Four matchdays down, four to go, and the Champions League table is starting to take shape. Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid have won all four games, Arsenal are the only other unbeaten side in the top eight, and Como scored nine times in Lens to climb to fourth. Four Premier League clubs sit in the automatic places, with Manchester United 17th. Matchday 5 is on 24 and 25 November, so this is a good moment to look at what the table means, who is close to the line and what the outright market makes of it all.
How the league phase works
Each of the 36 clubs plays eight games in the league phase. UEFA's rules are simple at the edges and crowded in the middle. The top eight go straight into the round of 16. The clubs finishing 9th to 24th play a two-legged knockout phase play-off for the remaining places in the last 16. Anyone finishing 25th or lower is out, with no route into the Europa League. That middle band is wide, which is why a club can lose twice and still reach the knockout rounds, but the gap between eighth and ninth matters a great deal: finishing in the top eight means two fewer games in February. Matchday 6 follows on 8 and 9 December, then the last two rounds come in January, finishing on Wednesday 27 January. Our Champions League table updates after every game.
The perfect two
Paris Saint-Germain have 12 points and 20 goals from four games, one more than anyone else. Their latest win was a 6-0 at Villarreal on Tuesday that was effectively over after 17 minutes, by which time João Neves, Désiré Doué, Senny Mayulu and Fabián Ruiz had all scored. Ruiz added a second after half-time and David Boly finished the scoring on 78 minutes. PSG's chances were worth 2.37 expected goals to Villarreal's 0.70. Real Madrid also have 12 points, but they have worked harder for them, with a goal difference of plus six. On Wednesday they were behind after 10 minutes at AEK Athens and level at 2-2 going into stoppage time before Federico Valverde scored the winner in the 92nd minute. Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé scored the other two. Madrid created chances worth 3.34 expected goals to AEK's 0.87, so the result was fair even if it came late.
Como's night in Lens
The result of the round came on Wednesday, when Como won 9-1 at Lens. Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick, on seven, 32 and 57 minutes, and Nico Paz, Lucas Da Cunha, Marc Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martin Baturina and Matteo Papaccioli also scored, with Papaccioli having a second ruled out by VAR in stoppage time. Ruben Aguilar's goal for Lens made it 7-1 on 64 minutes. The expected goals figures were 4.31 to 0.77, so this was no freak of finishing. The result lifted Como to fourth on nine points, with 19 goals scored and a goal difference of plus 13, second only to PSG. Lens are 33rd, having conceded 16 goals in four games. Como's next match is at home to AEK Athens on 24 November. The full story of the game is on the Lens 1-9 Como match page.
The English clubs
Arsenal are third on 10 points, with three wins and a draw, and the best defensive record in the competition: three goals conceded in four games. They won 2-1 at Slavia Prague on Wednesday through Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres. Aston Villa are sixth and Man City seventh, both on nine points. City won 3-2 at RB Leipzig, with Erling Haaland scoring the winner on 78 minutes, while Villa lost 3-0 at Barcelona and had a player sent off. Liverpool complete the top eight on nine points, but only just. They led 2-1 at Fenerbahce after Alexander Isak's header on 69 minutes and lost 3-2. Man United are 17th on six points after coming from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2. They are seven places outside the automatic spots but comfortably inside the play-off band, which runs to 24th.
The crowded middle
The tightest part of the table is around the line between eighth and ninth. Nine clubs have nine points: Como, Barcelona, Aston Villa, Man City and Liverpool inside the top eight, and Club Brugge, Sporting CP, Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund just below it, in that order. Only the tie-breakers separate fourth from 12th. Bayern Munich are 13th on eight points but unbeaten, after a 2-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, and their goal difference of plus seven is better than that of eight of the 12 clubs above them. Lower down, the line between 24th and 25th is just as tight. PSV Eindhoven hold 24th on four points, level with Bodo/Glimt in 25th, and Atlético Madrid, Viking, Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma are all on four as well. With 12 points still available, few clubs can be sure of anything yet.
The odds: what the outright market thinks
The outright market, which pays out only on the eventual winner, sees things a little differently from the table. On the bettingodds.com price comparison, updated at 21:00 GMT on Friday 6 November, PSG and Barcelona were joint favourites at 7/2 with most of the bookmakers listed. Arsenal were 11/2 to 6/1, Bayern 6/1 to 13/2 and Real Madrid 7/1 to 15/2. A price of 7/2 implies about a 22 per cent chance and 7/1 about 12 per cent, before the bookmaker's margin. Two things stand out. Real Madrid have the same 12 points as PSG but are given roughly half the implied chance, and Barcelona, fifth on nine points, are as short as the leaders. That tells you the market is pricing the knockout rounds, where squad depth matters more than four league-phase results. Man City were 10/1 to 11/1, Liverpool 20/1 to 22/1, Como 40/1 to 50/1, Aston Villa 50/1 and Man United 50/1 to 66/1. Prices vary between bookmakers and will move before Matchday 5.
Matchday 5 games to watch
Several of the next round's games involve clubs near the line. On Tuesday 24 November, Arsenal host Dortmund at 20:00 GMT, Man City host Napoli, Real Madrid host PSV and Como host AEK Athens, while Villa visit Galatasaray at 17:45. On Wednesday 25 November, Liverpool travel to Club Brugge, a meeting of two clubs on nine points, Bayern go to Lille and PSG host Roma, all at 20:00. Man United visit Sporting CP at the same time, a chance to close the gap on a club three points and seven places above them. The fixture pages for those games, including Arsenal v Dortmund, Club Brugge v Liverpool and Sporting CP v Man United, will carry bookmaker prices once the markets open. Every game of the round is on our Champions League fixtures page.
Bet responsibly
Odds are a bookmaker's view of the chances, not a promise, and no market removes the risk of losing. Outright bets also tie up your stake for months. Only bet what you can afford to lose, set limits before you start, and never chase losses. Betting is for over-18s. If gambling stops being fun, contact the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or visit BeGambleAware.org. More about how TotalOdds works is on our about page.
Photo credits
The cover shows the Emirates Stadium before Arsenal v Marseille in the Champions League on 1 November 2011, not a game from this season. Photograph by wonker, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, adapted with text and club badges. The Como picture shows the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia in May 2024. Photograph by Vale93b, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
