UEFA Champions League league stages table: Aston Villa are off to a bright start while PSG lead the notable losers

The UEFA Champions League is three games into the new league phase after games on Tuesday and Wednesday and Aston Villa, along with Liverpool, are the surprise league leaders with three wins out of three, giving them an overall score of 100% and nine. Assuming that 10 points is enough to absolutely secure a place in the top 24 and a place in the UCL knockout round, Unai Emery and Arne Slot’s men should logically only have one point from five games remaining , including Juventus and RB Leipzig, and AS Monaco for the Villans. They’re not the only team turning heads, but they are arguably the most unexpected name from a host of unexpected teams that have emerged at the top of Europe so far, along with a few more familiar faces.

We take a closer look.

Surprise artist

Villa is certainly the choice of the clubs where you wouldn’t necessarily bet on taking the lead after three rounds of games. However, the Birmingham-based Premier League team are enjoying a fast start to their continental adventure, which has already included a famous win over Bayern Munich at Villa Park. Slightly behind Villa when it comes to surprisingly good teams are unbeaten Frenchmen Stade Brestois 29 and AS Monaco with seven points each from a possible nine, which is huge for Ligue 1 given Paris Saint-Germain’s unexpectedly slow start. German champions Bayer Leverkusen have started unbeaten, as has Sporting CP, with Manchester City and Arsenal less surprising, although the Gunners dropped two points to Atalanta BC on the opening day and the Citizens are held by Inter.

Surprise fighter

As mentioned, PSG’s loss to Arsenal put them in a difficult situation, and this was made even more difficult by Tuesday’s 1-1 draw against PSV Eindhoven at the Parc des Princes. The French champions are inside the top 24 but will have expected to be closer to the top eight after two of their three opening games against Girona FC and PSV. Perhaps more surprisingly, both Red Bull teams – Leipzig and Salzburg – currently occupy elimination places, while Bayern, Atlético Madrid and Milan are all quite low compared to their initial expectations. Villa and Monaco beat the Germans and Barcelona respectively, which is early evidence that the change in UEFA’s format is making things interesting, but this must be a wake-up call for Bayern and the Italians in particular.

Coefficient storylines so far

A fascinating subplot in these first rounds of Champions League play has been the influence of the league stage on the coefficient battle. The English teams are doing well in the top spot, giving them one of two additional UCL places for next season, but the country that can compete so far is Portugal, with Sporting and Benfica already four wins together despite a home defeat to Feyenoord Both clubs were able to show the latter this midweek. An even bigger surprise was the Czech Republic’s rise to fourth place in this ranking, with Sparta Praha still in the top 24 despite losing to City after the first few rounds of play. Just ahead of the Czech Republic, France is in third place, with Monaco, Lille and Brest currently surpassing PSG in this edition. Spain is slowly rising to seventh but is already off the pace, with Real, Barca and Atletico all suffering unexpected losses, while last year’s strong players – Italy and Germany – are both slightly off the pace for now.

Important games of the 4th round

All 3 p.m. ET

• Tuesday, November 5th: Liverpool against Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid against Milan
• Wednesday, November 6th: Inter against Arsenal and PSG against Atletico Madrid

As we look ahead to the next round of UCL games, there are some big games coming up with Xabi Alonso’s reunion with Liverpool at Anfield and the all-time classic Real Madrid v Milan on Tuesday. Wednesday sees a tasty combination between Inter and Arsenal and PSG and Atlético Madrid, with Real vs Milan and PSG vs Atlético particularly important as these teams’ previous results have not all lived up to expectations.

Ranking

Key: Places 1-8 qualify for the Round of 16, while places 9-24 qualify for the Knockout Phase Play-Offs and places 25-36 are eliminated.