Five storylines to watch as Champions League season kicks off

European soccer’s best and brightest will convene this week as the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League season kicks off. 

Thirty-six clubs from across the continent begin their journey with opening-round matches taking place from Tuesday to Thursday, all with an eye towards reaching the final in June at Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid. 

Some of Europe’s heavy hitters will be there — Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, to name a few. At the same time, four clubs — Como 1907 (Italy), Sabah FK (Azerbaijan), LASK (Austria) and Viking FK (Norway) – will be making their tournament debuts, which promises to add more intrigue to the proceedings. 

Here are five key stories to watch this season:

Can Paris Saint-Germain pull off a three-peat?  

Only one team has won three consecutive Champions League titles during the modern era of the competition, which began with the 1992-93 season — a Cristiano Ronaldo-led Real Madrid side swept all before them to accomplish the feat from 2016 to 2018. 

Paris Saint-Germain will look to join Los Blancos in the history books this season, but the French club may find it just beyond their capabilities. Forward Bradley Barcola (now with Liverpool) and Gonçalo Ramos (now at AC Milan) were key members of PSG’s attack last season, which puts extra pressure on the shoulders of newcomers Ferran Torres and Mika Godts. 

Furthermore, the top half of this season’s competition looks as competitive as it’s ever been with Arsenal, Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Inter Milan all considered strong candidates to lift the trophy. 

On the positive side, manager Luis Enrique still has two of the world's best players at his disposal in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and reigning Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé. 

Arsenal looks to take that final step and win it all 

Arsenal went on an incredible run in last season’s Champions League, posting a perfect 8-0-0 record through the opening phase.  

The Gunners didn’t slow down in the knockout portion of the competition as they bested Bayer Leverkusen, FC Porto and Atlético Madrid in their two-legged series, recording four clean sheets in six outings. 

But the London-based club had the misfortune of running into defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the final. That’s where Arsenal’s unbeaten run in the tournament came to a heartbreaking end via a 4-3 penalty shootout loss in Budapest. 

The good news for Spanish manager Mikel Arteta is that a majority of the Gunners’ championship roster from the 2025-26 Premier League campaign remains intact, including defenders Jurriën Timber and William Saliba; midfielder Declan Rice; and top scorers Viktor Gyökeres and Bukayo Saka.

Summer transfer acquisitions of Greek forward Christos Tzolis (from Club Brugge) and Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimarães (from Newcastle United) give Arteta even more quality options from which to choose. 

Plenty of Canadian content 

No less than five members of the Canadian team that participated in this summer’s FIFA World Cup will feature for their respective clubs in Champions League. 

After an injury-riddled 2025-26 campaign and World Cup, fullback Alphonso Davies will be looking to make amends this season with Bayern Munich. Davies played in eight Champions League games last year but failed to register a single goal contribution, and he’ll be anxious to make a statement this year and score his first tournament goal since 2024-25. 

Forward Jonathan David is hoping he can rejuvenate his club career with Atlético Madrid, having joined the Spanish giants on a loan deal this summer following a lacklustre debut season with Italian outfit Juventus. David had two Champions League goals for Juventus last year, which is a far cry from the seven he plundered for French side Lille the previous year. 

No team in the Champions League will have more Canadian representation than Spain’s Villarreal. Forward Tani Oluwaseyi scored two Champions League goals last year in his first season with the Yellow Submarine, while winger Tajon Buchanan was kept off the scoresheet in seven appearances. They’ll be joined at Villarreal this season by midfielder Nathan Saliba, who made the move to La Liga following a transfer from Belgium’s Anderlecht and after a strong showing at the World Cup, in which he had a goal and two assists in three appearances. 

Golden Boot race could come down Mbappé or Kane 

Who will win this season's Golden Boot as the top scorer in the Champions League? Chances are very good it’ll either be Kylian Mbappé or Harry Kane. 

Mbappé topped the goal-scoring charts last season by scoring 15 goals in 11 games for Real Madrid. Kane finished second in the scoring race with 14 goals in 13 matches. The next best player on the list had 10 goals, so Mbappé and Kane were in class by themselves. 

Both players are coming off exceptional showings for their respective countries at this summer’s FIFA World Cup. Kane’s six goals helped England reach the semifinals and finish in third place. Two of Mbappé’s tournament-high 10 goals came in France’s loss to England in the third-place match. 

Interestingly, Mbappé and Kane squared off in last season’s Champions League quarterfinals — they both scored one goal in each of the two legs, but it was Bayern that progressed to the final four. 

AS Roma could be the surprise of the competition 

If you’re looking for a dark-horse pick to win it all, you might want to consider AS Roma. 

The Italian club from the Eternal City hasn’t competed in the Champions League since 2018-19. Instead, Roma has patiently bided its time by winning the UEFA Conference League (2022) and reaching a Europa League final (2023). Now that it's back on the big stage, it's eager to make up for lost time. 

Roma is off to a fantastic start to the 2026-27 Serie A campaign under second-year coach Gian Piero Gasperini, recording back-to-back 4-0 wins against Fiorentina and Lecce before staging a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Atalanta (Gasperini’s old club) to hold onto top spot in the Italian standings. 

Dutch forward Donyell Malen has been lights out for AS Roma with five goals in three games to start the season, while Serbian international Mile Svilar might just be one of the most underrated goalkeepers in European club soccer.