union Saint-Gilloise (A). 

Galatasaray

The Turkish champions are back in the most important European tournament and have to be considered as tough competitors as they made some key signings in the summer, like the one of Victor Osimhen, who signed on a permanent deal from Napoli after he was on loan at the club last season. Osimhen will play alongside Leroy Sane, who joined as a free agent during the 2025 summer transfer window, showing the ambitions of the team coached by Okan Buruk. On top of it, as we also mentioned for Olympique Marseille, it won't be easy at all to play in their home stadium, in front of one of the most heated fanbases around the world. 

Schedule: Liverpool (H), Manchester City (A), Atletico de Madrid (H), Eintracht Frankfurt (A), Bodø/Glimt (H), Ajax (A), Union Saint-Gilloise (H), AS Monaco (A). 

Athletic Club 

The team coached by Ernesto Valverde is always a difficult side to play against. Once again, this summer, they were able to keep their star player, Nico Williams, who also extended the deal with the Spanish team after talks to join Barcelona. They started off their LaLiga season strongly, with two wins in the first two matches, and there are many reasons to believe they will try to improve even more this campaign as they are back playing Champions League soccer for the first time since the 2014-15 season. 

Schedule: PSG (H), Borussia Dortmund (A), Arsenal (H), Atalanta (A), Sporting CP (H), Slavia Praha (A), Qarabag (H), Newcastle (A). 

PSV

The Dutch team coached by Peter Bosz were already a strong side in the past season when they were knocked out by Arsenal in the round of 16 after beating Juventus in the playoffs, but they can be even better in this season's Champions League. They have a stronger roster, as they also signed players like Dennis Man from Parma and Paul Wanner from Bayern Munich, who will play alongside attacking players such as Ivan Perisic and USMNT striker Ricardo Pepi, who is finally coming back from his knee injury that made him miss the second part of the 2024-25 season. 

Schedule: Bayern Munich (H), Liverpool (A), Atletico Madrid (H), Bayer Leverkusen (A), Napoli (H), Olympiacos (A), Union Saint-Gilloise (H), Newcastle (A). 

Bodø Glimt, Norway 

The Norwegian team qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history and also became first Norwegian club to qualify for Europe's top club competition in 18 years. This is not a coincidence as they managed to improve year after year in the past decade. The club reached the semifinals of the UEFA Europa League last season becoming the first Norwegian club ever to reach the semifinals of a major European competition, eliminated only by Tottenham Hotspur. Previously, they advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2021-22, where they fell to eventual winners AS Roma. Bodø/Glimt are one of the few professional soccer clubs in the world based this far north, and the city of Bodø has a population of just 55,000, and the club's Aspmyra Stadion seats just 8,270 fans. Playing in Norway at those cold temperatures will definitely be a big issue for all the clubs facing them in their home stadium. 

Schedule: Manchester City (H), Borussia Dortmund (A), Juventus (H), Atletico Madrid (A), Tottenham (H), Slavia Praha (A), AS Monaco (H), Galatasaray (A).