It is arguably the biggest footballing tournament in the world - perhaps only second to the World Cup - and this year, the Champions League will be certainly bigger than ever. Why? Well, for starters, the top four leagues will have four teams participating in it for the first time. That means that Serie A fans finally get to see four teams representing Italian football's top flight for the first time in several seasons. 16 teams from Germany, Italy, Spain, and England will make up the 32 sides, with 16 others coming from France, Portugal, and other leagues including Belgium, Turkey, and more.
When does the UEFA Champions League start?
With the play-off rounds now out of the way, the group stages will get underway on September 18 and September 19th.
Here are the key dates for the group stages to put on your calendar:
-
Matchday 2: October 2 & 3
-
Matchday 3: October 23 & 24
-
Matchday 4: November 6 & 7
-
Matchday 5: November 27 & 28
-
Matchday 6: December 11 & 12
After that, it is on to the knockout rounds, which will take place in 2019.
Here are the dates to note for the round of 16 and beyond.
-
Round of 16: First legs on February 12, 13, 19, 20th and second legs on March 5, 6, 12, 13th
-
Quarter-finals: First legs on April 9th and 10th second legs on April 16th and 17th
-
Semi-finals: First legs on April 30th and May 1st and second legs on May 7th and 8th
-
Finals: June 1st at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain
Which teams are playing the UEFA Champions League?
A total of 32 teams will be featuring in the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League. They are:
- Real Madrid
- Atletico Madrid
- Barcelona
- Valencia
- Juventus
- Napoli
- Roma
- Inter
- Manchester United
- Manchester City
- Tottenham
- Liverpool
- Monaco
- PSG
- Lyon
- Bayern Munich
- Borussia Dortmund
- Schalke
- Hoffenheim
- Benfica
- Porto
- Ajax
- AEK Athens
- PSV
- Club Brugge
- Viktoria Plzeň
- Galatasaray
- Young Boys
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Lokomotiv Moscow
- CSKA Moscow
- Red Star Belgrade
Who are the current champions?
Real Madrid are the current champions. The capital-based club have won the past three editions of the tournament dating back to 2016, and will be hoping to win it for a fourth straight time in 2019. Prior to this achievement, the last club to have won three straight titles was Bayern Munich back in the 1970's, when they won it in 1974, 1975, and 1976. However, Real Madrid are the first club to win three straight titles since the tournament was re-formatted in 1992.
What are the UEFA Champions League channels (TV, online streaming, and on-demand)?
Watch UEFA Champions League in the USA:
TV: TNT USA, Univision Deportes Network
Online streaming: fuboTV (Subscription), Watch TNT (Authentication), Bleacher Report Live (Subscription), Univision Deportes En Vivo (Authentication),
On-demand: fuboTV, Bleacher Report Live, Univision Deportes En Vivo
Watch UEFA Champions League in Canada:
Online streaming and On-demand: DAZN Canada
Watch UEFA Champions League in the UK:
TV: BT Sport
Online streaming: BT Sport Live
On-demand: BT Sport Live
In Italy:
TV: Sky Sport Italia, RAI
Online streaming and On-demand: Sky Go Italia, RAI Play
In Germany:
Online streaming and On-demand:
Sky Go Deutschland, DAZN Europe
In France:
TV: RMC Sport
Online streaming and On-demand: RMC Sport Direct
In Spain:
TV: Movistar TV channels
Online streaming and On-demand: Movistar+
In Portugal:
TV: Eleven Sports Portugal and TVi
Online streaming and On-demand: Eleven Sports Portugal
