Power Ranking Every Team in the Knockout Stages of the 2026 UEFA Champions League
Once again, the merits of the expanded 36-team Champions League format were on display on the final matchday.
A thrilling set of 18 simultaneous fixtures saw twists and turns right until the very end, with elation, heartbreak, and Hollywood-like finishes punctuating the conclusion of the League Phase.
Now, eight teams will head straight to the last 16, while another 16 will go through the knockout playoff round.
While those 24 teams are ranked by their results in the campaign's opening stage, that doesn't tell the whole story.
Ahead, we've looked at the wider picture to power rank those outfits, taking domestic form, strength of League Phase opponents, and potential knockout-round meetings into consideration.
24. Monaco
1 of 24
League Phase Finish: 21st
Monaco ground its way into the UCL knockout rounds, with draws against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, and Juventus arguably more crucial to the cause than victories over Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray.
Les Rouge et Blanc scored just eight goals on that journey. Sitting down in 10th in Ligue 1, it would take a brave person to suggest they'll go much further in Europe.
23. Qarabag
2 of 24
League Phase Finish: 22nd
Azeri side Qarabag will head to the first Champions League knockout round in the club's history.
They deserve so much credit for that, scoring notable wins over Benfica and Eintracht Frankfurt along the way.
A 6-0 defeat to Liverpool on the final matchday will be a little deflating, but they will give it absolutely everything against Newcastle or Paris Saint-Germain.
22. Benfica
3 of 24
League Phase Finish: 24th
Wow. What a story.
With seconds remaining on the clock and all the other League Phase games concluded, Benfica needed a single goal against Real Madrid to get them into the knockout phase.
Los Blancos were down to nine men, and the Águias had picked up a soft free kick about 10 yards inside their opponents' half.
Manager José Mourinho waved goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin into the box for the set-piece, and the Ukrainian planted a stunning header past a flailing Thibaut Courtois to send the Portuguese players, fans, and bench into raptures.
This is what football is all about.
That fantastic 4-2 win over the best side in European Cup history will become the stuff of legend. For those who want more drama, a meeting with Real could be on the horizon in the knockout playoffs, and a local derby with Sporting CP is a possibility in the last 16.
With Mourinho at the helm, it might be worth a cheeky flutter on the side from the red half of Lisbon going on an unlikely run to the quarter-finals.
21. Olympiakos
4 of 24
League Phase Finish: 18th
A sprint finish from Olympiakos got them to the knockouts, helped by a collection of low hurdles.
A hat-trick of victories against Kairat, Bayer Leverkusen, and Ajax in their final three games grabbed them an unlikely spot in the next round.
Sitting second in the Greek Super League, the side from Piraeus will be thanking the Gods for bestowing such favor upon them.
It won't get much better than this, though.
20. Club Brugge
5 of 24
League Phase Place: 19th
Club Brugge bookended their UCL League Phase with big results that helped them reach the next stage.
They kicked off the campaign with a 4-1 thrashing of Monaco, but they wouldn't taste victory again until Matchday 7, with a win over Kairat by the same scoreline. They followed that with a 3-0 triumph against Marseille.
Elsewhere, they picked up a creditable 3-3 draw against Barcelona, coming undone because of a 77th-minute own-goal.
It's been a fun ride, but with Atletico or Juventus up next, it's going to come to an abrupt halt.
19. FK Bodø/Glimt
6 of 24
League Phase Place: 23rd
What were the odds of Bodø/Glimt making the knockouts after Matchday 6?
By that point, the Norwegian side had three points and meetings against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid were next on the slate.
Incredibly, they battered the English side 3-1, then came from behind to hand Los Rojiblancos a 2-1 loss.
Simply amazing, and exactly the kind of story UEFA was hoping for when it expanded the competition to include 36 teams.
While neutrals will be quietly hoping for more of the same, the knockouts seem like a bridge too far for the plucky Eliteserien team.
18. Bayer Leverkusen
7 of 24
League Phase Place: 16th
The days of Xabi Alonso's reign look like a long, long time ago.
Bayer Leverkusen can count themselves lucky to have made the UCL knockouts, especially after a 7-2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in Matchday 3.
Things aren't going so well domestically, either, sitting in sixth and as many points away from the relegation zone as the league's summit.
Getting past the knockout playoff looks like a stretch for Die Werkself, never mind the last 16.
17. Atalanta
8 of 24
League Phase Place: 15th
Atalanta were well on course for automatic qualification for the UCL last 16, but back-to-back losses to Athletic Club and Union Saint-Gilloise in their final two games stopped them from even having a sniff.
The Serie A side have had a weird season domestically, starting with seven draws in their first nine games, followed by four losses in their next five. However, in eight games since December 13, they have seven wins.
Betting on which side of Atalanta you'll get is risky. That Jekyll and Hyde routine might spring a surprise in one leg, but it could come back to haunt them in the other.
With Bayern Munich or Arsenal awaiting in the last 16 if they get that far, they need to get things under control if they have any desire to progress.
16. Galatasaray
9 of 24
League Phase Place: 20th
Galatasaray will be frustrated with how their League Phase campaign played out.
Things started badly with a 5-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, but they immediately improved with a 1-0 home win against Liverpool, which came at a time when the Reds were actually in a good moment.
However, a run of one draw and three losses in their last four European outings put paid to hopes of automatic qualification for the last 16.
The Süper Lig leaders will be a wildcard in the knockout playoffs, though, not least because of Victor Osimhen up top, and they shouldn't be underestimated.
15. Borussia Dortmund
10 of 24
League Phase Place: 17th
Borussia Dortmund will be satisfied, but not happy with their UCL form. Progression to the knockouts, in whatever form, is great, but confidence won't exactly be high with no headline wins to speak of.
In the Bundesliga, it's a similar story. Second place and one loss seem impressive behind a dominant Bayern Munich, but the German top flight isn't the strongest at the moment, and a handful of disappointing draws put a big asterisk on their apparently decent position.
With Atalanta or Bayer Leverkusen awaiting in the knockout playoffs, they should be favored to set up a last 16 match against Arsenal or domestic rivals Bayern. But that's where the journey will end.
14. Newcastle United
11 of 24
Newcastle United have beaten the teams they were expected to beat in the UCL and not pulled up trees otherwise.
A win against Paris Saint-Germain on the final matchday could have sealed a last-16 spot, but a 1-1 draw, while creditable on the surface, wasn't enough.
With a Premier League campaign picking up steam, there is hope they are peaking at just the right time. Anything past the round of 16 seems like a long shot, though.
13. Juventus
12 of 24
League Phase Place: 13th
After a difficult start to the season, which resulted in the dismissal of manager Igor Tudor, Juventus are rounding into form under Luciano Spalletti.
That appointment didn't come in time to make qualification to the last 16 possible, but a run of three wins and two draws in five European games since the 66-year-old's appointment dragged the Old Lady to a 13th-place finish.
The Turin side has lost only twice in Serie A since Spalletti's arrival, too, suggesting that their League Phase placement and fifth-place domestic position are not entirely reflective of where they are right now.
Still, they don't get a bump in the Power Ranking stakes, through no real fault of their own.
12. Atletico Madrid
13 of 24
League Phase Place: 14th
You can never truly write Atletico Madrid off in European competition.
The Rojiblancos make things difficult for every team they face in continental action, and that's especially true in the knockout stages.
Their League Phase campaign came undone in the final stretch, with a draw against Galatasaray and a surprising loss to Bodo/Glimt on Matchdays 7 and 8, respectively, denying them the points needed to secure an automatic last-16 berth.
That means an extra two matches for Diego Simeone's side, although they might benefit from the additional battles in a bid to gain some momentum.
11. Tottenham Hotspur
14 of 24
11. Tottenham Hotspur
League Phase Place: 4th
Somehow, Tottenham Hotspur finished the League Phase in fourth, qualifying automatically for the last 16.
In a woeful Premier League campaign, the Lilywhites are down in 14th place, but their performances in Europe are much better than what they've shown domestically.
The situation bears a mild resemblance to last season, in which they stumbled to a 17th-place top-flight finish but ended the campaign with a Europa League trophy.
There's surely no way they can repeat the trick again. After a UCL gauntlet that has featured just Paris Saint-Germain as a big-name opponent—in a game they lost 5-3 in the French capital—it's hard to see them making it much further than the last 16.
They may have placed highly in the League Phase, but they don't get the benefit of the doubt here.
10. Sporting CP
15 of 24
League Phase Place: 7th
Sporting CP squeaked into the UCL last 16 with a last-gasp victory over Athletic Club on the final League Phase matchday.
That's a huge result for the Portuguese side, which has a very real chance of reaching a European Cup quarter-final for the first time since 1983.
The Leões remain Porto's closest challengers in the Primeira Liga, but they sit seven points back of the Dragões. That means all their eggs could go into the European basket, no matter how unlikely it would be to take the title.
They will take every confidence from beating reigning UCL champions Paris Saint-Germain in Matchday 7, and they could yet spring a surprise against another European heavyweight
9. Real Madrid
16 of 24
League Phase Place: 9th
Real Madrid simply aren't the Real Madrid we've come to recognize from the last few decades.
While the internal power struggles might be familiar, Los Blancos' failure to qualify automatically for the UCL last 16 is shocking for a side loaded with talent and boasting a serious European pedigree.
It's difficult to trust manager Alvaro Arbeloa to bring them to ultimate glory. A 4-2 loss to Benfica on the final matchday of the League Phase, when a victory was essential, is not the kind of ruthlessness we'd expect, and the manager, ultimately, has to shoulder much of the blame.
The Spaniard has impressed in his time with the Castilla side, but this is his first foray into senior management, and it will be remarkable if he can somehow guide the storied club to a 16th European Cup title with so little experience on his side.
Whether the players can get behind him is another matter entirely, and he might find it difficult to corral the collection of egos to form a cohesive European assault—and the task just became much more difficult.
8. Liverpool
17 of 24
League Phase Place: 3rd
Liverpool's supposed age of dominance was surprisingly short-lived, with the Reds stumbling in domestic action and trailing the Premier League front-runners by 14 points.
But Europe has offered some respite from a tricky time in the English top flight. While they suffered shocking defeats to Galatasaray and PSV Eindhoven, the latter by a 4-1 margin, they picked up impressive wins against both Madrid sides and Internazionale.
Since a Premier League resurgence is unlikely this season, the Reds can focus on the Champions League instead, perhaps resting weary legs before crucial European games.
However, with little squad coherence and a defensive injury crisis, it's tough to put too much stock in the Reds' chances of getting past the quarter-final stage.
7. Chelsea
18 of 24
League Phase Place: 6th
Chelsea's season has been turbulent, but there have been early positives under Liam Rosenior's guidance.
In six matches in charge, he's lost just once to Arsenal, and he concluded the club's European campaign with two wins from two and a sixth-place finish in the League Phase.
While that sample size is too small to indicate that form will continue and lead to progression to the latter stages of the competition, it is at least encouraging.
It's difficult to know quite what will happen next with the Blues, but if you take things at face value, they are into the UCL last 16 and are the third-best English team in the competition based on their Premier League placing. That certainly helps in Power Ranking terms.
6. Inter Milan
19 of 24
League Phase Place: 10th
Last season's beaten UCL finalists could only secure a place in the knockout playoffs, but much of that is down to a brutal trio of fixtures in the competition.
From Matchday 5 to Matchday 7, they faced Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, and Arsenal, suffering a bruising three-game losing streak.
But the Italian side won their other five European meetings, albeit against lesser competition, which makes their 10th-place finish in the League Phase seem a little harsh on the surface.
The Nerazzurri are top of Serie A and haven't been beaten in the Italian top flight since November. Manager Cristian Chivu is starting to find a groove within the squad, and while they will be tested by either Benfica or Bodo/Glimt in their next European outing, they should progress with ease based on recent form.
5. Manchester City
20 of 24
League Phase Place: 8th
Manchester City land in fifth in this Power Ranking, not so much because of their own form, but because of the form and circumstances of those around them.
They scraped qualification to the UCL last 16 by a point. While their League Phase run included victories over Real Madrid and Napoli, it also featured defeats to Bodo/Glimt and Bayer Leverkusen.
The Citizens are also struggling domestically, with just 14 wins from 23 games and only one league victory in 2026, which came against bottom-club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They are still second in the Premier League, though.
While all that is baffling, especially for a club with abundant resources and a recent history of dominance, it would be difficult to rank many other clubs in their European orbit higher when everything is taken into account.
4. Paris Saint-Germain
21 of 24
League Phase Place: 11th
Paris Saint-Germain are having a curious campaign.
After winning a quadruple last season, they have been less dominant than usual in Ligue 1—succumbing to three draws and two defeats in 19 games—have been knocked out of the Coupe de France in the round of 32, and finished just 11th in the UCL League Phase, requiring a trip through the knockout playoffs.
That European form bears some resemblance to their 15th-place finish in the first phase in 2024-25. Of course, from there, they went on to win the whole thing.
Fourth place in the Power Ranking might seem generous, but it's important to remember that "Power" is a keyword, and the reigning UCL champions have that as it stands.
The Parisiens won't be phased by having to play a couple of extra European games, as they've done it all before. With at least one less domestic competition to worry about, too, they have the bandwidth to make those additional European fixtures work.
3. FC Barcelona
22 of 24
League Phase Place: 5th
Barcelona disappointed in the League Phase, suffering defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea and coming from behind to grab a 3-3 draw against Club Brugge.
However, the Blaugrana still sealed automatic qualification for the last 16 with a fifth-place finish, underscoring how forgiving this tournament format can be for the bigger teams.
While a record of five wins from eight games in the opening stage might not suggest third place in the Power Ranking is deserved, they are the La Liga leaders, albeit by a point, and scored the joint-second-most goals in the League Phase.
Manager Hansi Flick already has a Champions League title to his name from his time with Bayern Munich, and that experience counts for a lot when navigating knockout football.
2. Bayern Munich
23 of 24
League Phase Place: 2nd
Bayern Munich are surely unassailable at the top of the Bundesliga, having been beaten just once in 19 games. However, that does make a second-place finish in the UCL League Phase a mild disappointment.
The German giants have also suffered just one defeat during their European campaign. While a loss to Arsenal isn't exactly embarrassing, they will be concerned that they were toppled so comprehensively by the tournament favorites and what that means for their hopes of winning the whole thing.
Bayern were the joint-second top-scoring team in the League Phase, thanks to a terrifying frontline featuring Harry Kane, Luis Diaz, and Michael Olise. That trio will be a handful for any opponent in the upcoming stages, but that attacking danger can't come at the expense of defensive solidity.
Bayern will need to guard against complacency in the knockouts, but, with all due respect to the rest of the Bundesliga, they have to do that every week anyway.
They have the mentality and talent to win their first European trophy since 2020 and their seventh overall. One team looks more likely to take the title, though.
1. Arsenal
24 of 24
League Phase Place: 1st
Eight Champions League games, eight wins for Arsenal. You can't really ask for more than that.
While the Premier League leaders will be delighted with that run, it's worth remembering one key point: Last year's League Phase winners, Liverpool, were dumped out in their first knockout-round game to Paris Saint-Germain.
That was a remarkable PSG team that went on to win the tournament after a slow start to the opening phase, mind you, but the point remains.
The London outfit has incredible strength in depth, headlined by a formidable back line that conceded just four in the League Phase.
The Gunners also scored the most in the opening stage, demonstrating that they are to be feared at both ends of the pitch.
There's still a long way to go, and form pretty much goes out of the window in knockout football. But, right now, Arsenal are the team to beat.
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