English clubs dominate Champions League opening week as Serie A struggles and no shocks emerge

English clubs dominate, Italy lags behind

The 2026-27 Champions League is under way, and while 126 matches remain before the 24 knockout-phase teams are known, the opening week has already delivered some clear lessons. The most obvious is the dominance of English clubs.

Premier League teams took five of the eight automatic qualification spots in 2025-26, and every English representative won this week, taking a step toward repeating that feat. Liverpool were the only English side to face an opponent from pot one, but they did so at home. Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City all won away, which arguably makes their results more impressive.

The numbers were one-sided. English teams collectively out-shot their opponents 102-44, put 28 more efforts on target, created 24 big chances according to Opta, and conceded only five. They also topped the expected goal difference chart by country, with Italy at the bottom. Como won, Roma drew at Fenerbahce, while Napoli and Inter faced Arsenal and Real Madrid respectively. Serie A's numbers, in short, were not pretty.

Inter overwhelm Real Madrid

It was not all bad for Italy, however. Inter were one of two teams to have at least 57 touches in the opposition penalty area this week, an incredibly high tally that has been topped only once in the Premier League this season, where the average is 24.6 per team per game.

For Paris Saint-Germain to dominate the Slovan Bratislava box was hardly a surprise. For Inter to be so busy at the Santiago Bernabeu was far more noteworthy. Real Madrid mustered nine big chances but missed seven of them, and Inter had the most shots of any visiting team in the league or Europe (in a 90-minute match) for eight years. The only player among Real's back four who was also there last season was 21-year-old Dean Huijsen, which may help explain Inter's chances.

José Mourinho described the performance as "mad, and not a madness I like".

Few draws, and close games are rare

There were no draws in the first two nights of action, until Roma's 1-1 draw at Fenerbahce. Ismail Kartal resigned as Fenerbahce head coach on Thursday after that result. Only four of the 18 matches had an expected goal margin below one between the two teams, meaning almost every winner deserved its win on the underlying numbers.

A lack of draws could affect the points needed to reach the playoff round. In the 2025-26 league phase there were 25 draws, with the team in 24th (Benfica) finishing on nine points. The season before, there were only 18 draws and Club Brugge finished with 11 points to take the final playoff spot. Fewer draws mean more teams earn three points, raising the bar for competitiveness. At the current pace, the competition is on track for 16 draws.

No genuine shocks

Despite 16 of the 18 matches being won, there were few upsets. Only two wins went to the bookmakers' underdog, and one was Europa League champions Aston Villa beating Club Brugge, which the writer considers hardly an upset given the clubs' finances.

The biggest surprise based on pre-match prediction was Real Betis winning 3-2 at Lille. Lille are 49th and Betis 52nd in Opta's Power Rankings, so Betis did not overcome an insurmountable challenge. Last season's early weeks offered more drama, with Qarabag winning at Benfica and Galatasaray beating Liverpool. For the bloated league phase to generate excitement, more results of that kind are needed.