UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Season

[giorgione]

On a side not I am happy that the team of the country where I live from many years qualified to next preliminary round after winning in total 7-2 against Petrocub team. I think we are going to win against Celje too.

Paris Saint-Germain has a complete squad in every department as does Bayern Munich, with Marchinos in defence, Vitinha managing and dictating the tempo in midfield and an attack which in my opinion is the strongest since the days of Cr7, Benzema and Bale. Kwara, Douè and the golden star Dembelè, not to mention the substitutes on the bench of the same caliber.

[Mayor of ogba]

It's difficult to predict Champions League matches in the qualifying round because we're not very familiar with the teams, let alone placing a bet we're just testing our luck because the odds given by bookmakers aren't entirely good to follow. I personally prefer to wait until the phase begins, we'll see tight competition, while the teams in the current qualifying round won't necessarily be able to perform well when the UCL starts.

Indeed it's really difficult to get your predictions right in the Champions League qualifying round. I have made a lot of predictions in the past qualifying rounds and I never got anyone right, which has made me take a decision never to bet on Champions League matches during the qualifying round. Just like you said, waiting until the proper Champions League competition to start before placing bet on Champions League matches is the right step to take because weaker teams are paired against stronger teams, and it makes it easier to predict.

[Shussainshah]

Not a lot of surprise results in qualifying rounds which is a great achievement as usually in these rounds surprises do happen. Of course we don't know most of the teams but a simple google search after finding the lineup in Flashscore app can make us know how much worth is a team compared to the other, there you have it, the team that usually has a much bigger value is the team that most likely will qualify. Of course this does not happen always but most of the time does from what I have seen.

Qualifying Round are very much on the verge to end and some new club are in that's list I see some of the Uzbekistan club are in the UCL new season and I think it will be a good surprise for most of the European team. Last season we seen a Norway club goes in to the Quarter final and shock them most of they team they out the finalists team of last season Inter Milan and also they out Manchester City as well so we see the same surprise as this season Uzbekistan club can do and they are looked very much strong team but technically they are underdogs and give some tough time to the European team.

[Princess Leah]

On a side not I am happy that the team of the country where I live from many years qualified to next preliminary round after winning in total 7-2 against Petrocub team. I think we are going to win against Celje too.

Paris Saint-Germain has a complete squad in every department as does Bayern Munich, with Marchinos in defence, Vitinha managing and dictating the tempo in midfield and an attack which in my opinion is the strongest since the days of Cr7, Benzema and Bale. Kwara, Douè and the golden star Dembelè, not to mention the substitutes on the bench of the same caliber.

Kvaratskhelia, Doué and Dembélé is a lovely combination of good attackers currently but I'll never compare them to Cr7, Benzema and Bale. The attack Real Madrid had then was almost extraordinary, they made football look like an easy game, they were more talented than what PSG has currently. If Enrique currently has those players when they were in their prime, he'll win the Champions League for up to four times in a row.

 Although he's won it twice with his current front three and I'll be shocked to see if he'll do it again, now after seeing what Mourinho and Real Madrid are building, I feel they'll be an issue for PSG. I'm hearing rumours that they want to sign Olise. The two wingbacks they already signed os amazing and they want to sign Olise! What a squad, Mourinho is up to something.

[jakdanyel]

It's time to get prepared for qualification round 2. Fenerbahçe which is the team I support are starting their CL journey from this round because of finishing their league as the 2nd.

Our first opponent on this road is Gornik Zabrze. The Polish side have played more matches than us until this point. But our friendlies have been going really good. We won them all.

Together with Mason Greenwood's arrival I hope to get past this obstacle without issues. 

[tiCeR]

...

Arsenal did not win the Champions League. They won the league, yeah, absolutely, 22 years. However, PSG got the better in the final. It went to penalties after a draw and that was that. Which if anything makes what Enrique did even more impressive. He was given a club that was primarily Mbape with some cash. Mbappe came out and he did something with the rest of it. Together. Collectively. And then beat the best team in England in the biggest game.

But I am always thinking about Guardiola. The story goes that he has this one system that he thrusts everywhere. But, it is not exactly what happened, is it? He adapted the fullbacks to Bayern's style of play. He changed his whole attacking setup when he got a big physical striker.

And this season was Carrick's at United. Genuinely. Guy walks, after a year of looking at what Amorim had been trying to install for a year, scraps it and plays players in their natural holes. And United go on a run and finish third.

No, of course they didn't win the Champions League. What I was saying is that a good coach can form a team into a strong force if the coach understands what every player has to offer and how he can put all of that together. BEFORE last season began, nobody would have thought that Arsenal is likely to win the Champions League or the Premier League because Arsenal seemed to simply not have the players to achieve that. But it turned out that Arteta did a great job in putting together the pieces in a way that Arsenal became super competitive.

I never thought they would reach the final almost every single time they played in the Champions League, but with every match passing by, chances were suddenly there. Right, they only won the Premier League, but never did I think that they would even have a shot at winning the Champions League and I think this is where Arteta showed that he has great understanding of individual player potential and how to connect the dots within a team.

What you say about Guardiola is right I think. He did change a few things here and there when necessary or when a new player like Haaland came in. But let's be precise about Haaland and his role for Manchester City. He is scoring a lot of goals, but do you think he is using his full potential? I don't think so because Guardiola still wants some tikitaka, but Haaland is not the striker who benefits from that when the ball is kicked back and forth around the box. Haaland likes fast runs with physical intensity and that rarely comes into play for Manchester City because of how they play. Haaland is not the best striker for any team with very high possession. He prefers these out of the blue attacks when he can make full use of his physique.

[cande86]

It is foolish to compare PSG's squad with Real Madrid. If we consider  the depth of the squad, Real madrid's squad is much stronger than PSG's. No one will argue with that. But Luis enrique has managed to create a decent bonding among PSG's players. The understanding between the  players is good. They don't care about individual success. They need team success. This bonding is not there among madrid's players. Madrid has a lot of talented players. But they fail to play well  as a team. They are chasing individual success. If this continues, it is not possible for madrid to do well in the champions league.

Personally, to date i don't see such an important difference between the 2 squads, in fact i believe that to date the value of the Paris Saint-Germain squad is higher and of superior quality compared to that of Real Madrid, in the midfield entirely Portuguese with Neves, Vitinha at the attacking trident with Dembelè, Kwaraskhelia and Douè.

[Bobrox]

Kvaratskhelia, Doué and Dembélé is a lovely combination of good attackers currently but I'll never compare them to Cr7, Benzema and Bale. The attack Real Madrid had then was almost extraordinary, they made football look like an easy game, they were more talented than what PSG has currently. If Enrique currently has those players when they were in their prime, he'll win the Champions League for up to four times in a row.

Top three striker of PSG success winning Champion League last season and I think PSG not get difficulty to defend title next season exactly three of them keep stay, PSG leaving by Goncalo Ramos move to AC Milan and I think Luis Henrique will get new replacement back up Dembele position most often play as striker. Currently PSG have reach deal for signing Ferran Torres from Barcelona and he can be back up or main players for striker position.

Next season, PSG not any change of team composition and make them keep solid on the top performance, I think has bigger chance for defending Champion League tittle exactly several team huge rotation with their current starting line up such as Real Madrid and Barcelona. PSG only need looking for back up players only after several substitutes players have leave and its not really difficult for PSG easily for spending much fees transfer.

[Minor Miner]

Indeed it's really difficult to get your predictions right in the Champions League qualifying round. I have made a lot of predictions in the past qualifying rounds and I never got anyone right, which has made me take a decision never to bet on Champions League matches during the qualifying round. Just like you said, waiting until the proper Champions League competition to start before placing bet on Champions League matches is the right step to take because weaker teams are paired against stronger teams, and it makes it easier to predict.

We don't know the teams in the qualifiers. I am  sure you probably don't know these teams either. We do not know how the teams perform  either. That's why when you make  predictions about the matches, most of your predictions are wrong. You have to be very  careful when betting on these matches. If you do not  know the clubs and their recent  performance, you should avoid betting on these matches. Otherwise, you will lose money.

[asriloni]

Xabi Alonso - Real Madrid could have really been a thing if it weren't for the disrespect of some players against him. Starting with Mbappe...

Xabi Alonso just needed time to apply his system fully to the team. I don't believe he is a manager who can't be successful at a top team. But it is what it is...

I just didn't understand them losing time with Arbeloa after. Anyways now with Mourinho we'll see what they can do. I still don't think he'll manage to win a CL trophy with Real Madrid in his 2nd time there. 

Madrid chosen to defend the players with big ego instead of getting rid em off. So it's predictable result when they would never able to implement Xabi's system because his system is a team work based. It's not gonna fit to the player who think he's the diva who often dribbled the ball alone like Vini and Mbappe. It's the reason they're getting rid Xabi off the club.

Nevertheless, i won't see different when he's appointing Mourinho back. It's because the current football mechanism is totally different compared to the Mou's peak era more than a decade ago. So i have lesser expectation to them to keep fail in the next season.

Let's see what conflict will happen to them in the future. i'll grab some popcorn and watch players to be benched by mou, then these players will rage.

[m4r1o]

De la Fuente was a coach I did no know about years ago, but now looking back his management for Spain team in recent years, he is truly an excellent head coach. Spain no longer has many star players like generation of Xavi, Xabi, Iniesta, Busquet, Villa, Torres, Puyol, Ramos, ... but this head coach has been doing his amazing job.

DEschamps should have retired after the last World Cup won and left with his head held high, instead he stayed because he was convinced he could still do well but the latest European competitions have clearly made it clear that this is not the case, he should be satisfied with what he managed to achieve with France but he should pass the baton.

[snipie]

It's time to get prepared for qualification round 2. Fenerbahçe which is the team I support are starting their CL journey from this round because of finishing their league as the 2nd.

Our first opponent on this road is Gornik Zabrze. The Polish side have played more matches than us until this point. But our friendlies have been going really good. We won them all.

Together with Mason Greenwood's arrival I hope to get past this obstacle without issues. 

Yeah Fenerbahce is trying to consolidate the squad for good and I suppose Greenwood arrival will boost the squad attack line.
For the first match between these two teams, Fenerbahce odds are way better, they are less than 1.3 comparing with Gornik Zabrze at +8.5 in most bookies.
I don't see Gornik Zabrze as competitive and by the way, they just lost yesterday their match against Lech Poznan for the Polish SuperCup.

[dzonikg28]

De la Fuente was a coach I did no know about years ago, but now looking back his management for Spain team in recent years, he is truly an excellent head coach. Spain no longer has many star players like generation of Xavi, Xabi, Iniesta, Busquet, Villa, Torres, Puyol, Ramos, ... but this head coach has been doing his amazing job.

DEschamps should have retired after the last World Cup won and left with his head held high, instead he stayed because he was convinced he could still do well but the latest European competitions have clearly made it clear that this is not the case, he should be satisfied with what he managed to achieve with France but he should pass the baton.

You are discussing World Cup issues in a Champions League topic and I don't see any good reason for that. By the way what you are saying is dumb. Who are you to recommend Deschamps what he should have done or should have not done? You would have retired after the last World Cup? You lose a final and then your tell your own country, your people, that you throw the towel and step back? You seem to be a great character. Deschamps gave it one more shot and that was the right thing to do. Of course if people like you are around who celebrate failure more than success, it makes sense that you think that way. But there is a good portion of people in this forum who like other people who are brave and take a shot. Maybe you should go elsewhere before you recommend people you don't know, their circumstances you don't know, what to do.

You probably don't know many people from France, do you? Rarely anyone there asked Dechamps to step back because he lost against Argentina in penalties. You are one of the very few who think like that.

[Emjay24]

Xabi Alonso - Real Madrid could have really been a thing if it weren't for the disrespect of some players against him. Starting with Mbappe...

Xabi Alonso just needed time to apply his system fully to the team. I don't believe he is a manager who can't be successful at a top team. But it is what it is...

I just didn't understand them losing time with Arbeloa after. Anyways now with Mourinho we'll see what they can do. I still don't think he'll manage to win a CL trophy with Real Madrid in his 2nd time there. 

Madrid chosen to defend the players with big ego instead of getting rid em off. So it's predictable result when they would never able to implement Xabi's system because his system is a team work based. It's not gonna fit to the player who think he's the diva who often dribbled the ball alone like Vini and Mbappe. It's the reason they're getting rid Xabi off the club.

Nevertheless, i won't see different when he's appointing Mourinho back. It's because the current football mechanism is totally different compared to the Mou's peak era more than a decade ago. So i have lesser expectation to them to keep fail in the next season.

Let's see what conflict will happen to them in the future. i'll grab some popcorn and watch players to be benched by mou, then these players will rage.

Mourinho would tame them, just make sure you don't choke on the pop corn when you start laughing at their drama with Mou in charge. They have two options under Mourinho, which is get disciplined and act according to team plan or remain on the bench until you've enough maturity to comply. Xabi had lesser control over his emotions and it got out of hand, but with Mourinho, you'll be the one crying out while he consistently smiles and enjoys himself and even defends you on media that you're just getting some rest time and studying the game better

[LUCKMCFLY]

With the level of players Mourinho has brought to the team, it's possible for Real Madrid to win UCL. Cucurella is a good player at the defense and doesn't allow any attacker to pass through him. Rodri is also going to be part of the team and we know that he's a good midfielder. I expect everything to go smoothly, for Real Madrid next season.

Cucurella himself said that it doesn't matter if Vinicius doesn't play defense, that he'll do the dirty work so Vini can score the goals, which is what interests him. So he's a great guy because not just anyone takes on such a responsibility. But what he says is one thing, and what Mou says is quite another. For me, Mou is the one who knows how to use him and Vini. All of this needs to be channeled for the best.

[SUPERSAIAN]

Xabi Alonso - Real Madrid could have really been a thing if it weren't for the disrespect of some players against him. Starting with Mbappe...

Xabi Alonso just needed time to apply his system fully to the team. I don't believe he is a manager who can't be successful at a top team. But it is what it is...

I just didn't understand them losing time with Arbeloa after. Anyways now with Mourinho we'll see what they can do. I still don't think he'll manage to win a CL trophy with Real Madrid in his 2nd time there. 

Madrid chosen to defend the players with big ego instead of getting rid em off. So it's predictable result when they would never able to implement Xabi's system because his system is a team work based. It's not gonna fit to the player who think he's the diva who often dribbled the ball alone like Vini and Mbappe. It's the reason they're getting rid Xabi off the club.

Nevertheless, i won't see different when he's appointing Mourinho back. It's because the current football mechanism is totally different compared to the Mou's peak era more than a decade ago. So i have lesser expectation to them to keep fail in the next season.

Let's see what conflict will happen to them in the future. i'll grab some popcorn and watch players to be benched by mou, then these players will rage.

Mourinho would tame them, just make sure you don't choke on the pop corn when you start laughing at their drama with Mou in charge. They have two options under Mourinho, which is get disciplined and act according to team plan or remain on the bench until you've enough maturity to comply. Xabi had lesser control over his emotions and it got out of hand, but with Mourinho, you'll be the one crying out while he consistently smiles and enjoys himself and even defends you on media that you're just getting some rest time and studying the game better

Dealing with Mourinho is truly difficult. Throughout his career, one of his greatest qualities has been his ability to rein in even star players when necessary. He's a manager who doesn't hesitate to bench players who break team discipline, regardless of their name. Therefore, he's a good manager at establishing authority in teams with strong-willed but difficult-to-control players. However, my main question mark is the tactical side.

I believe he can maintain discipline and control the dressing room, but that alone doesn't guarantee success.

[Sticky Bomb]

Qualifying Round are very much on the verge to end and some new club are in that's list I see some of the Uzbekistan club are in the UCL new season and I think it will be a good surprise for most of the European team. Last season we seen a Norway club goes in to the Quarter final and shock them most of they team they out the finalists team of last season Inter Milan and also they out Manchester City as well so we see the same surprise as this season Uzbekistan club can do and they are looked very much strong team but technically they are underdogs and give some tough time to the European team.

The term underdog in such competition comes from league rating and the clubs participating in this European leagues tend to underestimate these other clubs from lower leagues and sometimes pays for it dearly. The said underdogs knows they're rated poorly and as such have something to prove in the league. Bodo/Glimt proved it so well last season and became most clubs' nightmare and really got far into the competition and as such they may not be overlooked this time around as they proved their capability last season to a great extent. They would probably be preparing for a better UCL performance next season. I would love to see more underdogs challenge clubs from established leagues. It shows that football in their region are developing rapidly and gaining recognition.

[len01]

-snip

Nevertheless, i won't see different when he's appointing Mourinho back. It's because the current football mechanism is totally different compared to the Mou's peak era more than a decade ago. So i have lesser expectation to them to keep fail in the next season.

Let's see what conflict will happen to them in the future. i'll grab some popcorn and watch players to be benched by mou, then these players will rage.

Well, that's a reasonable statement, and I also have my doubts about how things would turn out under Mourinho. Real Madrid doesn't just need discipline; it also needs a manager who can understand each player's character and build strong chemistry within the squad. That's exactly what Ancelotti managed to do before. Even with players like Bellingham, Vinicius, and Rodrygo, who all wanted to put up big numbers and score goals, the team still looked united and rarely had any internal issues.

I also think there's a chance we could see more drama at Real Madrid in the future.

[Dzwaafu11]

On a side not I am happy that the team of the country where I live from many years qualified to next preliminary round after winning in total 7-2 against Petrocub team. I think we are going to win against Celje too.

Paris Saint-Germain has a complete squad in every department as does Bayern Munich, with Marchinos in defence, Vitinha managing and dictating the tempo in midfield and an attack which in my opinion is the strongest since the days of Cr7, Benzema and Bale. Kwara, Douè and the golden star Dembelè, not to mention the substitutes on the bench of the same caliber.

PSG really has a strong squad, because with the way thing is right now in both champions league and their domestic league PSG is a tpugh opponent to any club in that match.

They have star players that always outstand any pressure coming from their opponents, and with the way things is going there is no team in the world right now that PSG will be scared of facing, they are capable of concurring any team right now.

[PVequalNRT]

On a side not I am happy that the team of the country where I live from many years qualified to next preliminary round after winning in total 7-2 against Petrocub team. I think we are going to win against Celje too.

Paris Saint-Germain has a complete squad in every department as does Bayern Munich, with Marchinos in defence, Vitinha managing and dictating the tempo in midfield and an attack which in my opinion is the strongest since the days of Cr7, Benzema and Bale. Kwara, Douè and the golden star Dembelè, not to mention the substitutes on the bench of the same caliber.

PSG has a good squad and i will not be surprise if they win another champions league next season, the reason why I said that is because they have a good squad depth to extent that some players are not playing many league games, Dembele and some players are not playing many games in the league and allow the players that are not getting injured too much to play the league when it is time for Champions league they will have a good rest to perform well.

PSG always postpone their games when they are playing Champions League while the opponent will play their league game before facing PSG, there is a time that people were complaining about how the FIFA allowed PSG players to rest and postponed their games because of Champions League, i will not be surprised if they win another Champions League and break the record of Real Madrid for winning 3 Champions League in a row.