UEFA Champions League rankings: Who are the favorites for 2026-27 title?

The 2026-27 UEFA Champions League season is about to kick off its group stage and there are 36 teams aiming to win it all. MORE — Full Champions League schedule, scores But who are the legit contenders? Can a dark horse emerge to win it all? And who are the outsiders hoping to sneak into the top 24 to reach the knockout rounds? UEFA Champions League rankings for 2026-27 season Below we rank the 36 teams in the UEFA Champions League league phase based on their strength and how they will fare in this competition. We will update these rankings after each round of matches in the competition this season. The underdogs 36. Sabah 35. Viking 34. LASK 33. Slovan Bratislava 32. Slavia Prague 31. AEK Athens 30. Shakhtar Donetsk 29. Lille 28. Feyenoord 27. Bodo/Glimt 26. Sporting Lisbon 25. Fenerbahce The knockout round hopefuls 24. Aston Villa 23. Club Brugge 22. PSV Eindhoven 21. RB Leipzig 20. Galatasaray 19. Lens 18. Villarreal 17. Roma 16. Como 15. Stuttgart The dark horses 14. Porto 13. Real Betis 12. Manchester United 11. Borussia Dortmund 10. Napoli 9. Liverpool 8. Atletico Madrid The legit contenders 7. Inter Milan 6. Real Madrid 5. Manchester City 4. Barcelona 3. Bayern Munich 2. Paris Saint-Germain 1. Arsenal