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1st place - 15 points - FC Girona (A), OSC Lille (H), PSV Eindhoven (A);
Liverpool FC are currently the strongest team in Europe. The Reds are dominating the domestic Premier League - as well as the UEFA Champions League. The English side celebrated five victories in the first five matchdays, conceding just one goal in the process. Most recently, the team dispatched German champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen (4-0) and Real Madrid (2-0) at home on Anfield Road.
After the end of the Jurgen Klopp era and an extremely quiet summer of transfers, Liverpool could hardly have expected such a success story.
2nd place - 13 points - Bayer Leverkusen (A), Sparta Prague (A), AS Monaco (H);
Coach Simone Inzaghi has finally moulded the three-time Champions League winners into a top team again in recent years that has nothing to hide from anyone. He reached the final of the top flight with the Nerazzurri in 2023 and led them to their first Scudetto since the 2020/21 season last year.
With an average age of 29.2 years, Inter have the oldest team in the entire competition. They have yet to concede a single goal in the UCL this term.
3rd place - 12 points - Borussia Dortmund (A), Benfica Lisbon (A), Atalanta Bergamo (H);
Barcelona started the league campaign with seven wins in a row. However, the Champions League adventure began with disappointment for the five-time UCL winners: they suffered a 2-1 defeat in Monaco. The Catalans quickly recovered from this and celebrated four wins in a row. The highlight was certainly the 4-1 home win against Bayern Munich.
They now have the most goals in the competition (18 goals), with 36-year-old Robert Lewandowski also leading the scoring charts. However, Barca are currently in a slight slump in form - and the remaining programme is extremely difficult.
Flop
24th place - 6 points - Atalanta Bergamo (A), RB Salzburg (H), Stade Brest (A);
The defending champions have already suffered three defeats in this CL season. By comparison, Real had only lost twice in the two previous seasons.
There are many reasons for the slump in form: Bad luck with injuries, the end of Toni Kroos' career, the slow integration of Kylian Mbappe. Although it can be assumed that Los Blancos will still manage a turnaround, the team does not exude the same dominance as in previous years.
25th place - 4 points - RB Salzburg (A), Manchester City (H), VfB Stuttgart (A);
The time of the superstars is over, with young talents now in the limelight in Paris. There is no doubt that the future belongs to players such as Willian Pacho (23), Bradley Barcola (22) and Warren Zaire-Emery (18) - but in the present, the French champions have so far been shockingly harmless.
PSG have only scored three times in the Champions League so far. If they don't achieve the expected must-win against RB Salzburg on Tuesday, they could face an early exit. It would be a first: since Nasser Al-Khelaifi took over, the club have never missed out on the knockout round of the Champions League.
34th place - 0 points - Aston Villa (H), Sporting Lisbon (H), Sturm Graz (A);
Leipzig have actually always cut a good figure internationally in recent years. Big names such as Real Madrid were defeated, and in 2019/20 the Saxons even made it to the semi-finals of UEFA's premier club competition.
It's a different story in 2024/25. They have not registered a single point. The difficult draw contributed to this. They have already played Atletico, Juventus, Liverpool and Inter. But the Bundesliga outfit should have scored in the away game at Celtic Glasgow - instead they stumbled to a 3-1 defeat.
In an Unsettled Position
13th place - 9 points - Shakhtar Donetsk (A), Feyenoord Rotterdam (A), Slovan Bratislava (H);
In their first season under coach Vincent Kompany, the German record champions are doing well overall. In the UEFA Champions League, however, they suffered two painful slip-ups in the away games against Aston Villa (1-0) and Barcelona (4-1).
In the remaining three matches, however, Bayern are the overwhelming favourites in each one. That is just as optimistic as the fact that they have conceded the fewest shots on target in the competition thus far (33). If the Bundesliga leaders successfully transfer their domestic form to the European stage, the hoped-for leap into the top eight is a realistic prospect.
15th place - 9 points - Slovan Bratislava (H), Bayer Leverkusen (H), RB Salzburg (A);
Diego Simeone's team are currently one of the strongest teams in Europe. Atletico have recently won nine competitive matches in a row. On matchday 5 of the Champions League, they tore Czech champions Sparta to shreds with a 6-0 victory in Prague.
The relatively easy remaining programme and the strong team cohesion also suggest that Los Colchoneros can still make it directly to the round of 16.
16th place - 9 points - Red Star Belgrade (H), FC Girona (H), Dinamo Zagreb (A);
The Rossoneri recently suffered a bitter setback in Serie A. After previously going seven games unbeaten, they lost narrowly to Atalanta Bergamo (2-1) on Friday. However, after a complicated start to the season, Milan should be stable enough to quickly overcome this setback.
A surprising victory in the away game at Real Madrid (3-1) is the highlight of their UCL season so far. Milan are the clear favourites in each of their remaining matches. The fact that the match against Red Star Belgrade takes place at San Siro is also a big advantage.