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Haaland at the double as Champions League returns | Football Weekly – video

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File photograph: An empty football stadium and its pitch. Ben Wiens / Unsplash. Illustrative context, not a photograph of this reported event.
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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning , Nicky Bandini and Archie Rhind-Tutt to discuss the return of the Champions League

Background: how the league phase works

The Champions League format introduced in 2024/25 puts 36 clubs in a single league table. Each club plays eight different opponents, with four matches at home and four away. A win earns three points and a draw earns one. Because teams face different opponents, a single result does not tell the whole story of a club's position.

The top eight advance directly to the round of 16. Teams finishing ninth to 24th enter a two-legged knockout play-off; those finishing 25th or lower are eliminated. When following a match report, distinguish the result from its effect on qualification: that depends on the wider table and the fixtures still to come.

Format reference: UEFA's explanation of the competition.

Read the original report at The Guardian.

Read in depth: Sports

Sources and context

The Guardian

Source headline and summary supplied via NewsData.io. First collected by NewsJaws on 2026-09-10. This is an automated news brief, not original NewsJaws reporting. Dates reflect the source publication. Feed delays may apply.

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