 "UEFA Champions League 2024-25 points table, top 5 highest goal-scorers")
After the Champions League matches on Tuesday night, Liverpool now leads the Champions League points table, boasting a perfect record with four wins from four games. Following closely are Sporting Lisbon and Monaco, each on 10 points after three wins and a draw. Under the newly introduced 36-team format by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the top eight teams will secure direct advancement to the next round, while teams ranked ninth to 24th will enter playoffs for a chance to progress. The bottom 12 will be eliminated from the competition.
European giants Real Madrid and Manchester City, however, faltered in this week’s fixtures. Defending champions Madrid suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to AC Milan. Meanwhile, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland missed a penalty, and despite scoring early in the fourth minute, City ultimately fell 4-1 to Sporting Lisbon. Notably, Sporting’s coach is set to take over City’s crosstown rival soon.
Liverpool had a far more successful evening, with Luis Diaz netting a hat-trick and Cody Gakpo adding another goal in a commanding 4-0 victory over German champions Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield. The game marked a sentimental return for Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso, warmly welcomed back to Liverpool, where he became a fan favourite during his five seasons from 2004 to 2009, winning the Champions League in 2005.
Barcelona and Inter Milan won again in the Champions League though both former title holders are looking up in the standings toward upstart newcomer Brest.
Aston Villa started the week atop the 36-team table but its winning run ended on Wednesday after a bizarre penalty was awarded when defender Tyrone Mings picked up the ball in the area at Club Brugge, resulting in a 1-0 loss that sent the English club plummeting to eighth place.
Paris Saint-Germain, in its first season without Kylian Mbapp, trails far behind in 25th after Atletico Madrid scored in stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for the Spanish team at Parc des Princes.
Barcelona's blistering scoring form continued in a 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade a seventh straight win since the start of October at a rate of four goals per game. Robert Lewandowski scored twice and has 21 this season.
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Inter Milan stifled Arsenal in a 1-0 win at San Siro sealed by Hakan alhanoglu's penalty in first-half stoppage time.
Inter is unbeaten on 10 points and in fifth place, one below Brest which won 2-1 at Sparta Prague. The French debutant looks sure to advance to the knockout phase starting in February.
Atalanta won 2-0 at Stuttgart to stay unbeaten on eight points and Salzburg got its first goals and points in a 3-1 win at Feyenoord.
Bayern Munich won 1-0 at home to Benfica in a game that was delayed 15 minutes by crowd congestion and then was played in a muted atmosphere because of a medical incident for a fan.
Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Heorhiy Sudakov had a fine assist and an even better goal in a 2-1 win for the Ukrainian champion against Young Boys. Shakhtar's No. 10 showed why he is expected to be the club's next big-money sale.
Liverpool, which on Tuesday routed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0, leads the standings at the midway point of the eight-round program.
Liverpool is the only team with four straight wins, while five teams have four losses. They are Leipzig, Sturm Graz, Young Boys, Red Star and Slovan Bratislava.
Two Italian teams Inter Milan and Atalanta have yet to concede a goal in four games. Another Italian side, Bologna, is the only team with no goals scored.
UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Team rankings
UEFA Champions League 2024-25: Top Goal-Scorers
Qarabag's Juninho is still at the top of the goal-scoring leaderboard with six goals in three matches but has been joined by LOSC's Jonathan David as well now. They are closely followed by Arni Frederiksberg (KI) and Harry Kane (Bayern) who each have five goals each. Sandro Kulenovic and Viktor Gyokeres are also on 5 goals. | Uefa Champions League 2024-25 points table | |||||||
| Pos | Team | Matches Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goal difference | Points |
| 1 | Liverpool | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 12 |
| 2 | Sporting CP | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | Monaco | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 4 | Brest | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 5 | Inter | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | Barcelona | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 9 |
| 7 | Borussia Dortmund | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 9 | Atalanta | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 10 | Manchester City | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 11 | Juventus | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 12 | Arsenal | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 13 | Bayer Leverkusen | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 14 | Lille | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 15 | Celtic | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 16 | Dinamo Zagreb | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 7 |
| 17 | Bayern Munich | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 18 | Real Madrid | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 19 | Benfica | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 20 | AC Milan | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 21 | Feyenoord | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 6 |
| 22 | Club Bruges | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 6 |
| 23 | Atletico Madrid | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 6 |
| 24 | PSV Eindhoven | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 25 | Paris Saint-Germain | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 4 |
| 26 | Sparta Prague | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 4 |
| 27 | VfB Stuttgart | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 4 |
| 28 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 4 |
| 29 | Girona | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 3 |
| 30 | Salzburg | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -7 | 3 |
| 31 | Bologna | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -5 | 1 |
| 32 | RB Leipzig | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 0 |
| 33 | Sturm Graz | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 0 |
| 34 | BSC Young Boys | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -10 | 0 |
| 35 | FK Crvena Zvezda | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -12 | 0 |
| 36 | Slovan Bratislava | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -13 | 0 |
| Top goal-scorer in UEFA Champions League 2024-25 | ||
| Player name | Club | goals |
| Viktor Gyokeres | Sporting CP | 5 |
| Harry Kane | Bayern Munich | 5 |
| Robert Lewandowski | Barcelona | 5 |
| Raphinha | Barcelona | 5 |
| David | Lille | 4 |