Champions League table: PSG and Real Madrid perfect, nine clubs on nine points

Halfway through the Champions League league phase, only two clubs still have a perfect record. Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid have won all four of their games and sit on 12 points, with Arsenal the only other side in double figures. Behind them, the table is unusually crowded: nine clubs are level on nine points, and they cover every place from fourth to twelfth.

The table after matchday 4

Pos	Team	P	Pts	GD
1	Paris Saint-Germain	4	12	+15
2	Real Madrid	4	12	+6
3	Arsenal	4	10	+5
4	Como	4	9	+13
5	Barcelona	4	9	+8
6	Aston Villa	4	9	+6
7	Manchester City	4	9	+5
8	Liverpool	4	9	+4
9	Club Brugge	4	9	+4
10	Sporting CP	4	9	+4
11	Real Betis	4	9	+2
12	Borussia Dortmund	4	9	+2
13	Bayern Munich	4	8	+7
23	Atlético Madrid	4	4	-1
24	PSV Eindhoven	4	4	-1
25	Bodø/Glimt	4	4	-5
36	Slovan Bratislava	4	0	-16

The top eight go straight into the round of 16, places 9 to 24 play a two-legged knockout play-off, and the bottom twelve are out of Europe altogether. Full live standings: Champions League table.

Two perfect records, two different stories

PSG look every bit like a side chasing a third European title in a row. They have scored 20 goals in four games, the most in the competition, and on Tuesday they were 4-0 up at Villarreal after 17 minutes on the way to a 6-0 win. João Neves, Désiré Doué and Senny Mayulu scored early, and Fabián Ruiz added two.

Real Madrid have had to work much harder. Their goal difference of +6 is less than half of PSG's, and in Athens they trailed AEK twice before Kylian Mbappé equalised in the 78th minute and Federico Valverde won it in the 90th. A 3-2 win with a late goal is still a win, though, and Madrid's four victories have them level with PSG.

Arsenal are third and unbeaten after a 2-1 win at Slavia Prague, with goals from Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres. Bayern Munich, the other unbeaten side, are only 13th despite a 2-0 win at Atlético Madrid, because two draws have cost them points.

Nine teams, nine points

The real story is the queue behind the leaders. Como, Barcelona, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool, Club Brugge, Sporting CP, Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund all have three wins and one defeat. Goal difference and goals scored are the only things separating them, and Liverpool hold eighth place only because they have scored 14 goals, more than Brugge or Sporting.

That was nearly not the case. Liverpool led twice in Istanbul but lost 3-2 to Fenerbahçe, their first defeat of the campaign, with Vedat Muriqi scoring the winner. Como went the other way: their 9-1 win at Lens, including an Anastasios Douvikas hat-trick, matched the biggest winning margin the competition has seen and lifted them to fourth.

Trouble lower down

At the other end, the line between the play-offs and elimination runs through a tie. PSV are 24th and Bodø/Glimt 25th, both on four points, separated only by goal difference. Atlético Madrid are just one place above that line after losing at home to Bayern, while Napoli (27th, three points) were beaten 4-1 in Porto and RB Leipzig also have only three points. Lille have one point and Slovan Bratislava none.

Our take

Nine points after four games feels comfortable, but it is not. In the first season of this format, 2024/25, Aston Villa needed 16 points to finish eighth, and that is still the best guide. For the nine clubs on nine points, that means at least two more wins from the last four games, and matchday 5 brings direct duels: Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City v Napoli on 24 November, then Club Brugge v Liverpool and Lille v Bayern on 25 November. PSG (v Roma) and Real Madrid (v PSV) are both at home and could all but secure a top-eight place.

The league phase ends with matchday 8 on 27 January 2027. Follow every game live, with live tables, on EZCO.