Champions League: Americans impress, new format, best teams

Copy Link

Email

Print

Reactions

The 2024-25 UEFA Champions League is underway in its new format, and match day one is wrapped up as Real Madrid kicked off their title defense, while big hitters Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain got off to a winning start. After a first round with plenty of goals, drama and storylines we asked our writers Gab Marcotti, Mark Ogden and Alex Kirkland to answer some of our burning questions.

Does the new model mean we're going to get more blowouts like Bayern 9-2 Zagreb or Celtic 5-1 Bratislava? And is it right for teams to run up the score?

Ogden: I'll answer the second part of the question first -- I don't have a problem with teams running up…