Five on nine: Champions League after matchday three
Three matchdays of the Champions League league phase are done, and the 36-team table has started to sort itself into layers. Five clubs have won all three of their matches. One is unbeaten and outside the top eight. Three have lost all three and already need a run that the format makes difficult.
The table below is the competition as it stands after Wednesday's matches, with every club on three games played.
Where the league phase stands
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Saint-Germain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 9 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 9 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 9 |
| 4 | Real Madrid | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 9 |
| 5 | Real Betis | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 9 |
| 6 | VfB Stuttgart | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 7 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 |
| 8 | Barcelona | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 6 |
| 9 | Como | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 6 |
| 10 | Manchester City | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 6 |
Nine points is the maximum, and five clubs have it. Goal difference is what separates them, which is why PSG's 14 goals put them above Villa despite an identical record of three wins and a goal difference of plus nine.
Every club has played the same number of games, which makes the table unusually clean at this stage: no games in hand, no postponed fixtures, and goal difference as the only tiebreak between clubs on the same total.
The competition has produced 221 goals in 54 matches, an average of 4.09 per game, and the top of the table reflects that: the five clubs on nine points have scored 55 between them.
The five on nine
PSG beat Barcelona 4-2 on Tuesday and have now scored 14 in three matches, the highest total in the competition. Villa's 3-1 win over Viking on Wednesday made it 12 scored and three conceded. Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 in a game that produced seven goals and no clean sheet, and Real Madrid's 4-1 win over RB Leipzig kept them level with the leaders on points.
Real Betis are the outlier of the group: three wins, seven goals scored, four conceded, and a goal difference of plus three. They have won without the margins the others have built, and the table puts them fifth because of it.
For all five, the arithmetic of the league phase is now friendly. The top eight go straight to the last 16 and the clubs from ninth to 24th enter a play-off. LASK Linz currently hold 24th place on three points, so nine points from three matches means a club needs very little from its last five to stay above that line, and two more wins would make the top eight close to certain.
Unbeaten and outside the top eight
The table's most interesting line is not at the top. Bayern Munich have not lost a European match this season: 10 goals scored, five conceded, one win and two draws, five points, 14th place. They drew 2-2 with Arsenal on Wednesday after coming from behind to lead, and a win would have put them inside the top eight.
Arsenal and Stuttgart are the other unbeaten sides, both on seven points and both in the top eight. Fifth place has nine points and 14th has five, a gap of one win and one draw. In a league phase where only the top eight avoid the play-off, a draw is not a neutral result. It is half a win and a full missed opportunity.
The bottom is already a problem
Porto have lost all three, scoring twice and conceding six. Lille have lost all three and conceded 10. Slovan Bratislava have lost all three with one goal scored and 13 conceded, the worst record in the competition. On zero points, all three need a minimum of four wins from five to reach 12.
Fenerbahce, Slavia Prague and Viking have one or two points and are not yet in that position, but the margin for error is thin. A club on two points after three games has to win at least three of its remaining five to have a realistic chance of the play-off, and the clubs on three points are already looking at the cut line rather than the top eight.
What the table does not show
Fixture difficulty is invisible here. Barcelona are eighth on six points after a 4-2 defeat in Paris, with 11 goals, the fourth-highest total in the competition. Como are ninth with 10 goals after beating Manchester United 4-1. City are 10th despite a 5-1 win over AEK Athens. Each of the three has one defeat and a goal difference of plus four or better, and each would be higher with a kinder draw.
Inter have three points and sit 20th after a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk, which says more about their first two results than about Wednesday. The full standings, including the clubs outside this top ten, are on the tables page and update every morning.
What matchday four needs
The five clubs on nine need to protect a position rather than chase one. The unbeaten trio need wins to convert avoidable draws into top-eight places. The three on zero need to start winning immediately, and the clubs in between need to decide whether they are chasing the top eight or defending a play-off spot.
The league phase rewards teams that win the matches they should win and does not punish a single bad night too heavily. That is why the table after three games already looks like a ranking of intent: five clubs have won everything, two have won everything except one draw, and the rest are living with the consequences. The Champions League page has the fixtures for the next round, and the Premier League table shows which of these clubs arrive at the weekend in the better domestic shape.
- Maximum after three matchdays: nine points, reached by PSG, Villa, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Betis.
- Unbeaten but outside the top eight: Bayern Munich, 14th on five points.
- Still without a point: Porto, Lille and Slovan Bratislava.
- Best attack: PSG with 14 goals. Worst defence: Slovan Bratislava with 13 conceded.