The Guru’s Catalogue: Who Will Shine — and Who Will Fade — in the New 36‑Team Champions League

The Champions League is back in its expanded 36-team guise, and nothing about this season will be comfortingly predictable. I ranked all 36 teams not by reputations bought on deadline day but by three hard metrics: squad depth, managerial clarity and midfield control. Expect glamour nights, but don’t confuse headlines with likelihood.

At the summit sit Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona — in that order of danger. City’s depth and Guardiola’s rotations make them the benchmark; Real still have the knockout instinct and Bellingham’s growing authority; PSG and Barcelona supply match-winning talent in abundance. Stars like Haaland, Mbappé, Bellingham and Vinícius change games, but they will be contained if the spine is outplayed.

Below those elites live the dangerous challengers: Inter, Napoli, Benfica, Porto, Ajax and Liverpool — teams that can steal nights with tactical cunning and defensive compactness. The new format rewards consistency, not just one-off brilliance, so expect coaches who prize structure to thrive. Transfers will shuffle the pecking order, but the clubs that blend youth integration with reliable veterans will overperform.

My prediction is clear and uncompromising: Manchester City are slight favourites to lift the trophy again, but only if Guardiola resists over-rotation and the midfield keeps its iron. If Real Madrid stabilise their center and PSG stop treating big nights as exhibitions, the bookies will be wrong. Recommendation: watch the midfield battles, back depth over headline scorers, and respect the dark horses — the trophy is decided in October as often as in May.