Liverpool edge Atlético as Barcelona, Paris and Arsenal make winning starts

Matchday 1 came to a close on Thursday, with a night of extraordinary goals across Europe. Manchester United marked their return to the Champions League with a 4-0 victory over Sabah, while Bayern were also big winners, beating Bodø/Glimt 5-0 in Bavaria.Como shone on their Champions League debut, with an impressive 4-1 victory over Leipzig, and Lens left it late in Prague to come from behind, scoring twice after 90 minutes to beat Slavia Praha.The early kick-offs saw ties in both matches, with Fenerbahçe, Roma, PSV and Shakhtar all earning a point on their opening night.We hear from Benjamin Šeško, Patrick Dorgu, Valdas Dambrauskas and Ivan Perišić

Wednesday night delivered another evening of high drama and great goals.  Liverpool edged Atlético de Madrid 2-1 at Anfield thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s superb second-half strike. We hear from the match-winner, plus UEFA Player of the Match Dominik Szoboszlai. Meanwhile, Paris began their title defence in fine style, scoring six against Slovan Bratislava. Last season’s runners-up Arsenal, Barcelona, Stuttgart and Sporting CP also claimed victories to open their campaignsPlus, we look ahead to Thursday’s  fixtures, including Manchester United’s return to the Champions League against debutants Sabah.

The Champions League kicked back into action in style on Tuesday with 21 goals across the six matches. In our featured commentary, Real Madrid edged an end-to-end encounter against Inter, running out 2-1 winners thanks to first-half goals from Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde. Carlos Augusto responded for the Italians in the second half but the 15-time champions held on to start their campaign with a victory. Elsewhere, Erling Haaland was the match-winner in Portugal for Manchester City, scoring both goals in an impressive 2-0 victory against Porto - we hear from the Norwegian striker. Borussia Dortmund saw off a spirited Villarreal side, with two late Serhou Guirassy goals sealing a 3-2 win for the Germans. And in France, 10-man Lille surrendered a first-half lead to go down 3-2 to Real Betis, with Irishman Troy Parrott grabbing the winner for the Spaniards. Meanwhile in the two early kick-offs, AEK Athens overcame LASK 1-0 in Greece and Aston Villa hung on to beat Club Brugge 3-2 in Belgium.   Chris Parrott, Kevin Hatchard and Richard Connelly review all the night’s action and look ahead to Wednesday night’s matches, including Liverpool vs Atleti, Napoli vs Arsenal and the start of Paris Saint-Germain’s title defence as they host Slovan Bratislava.

It was an evening of high drama in Budapest as Paris Saint-Germain edged out Arsenal 4-3 on penalties to secure back-to-back Champions League titles.Kai Havertz gave Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side the perfect start with a superb sixth-minute finish; a lead they held onto until midway through the second half when Ousmane Dembélé equalised for Paris with a clinical penalty after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was fouled in the box. It finished 1-1 at full time, and stayed that way during extra time, to take the final to penalties for the first time since 2016. And in the shootout, Paris emerged victorious, misses from Eberechi Eze and Gabriel proving pivotal as the French side won 4-3 on penalties to claim successive Champions League triumphs.We look back on a fascinating showpiece in Budapest and get reaction from the winning camp, hearing from Désiré Doué and Illia Zabarnyi. Plus, we look back on what was an enthralling 2025/26 competition.

Budapest’s Champions League final will see Paris Saint-Germain face Arsenal. Paris put on an away masterclass in Munich, holding Bayern 1-1 on the night, to triumph 6-5 on aggregate, and progress to back-to-back Champions League finals. It was Ousmane Dembélé’s 3rd-minute strike that proved pivotal, with an added-time Harry Kane strike giving Bayern late hope, but it was the defending champions who held on to book their place in the Budapest showpiece. We look back on a fascinating semi-final second leg and get reaction from Paris midfielder João Neves. We then look ahead to what’s sure to be a mouth-watering final in Hungary at the end of May – will Paris defend their trophy? Or will Arsenal claim their first ever European Cup?

We now have our first UEFA Champions League finalist. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side battled past Diego Simeone’s Atleti team in two tightly fought semi-final encounters to emerge 2-1 aggregate winners. The match-winner on the night in north London was Bukayo Saka, whose first-half goal secured the Gunners a decisive 1-0 second leg victory to see them progress to their first Champions League final since 2006.   We dissect all the action on a nervy night in north London and get reaction to Arsenal reaching the Budapest showpiece at the end of May, hearing from goalscorer Saka and their delighted manager Mikel Arteta.  We also look ahead to Wednesday’s tantalising semi-final second leg in Munich, where Bayern look to overturn an extraordinary 5-4 first leg deficit against defending champions Paris Saint-Germain. 

Wednesday night’s semi-final first leg between Atlético de Madrid and Arsenal ended in a stalemate after spot kicks for both sides saw the match end 1-1.    Arsenal took the lead late in the first half thanks to Viktor Gyökeres’ penalty but Julián Alvarez was later handed the opportunity to draw the hosts level. The Argentinian fired his shot home to send the Atleti fans into jubilation, and set up next Tuesday’s second leg showdown in north London.   In the podcast we hear from Arsenal’s Gyökeres and Atleti’s goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

The semi-finals kicked off on Tuesday with an electric first leg between two European giants.   It was UEFA Champions League football at a relentless pace as Paris and Bayern poured in nine goals from seven different players. The breathless tie featured non-stop action with the hosts capturing victory at the Parc des Princes and taking a 5-4 lead into the second leg.  Natalie Sawyer, Kevin Hatchard and John Bradley break down the historic match and look ahead to Wednesday’s semi-final clash at the Estadio Metropolitano where Arsenal and Atleti will battle to gain the advantage before a return trip to London.  

Some of the world’s best footballers put on a spectacular show on Wednesday night as the semi-final line-up for this season’s UEFA Champions League was confirmed.   In Germany, Bayern and Real Madrid played out an all-time Champions League classic, both displaying the strength of their attacking talent in a second leg where the momentum shifted with breathtaking regularity. After five goals in the first 45 minutes left the tie level on aggregate at half-time, it was Luis Díaz and Michael Olise who had the final say - both scoring late in the second half to send Bayern through to the last four with a 4-3 win on the night and a 6-4 aggregate victory. We hear from UEFA Player of the Match Michael Olise on the podcast.Meanwhile in London, defences were on top as Arsenal and Sporting played out a hard-fought 0-0 draw, with the Gunners progressing courtesy of their 1-0 first leg win. Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice shares his thoughts after the match.We review all the action and preview the semi-final contests as the battle for European club football’s biggest prize continues nears an exciting conclusion. 

It was a tense Tuesday night in the UEFA Champions League as this season’s first two semi-finalists were confirmed.   At Anfield, Liverpool set out to overturn a two-goal first leg deficit and did all but score in an impressive display against the defending champions. Ultimately though, Paris progressed, scoring two late counterattack goals through Ousmane Dembele, to win 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate. We hear from Paris goalkeeper Matvéi Safónov and the Liverpool manager Arne Slot. Meanwhile in Madrid, Atleti and Barça played out a pulsating end-to-end encounter with Atleti eventually squeezing past their Spanish rivals 3-2 on aggregate. Barça started in style, scoring twice within the first 25 minutes, with clinical strikes from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres, to level the tie at 2-2. However, Atleti responded with an Ademola Lookman goal to make it 1-2 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate - and Diego Simeone’s side hung on for a famous quarter-final victory.  We analyse all of the action and look ahead to Wednesday night’s two quarter-final second legs, both of which are fascinatingly poised.