The first matchday of the 2026-2027 Champions League group stage concluded on Thursday evening, revealing the first standings. Paris Saint-Germain , the two-time defending champions, sit atop the table, Lens are 10th after their stunning victory in Prague, while Lille find themselves 23rd following their home defeat against Real Betis.
PSG took the lead thanks to their resounding 6-1 victory against Slovan Bratislava . With three points and a goal difference of +5, Paris is ahead of Bayern Munich , also at +5 after their 5-0 win against Bodø/Glimt, but who have scored one fewer goal.
PSG ahead of Bayern, Barcelona and Manchester United
As two-time defending European champions, Paris Saint-Germain not only made a successful start to the competition, but also finished the first matchday at the top of the 36-team standings. Behind PSG and Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona sits in third place after their 5-1 victory against Feyenoord, ahead of Manchester United, who defeated Sabah 4-0.
Como, impressive in their opening match of the competition with a 4-1 victory against Leipzig, are 5th. Sporting Lisbon and Stuttgart follow with a goal difference of +2, ahead of Manchester City , 8th after their 2-0 win in Porto. At this stage of the competition, these eight teams occupy the places that guarantee direct qualification for the round of 16.
Lens snatches 10th place after its incredible comeback in Prague
Lens also achieved an excellent result. For their return to the Champions League, three years after their previous participation and after a draw that gave them a particularly challenging schedule , the Artois club started with a 3-2 victory on the pitch of Slavia Prague.
The match unfolded in a crazy way. Danijel Šturm opened the scoring for the Czechs, Abdallah Sima equalized, before Šturm put Slavia back in front. With Lens still trailing 2-1 after 90 minutes, Florian Thauvin leveled the score, and then Ruben Aguilar secured the victory for the Sang et Or (Blood and Gold) in the 93rd minute. This win lifts Lens to 10th place, with three points and a goal difference of +1.
Lens thus find themselves just behind Aston Villa, 9th. They are ahead of, among others, Betis Seville, Dortmund, Liverpool, Real Madrid , Arsenal and AEK Athens, who also won on this first day.
Lille are 23rd and already close to the relegation zone.
The situation is less comfortable for Lille . LOSC lost 3-2 against Real Betis despite leading at halftime . Ethan Mbappé's sending-off in the 56th minute proved costly in a match ultimately turned around by the Spanish side.
With zero points and a goal difference of -1, Lille sits in 23rd place. The northern club therefore remains provisionally in the playoff zone, but with an extremely narrow margin: Slavia Prague, 24th, also has zero points and a goal difference of -1, while Atlético de Madrid is 25th and currently finds itself on the wrong side of the relegation line.
The top eight go straight to the round of 16, Lille on the verge
As a reminder, the top eight teams in the standings after the eight matchdays qualify directly for the round of 16. Teams ranked 9th to 24th go through the play-offs, while those finishing between 25th and 36th are directly eliminated from all European competition.
After just one matchday, PSG would therefore qualify directly for the round of 16, Lens would have to go through the playoffs, and Lille would secure the final qualifying spot. This ranking is obviously very provisional, as each of the 36 teams still has seven matches to play.
Manchester City for PSG, Sporting for Lens, Arsenal for Lille
The second matchday will immediately offer three much more serious tests for the French clubs. Lens will host Sporting Lisbon on October 13 at 18:45 PM. On the same day, Lille will travel to face Arsenal.
PSG will play their second match on October 14th away to Manchester City, before hosting FC Barcelona just six days later. These two matches will quickly reveal whether the two-time European champions can maintain their position among the top teams in this phase of the league.
