FC Barcelona closed matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 in 9th place in the overall standings. With Wednesday's results, the Blaugrana team did not change the position obtained thanks to Tuesday's thrashing against Olympiacos (6-1) and is just one step away from returning to the direct qualifying zone for the round of 16, the TOP-8.
Hansi Flick's team crushed the Greek side with a 'hat-trick' from Fermín López, a double from Marcus Rashford, and a penalty from Lamine Yamal. With this, the 'culés' improve their goal difference to +5 and remain only 1 goal behind Newcastle (8th). Manchester City is seventh, while Borussia Dortmund climbs to sixth place, both with 7 points.
UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Standings - Matchday 3
| Pos. | Club | MP | PTS | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣ | PSG | 3 | 9 | 10 |
| 2️⃣ | Bayern | 3 | 9 | 10 |
| 3️⃣ | Inter | 3 | 9 | 9 |
| 4️⃣ | Arsenal | 3 | 9 | 8 |
| 5️⃣ | Real Madrid | 3 | 9 | 7 |
| 6️⃣ | Dortmund | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| 7️⃣ | Man. City | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| 8️⃣ | Newcastle | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| 9️⃣ | Barcelona | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| 🔟 | Liverpool | 3 | 6 | 4 |
For the moment, only 5 clubs maintain a perfect step in the group stage: PSG, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Arsenal and Real Madrid. The 'merengues', before next Sunday's Clásico against Barça, struggled to defeat Juventus at the Santiago Bernabéu (1-0).
A goal from Jude Bellingham in the 58th minute made the difference in favor of Xabi Alonso's team, along with the saves from Thibaut Courtois. Behind the Blaugrana team, closing out the top ten places in the overall standings, is Liverpool. The 'Reds', Madrid's next rivals in the league, emerged from their crisis with a 'manita' against Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany (1-5).
Athletic returned to the fight thanks to their victory against Qarabag
Another team that added a very valuable victory at home on Tuesday was Athletic Club. The Basques started the group stage with a pair of defeats, but returned to the 'play off' zone thanks to a comeback against the surprising Qarabag (3-1).
The Azerbaijan team started winning before the first minute was up with a goal from Leandro Andrade. However, Bilbao reacted before halftime thanks to a goal from Gorka Guruzeta. Robert Navarro made it 2-1 in the 70th minute and, towards the end, Guruzeta himself scored again to give the 'lions' their first 3 points.
Nico Williams started and played 65 minutes with the Basque team. His brother, Iñaki, left injured in the 38th minute. Next matchday, Athletic visits Newcastle, while Qarabag hosts Chelsea. Both teams won by a landslide in Matchday 3 against Benfica and Ajax, respectively.