Tag: Champions League

Arda Guler quietly set a Champions League playmaking record
25Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
News

Arda Guler quietly set a Champions League playmaking record

Arda Guler is almost silently putting together an incredible season for Real Madrid as a provider, and according to statistics by Squawka, the Turkish international's 25 chances created in the current Champions League campaign are the most ever by a player younger than 21 to start the season in the history of the competition. This season, Guler has registered four assists in the Champions League with a robust 2.8 key passes per game, meanwhile, the attacking midfielder is also having a stellar La Liga season with 7 assists and 2.2 key passes per match in a highly defensive league. Initially a right winger at the Santiago Bernabeu, Guler has found his home as either a deep-lying playmaker or an attacking playmaker, thriving with the intelligence of passing that we haven't seen out of ...
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2025/26 Champions League Power Rankings after first leg of playoffs
20Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

2025/26 Champions League Power Rankings after first leg of playoffs

The first leg of the playoffs before the Champions League Round of 16 have been completed, and already, clubs like Juventus and Qarabag look to be out of it entirely after suffering blowout losses. Meanwhile, other notable clubs like Atalanta and Inter Milan are very much on the ropes, while Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid remain in tight contests after the first leg. Clubs on bye weeks are sitting pretty right now, but even contenders like Liverpool and PSG will be on high alert amidst disappointing seasons in their respective league campaigns. Following another week of thrilling Champions League action, let's take a look at the latest power rankings, picking the top 10 teams in the competition thus far with the best chance of winning it all. 10. Borussia Dor...
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Every 2025/26 Champions League contender’s biggest X-Factor
20Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every 2025/26 Champions League contender’s biggest X-Factor

The Champions League is the time for all the brightest stars to come out and write their legacies in leading their clubs to victory, as the biggest legends of the modern game like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos, and so many others have taken the opportunity to etch their names in history with remarkable Champions League campaigns. But Champions Leagues are also just as much about the X-Factors who step up in key moments or have career years to defy expectations. This is where the Alvaro Moratas, the Francesco Acerbis, and the John Stoneses of the world make their mark. Who could be the biggest X-Factors in the 2025/26 Champions League campaign? Here are eight players to watch from the ...
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2025/26 Ballon d’Or Power Rankings after Matchday 1 of the Champions League
20Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

2025/26 Ballon d’Or Power Rankings after Matchday 1 of the Champions League

Even though we haven't learned who the official Ballon d'Or winner of the 2024/25 season is as Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Demebele fight for the award, all of the European leagues have played at least three games domestically and the first Matchday of the 2025/26 Champions League is already completed. So now is a good time to start the Ballon d'Or Power Rankings as an early barometer of the season to come for key individuals and breakout stars in European football this season. Since it's extremely difficult for defensive players to carry the team, go above and beyond, and capture the imagination of fans and the voters, this list is heavily skewed towards attacking players. You'll also find no players from Ligue 1 or the Premier League in this top 10. There's no bias in these leagues...
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Champions League Predictions: 5 clubs at greatest risk of facing complete turmoil in 2025/26 season
3Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Champions League Predictions: 5 clubs at greatest risk of facing complete turmoil in 2025/26 season

The 2025/26 Champions League campaign will officially begin in a matter of weeks with the league phase, as the summer 2025 transfer window has been wrapped up and sealed with a bow. Most of the big players in the Champions League, like Liverpool and Real Madrid, were also major buyers on the transfer market, as superstars like Alexander Isak and Trent Alexander-Arnold moved around this summer window. The Premier League's Big Six, in particular, were big spenders, proving the notion that the Super League is really just the biggest clubs in the Premier League isn't just a prognostication for the future; it's already rapidly happening in front of us. But as teams head into the 2025/26 season with boatloads of optimism, there is reason for trepidation among some of European football's...
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Champions League Power Rankings: The 10 best managers for the 2025/26 season
30Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Champions League Power Rankings: The 10 best managers for the 2025/26 season

The 2025/26 Champions League draw for the league phase is set, with the matches to begin next month in mid-September, and it's anyone's guess as to how this year's tournament will ultimately play out. Obviously, the players are the one who play the game, but the spotlight has become increasingly focused on the manager, and there's no one style that makes someone successful in the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti won two of the last four Champions League titles on chaos, Pep Guardiola won one on structure while embracing the virtues of a free-scoring No. 9 in Erling Haaland, and Luis Enrique finally brought the big one to Paris by embracing a more team-oriented playing style without Kylian Mbappe. It's not easy ranking managers at baseline, but ranking them from different leagues ...
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Champions League Power Rankings: The top 12 strikers before the 2025/26 season
30Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Champions League Power Rankings: The top 12 strikers before the 2025/26 season

There isn't a single position on the football pitch that receives as much attention as the striker position, It is the marquee position, because there's a school of thought that every great team needs a great player who can finish off the goals. Although Real Madrid have won a Champions League title in recent years without a true No. 9 and Manchester City have won the Premier League without one, those are exceptions to the rule. Because Real Madrid have also dropped Champions League titles without a true top goal-scorer, while Manchester City only became Champions League winners after they added Erling Haaland, a record-breaking striker. Ahead of the 2025/26 Champions League season, which will officially begin next month with the league phase, let's do an intial power ranking of t...
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Champions League Power Rankings: The 5 most likely first-time winners
24Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Champions League Power Rankings: The 5 most likely first-time winners

The usual suspects are the favorites to win the 2025/26 Champions League, with reigning champions PSG joining the holy trinity of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, as well as last year's Premier League winners Liverpool, as the top five favorites to conquer European football this season. However, what's just as interesting is talking about which teams could break through and win their first Champions League title in history. And not all of those teams are underdogs, as sides like Atletico Madrid that have been regulars or Premier League title contenders Arsenal are also among the list of teams still seeking their first taste of the very summit of European football. Perhaps the 2025/26 Champions League season will be the one that gets one of these historic clubs off the schne...
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Champions League Predictions: Biggest threat to win title from each top 5 league in 2025/26
23Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Champions League Predictions: Biggest threat to win title from each top 5 league in 2025/26

The 2025/26 Champions League season is still in its play-off stages for another week, but on Aug. 28, those matches will end and the league phase will be finalized, setting in motion the start of the second campaign in this new format. PSG finally conquered European football last season in their first one without superstar Kylian Mbappe - or Neymar for that matter - following a more team-oriented approach under Luis Enrique. They will no doubt be the favorites again this season, but as in any year, the field is wide open with so many great contenders around European football. Before the 2025/26 Champions League campaign truly gets underway in mid-September with the first league phase matches, let's start with some predictions. Some leagues are more clear-cut than others - looking ...
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Every Champions League contender’s best Ballon d’Or candidate for 2025/26
9Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every Champions League contender’s best Ballon d’Or candidate for 2025/26

PSG took everyone by surprise and conquered the 2024/25 Champions League, and although their triumph of world football's premier club competition was marked by a transition to a more team-oriented setup after the departure of Kylian Mbappe, the Parisians still had one of the Ballon d'Or favorites from the campaign in the resurrected form of a more mature Ousmane Dembele. Every high-achieving club needs at least one superstar to lead the way, and in 2025/26, there's a wide open slate of contenders of the Champions League crown, whether it's the defending champions PSG or the competition's record-holding champions Real Madrid. So in that spirit, let's take a preview of what could unfold in the 2025/26 and name every Champions League title contender's best shot at capturing the Ballon d...
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