Champions League Power Rankings: Real Madrid are defending champions while Manchester City lead the pack

RankTeamAnalysis1Manchester CityThe bottom line is as long as Erling Haaland is on the pitch, Manchester City will have a chance at winning a Champions League title. While he hasn’t always shown up in the biggest games for City, he does more than enough to get them there and that’s enough to top Power Rankings at this point.2Bayern MunichRediscovering their attack under Vincent Kompany, Bayern Munich is a team that no one will want to face. They still need to be tested by the world’s best sides but it’s hard to ask for a better start than how they’ve kicked off.3BarcelonaIn almost the same situation as Bayern, Barcelona are enjoying life under Hansi Flick. Teenager Lamine Yamal is coming into his own and Robert Lewandoski seemingly doesn’t age. Depth is a concern in this side but their first XI is tough to stop.4Real MadridLos Blancos haven’t gotten off to an ideal start to the young season, but the second that Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior are able to click and interchange in the attack, Real Madrid will immediately jump to become the most dangerous team in the world.5ArsenalArsenal are one of the best teams in the world, but they’ve yet to prove that they have the upside of some of the sides ahead of them. If everything goes their way, the Gunners can win the Champions League, but what do they do as a backup plan?6Paris Saint-GermainWith Mbappe gone, the PSG attack has been about spreading the love. There’s no single key to attacking and that’s what makes them so dangerous.7InterWhen it comes down to the final teams remaining in Champions Leauge, Inter will be there, but Lautaro Martinez needs to take a step forward this season if the Italian side are to win the entire tournament.8LiverpoolSo far the Arne Slot era has gotten off to a good start, but bringing on European soccer will test the Reds’ depth to see what they can do over the course of the season.9JuventusWhile Juventus haven’t hit top gear under Thiago Motta yet, the defensive improvements will make them a tough out in European play.10Atletico MadridAnother team that’s working on gelling after adding quite a few new faces, this isn’t the Atleti of old that will grind out defensive games, they want to hit you on the break and turn matches into shootouts whenever it’s possible.11Bayer LeverkusenThe undefeated streaks have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean that Leverkusen won’t be a threat, getting the experience of making the Europa League final under their belts last season will be critical to managing another European voyage.12AtalantaThere may be different faces under Gian Piero Gasperini, but this is a tested Atalanta side that won’t be an easy out for anyone.13Sporting Club LisbonViktor Gyokeres has been unreal for Sporting and they were able to hold their team together while also keeping Ruben Amorim in charge as well. Watching Sporting will be a true test of where the Portuguese league is as a whole.14RB LeipzigChampions League regulars now, it’s expected for the German side to be one of the last 16 teams standing, but can they break through to go further after attacker Dani Olmo left for Barca?15BenficaBenfica is another side that has gone through a lot of change but will need Vangelis Pavlidis to start putting the ball in the back of the net regularly to avoid a repeat of last season’s disappointment.16Borussia DortmundNew manager, new striker, same unknown style. Dortmund could finish inside the top ten or outside of the top 20 and neither would be surprising so 16 feels right.17MilanThis is Dortmund but worse. Milan have been mostly poor under Paulo Fonseca but their attack is also too good to count out of games.18PSVPSV are becoming a Dutch power. Not able to be counted out of games, they’ll be a team that benefits greatly from the new format.19LilleMonaco may be above Lille in the early Ligue 1 table, but it feels like Lille has more upside in Champions League play. This is the stage where we’re reaching teams who are mostly happy to be here.20Aston VillaIf Aston Villa can overcome depth concerns, they’re going to make this ranking look silly but so early on it’s hard to know if they can be trusted to manage UCL alongside Premier League play. Look at Newcastle United  crashing out last in the group stage last season for an example.21MonacoMonaco should make the knockouts boasting a stout defense and varied attackers but they also fall into the depth concern category.22GironaWelcome to the Champions League, the reward is needing to replace multiple key attackers and get everyone up to speed quickly. Girona are doing well all things considered, but when they already had defensive issues, can they balance both while winning matches?23BolognaAnother team that was gutted upon making the Champions League and is even under new management. It’s hard to see Bologna making a deep run.24BrestScoring and conceding for fun, Brest games will be must watch affairs, but usually, fun teams don’t last long in this s competition. 25VfB StuttgartSee above. Enzo Millot and Chris Fulrich are must watch players.26CelticDominating the Scottish Premiership again, Celtic needs to be able to translate that to competing in Europe. 27Club BruggeBrugge have the talent to be a surprise side in the tournament, but they’ll need to get a new gear out of Christos Tzolis to do it.28Dinamo ZagrebZagreb can put the ball in the back of the net, but for almost every team in this territory, they need to show that they can perform outside of their domestic league. There’s more pressure now since teams won’t drop down to the Europa League.29Crvena zvezdaBoasting one of the best homefield advantages in soccer, Crvena zvezda will get an upset or two but how will they perform on the road?30Sparta PrahaThe Czech first division has improved with Sparta being one of three teams that are regulars in European play. This is one of the teams in this range who can pull a few surprises. 31Slovan BratislavaIt’s a first time appearance for Slovan in the group stage of UCL play. Kicking off against Celtic will be a good test for if it will be a quick appearance or not in the tournament. 32Shakhtar DonetskStill unable to play matches at their home stadium in Ukraine and struggling with transfers, this isn’t the Shakhtar who were regulars in the last 16 but that doesn’t mean that they won’t make things interesting.33RB SalzburgAnother fun team so you know where this is going, right back to Austria.34Young BoysYoung Boys can win a few games this season, so that’s a step forward.35FeyenoordWithout Arne Slot, Feyenoord is struggling. Outside of a European place in league play, more games is not what the doctor ordered.36SK Strum GrazSomeone had to come in last and while RB Salzburg may be a worse performing team domestically, their UCL experience provides them with a bump.