Eighteen matches were played in the third round of the Champions League league phase on 20 and 21 October 2026, and five clubs now have a perfect record of nine points from three games: Paris Saint-Germain, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Real Betis. PSG and Aston Villa lead the table on a goal difference of plus nine, with PSG ahead on 14 goals scored against 12 for Villa. Arsenal and VfB Stuttgart have seven points each, Barcelona, Como, Manchester City, Club Brugge, Sporting CP and Borussia Dortmund have six, and Bayern Munich have five. At the bottom, Porto, Lille and Slovan Bratislava have no points, and Slovan have conceded 13 goals in three games for a goal difference of minus 12.
The argument that the top of the table is settled enough to show who is strong is based on the results of the night. PSG beat Barcelona 4-2, Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 and Real Madrid beat RB Leipzig 4-1, Aston Villa beat Viking 3-1, and Real Betis beat Feyenoord 1-0 at the Estadio La Cartuja, so all five of the unbeaten clubs won in the round. Manchester City beat AEK Athens 5-1 at the Etihad, Roma beat Slovan Bratislava 4-0 at the Olimpico, Club Brugge beat Lens 3-0, Inter Milan beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 at San Siro, and Napoli beat Bodo/Glimt 4-3. The goal difference of the leaders shows the scale of their performances: PSG have scored 14 and conceded five, Villa have scored 12 and conceded three, which is the best defensive record among the nine-point clubs.
The counter-argument is that the middle of the table is crowded and could change quickly. Nine of the 36 teams have five, six or seven points. Como beat Manchester United 4-1 to reach six points, Bayern Munich and Arsenal drew 2-2 in Munich, Atlético Madrid drew 1-1 with VfB Stuttgart, and Slavia Prague drew 2-2 with Fenerbahce, so the draws kept several teams within a point or two of the leaders. Galatasaray won 4-2 at Lille, LASK Linz won 3-2 at Sporting CP, PSV Eindhoven won 1-0 at Porto, and Borussia Dortmund won 2-1 at Sabah in Baku in front of 47,221 spectators, which shows that away wins have not been rare. Twelve clubs are on three points, and the table ranks them by goal difference, from Villarreal on zero to Bodo/Glimt, AEK Athens and RB Leipzig on minus five.
The table matters because it sets the picture for the remaining games. Manchester United, Inter Milan and Napoli are on three points each after two defeats and a win, and all three are in the lower half of the table, while Manchester City are 10th on six points despite their 5-1 win. Clubs from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga are spread across all positions, from first place to the bottom half, which means that no league can claim to be dominant. The goal differences also show that the gap between the top and the bottom has already opened, with Slovan Bratislava on minus 12 and Lille and Porto on minus six and minus four.
After three games the table has a clear group of leaders and a clear group of struggling clubs, but most of the field is bunched together. The next round will show whether PSG and Aston Villa can keep a perfect record, and whether the pointless clubs can score their first points.