UEFA Champions League Matchday 7 schedule, live stream, storylines: Where to watch UCL on Paramount+

The UEFA Champions League returns for the first time in the new year, cutting their winter break short as the new-look league phase reaches a thrilling conclusion.

The final two weeks of league phase action begins on Tuesday as teams rush to land inside the top 24, with several high-profile clubs battling for survival in the final rounds of play. That includes Paris Saint-Germain, who rank 25th coming into Matchday 7 and host 22nd-place Manchester City on Wednesday. Reigning champions Real Madrid, meanwhile, will aim to climb out of 20th place with a game against RB Salzburg on the same day. On the flip side of the table, Liverpool look to maintain their perfect record when they host Lille on Tuesday and the likes of Barcelona and Arsenal hope to remain in the top eight as they reach the league phase finish line.

Here’s what you need to know before a consequential week in the Champions League.

How to watch

Paramount+ will have every minute of the action, with CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network offering supplemental coverage. Each day’s coverage begins with Champions League Matchday on CBS Sports Golazo Network before the UEFA Champions League Today pre-match show begins at 2 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+. Select matches will air on both CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network before the UEFA Champions League Today post-show airs on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+. CBS Sports Golazo Network will conclude coverage each day with new editions of Scoreline and the Champions Club. The Golazo Show will also air on Paramount+ during the late batch of games.

Champions League standings

Key: Positions 1-8 qualify for Round of 16 while positions 9-24 qualify for Knockout Phase Play-Offs and positions 25-36 are eliminated.

Pos
Team
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
PTS

1
Liverpool
6
6
0
0
13
1
+12
18

2
Barcelona
6
5
0
1
21
7
+14
15

3
Arsenal
6
4
1
1
11
2
+9
13

4
Bayer Leverkusen
6
4
1
1
12
5
+7
13

5
Aston Villa
6
4
1
1
9
3
+6
13

6
Inter
6
4
1
1
7
1
+6
13

7
Brest
6
4
1
1
10
6
+4
13

8
Lille
6
4
1
1
10
7
+3
13

9
Borussia Dortmund
6
4
0
2
18
9
+9
12

10
Bayern Munich
6
4
0
2
17
8
+9
12

11
Atletico Madrid
6
4
0
2
14
10
+4
12

12
AC Milan
6
4
0
2
12
9
+3
12

13
Atalanta
6
3
2
1
13
4
+9
11

14
Juventus
6
3
2
1
9
5
+4
11

15
Benfica
6
3
1
2
10
7
+3
10

16
Monaco
6
3
1
2
12
10
+2
10

17
Sporting Lisbon
6
3
1
2
11
9
+2
10

18
Feyenoord
6
3
1
2
14
15
-1
10

19
Club Brugge
6
3
1
2
6
8
-2
10

20
Real Madrid
6
3
0
3
12
11
1
9

21
Celtic
6
2
3
1
10
10
0
9

22
Manchester City
6
2
2
2
13
9
+4
8

23
PSV
6
2
2
2
10
8
2
8

24
Dinamo Zagreb
6
2
2
2
10
15
-5
6

25
Paris Saint-Germain
6
2
1
3
6
6
0
7

26
Stuttgart
6
2
1
3
9
12
-3
7

27
Shakhtar Donetsk
6
1
1
4
5
13
-8
4

28
Sparta Praha
6
1
1
4
7
18
-11
4

29
Sturm Graz
6
1
0
5
4
9
-5
3

30
Girona
6
1
0
5
4
10
-6
3

31
Crvena Zvezda
6
1
0
5
10
19
-9
3

32
RB Salzburg
6
1
0
5
3
18
-15
3

33
Bologna
6
0
2
4
1
7
-6
2

34
RB Leipzig
6
0
0
6
6
13
-7
0

35
Slovan Bratislava
6
0
0
6
5
21
-16
0

36
Young Boys
6
0
0
6
3
22
-19
0

Matchday 5 TV schedule

All times Eastern

Storylines for Matchday 7

1. High-stakes battle in Paris
Without a doubt, the most anticipated game of Matchday 7 is Manchester City’s trip to Paris Saint-Germain, a must-win encounter for both sides. The continental heavyweights are surprisingly battling to stay in the competition, with City’s spot inside the top 24 just one point strong and PSG just one point away from a berth that would get them into the knockout rounds. PSG’s poor run in the Champions League comes after a tough draw that included games against Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, failing to impress much in their post-Kylian Mbappe era. They will have to change course with a statement win on Wednesday to decrease the risk of an early elimination – and have acted in the transfer window accordingly.

PSG will return to Champions League play with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who officially joined the club from Napoli on Friday. He was unable to play in their 2-1 win over Lens on Saturday but could make his debut against City on Wednesday when he might be eager to justify his big move. Kvaratskhelia is amongst Europe’s top attackers but scored just four goals for Napoli before leaving and is equally in need of a big performance as his new club is. It makes for a fascinating dynamic against City, who have four wins in their last five but three came against teams ranked 14th or lower in the Premier League and the other was against League Two side Salford City in the FA Cup. Pep Guardiola’s side may not be in crisis mode right now, but Wednesday’s game will answer the question of if their previous woes are behind them or if the schedule just gave them a brief reprieve.

2. Lille and Brest’s quests to stay in the top eight
While troubles for teams like PSG and City have offered some of the biggest shocks of the league phase, a delightful surprise has been the ability of teams like Lille and Brest to hold spots in the top eight heading into Matchday 7. They are in good standing to advance to the knockouts regardless but with direct passageway to the round of 16 an option, those two will undoubtedly do whatever they can to stay exactly where they are.

Brest have a favorable fixture Matchday 7 against 27th-place Shakhtar Donetsk, though the same cannot be said for Lille. They travel to Champions League leaders Liverpool, who have a perfect record so far and are shoo-ins for the round of 16. The Reds have not been in high-flying form as of late, though – they have just two wins in their last five, one of which was against League Two’s Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup. The fatigue of a long season might be catching up to them already, perhaps making them uniquely vulnerable against Lille so Tuesday’s game will be a test of their mettle, too.

3. Atletico, Leverkusen face off
Another game worth keeping an eye on in Matchday 7 is Bayer Leverkusen’s trip to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, a game between two in-form teams that have ambitious aims this season after surviving some early season bumps in the road.

Last season’s Bundesliga champions Leverkusen have done well enough in the Champions League to sit in fourth place heading into Tuesday’s game, and are also just four points shy of Bayern Munich in the domestic title race.  They are on a 13-game unbeaten run since a 4-0 loss to Liverpool on Matchday 4, winning all but one of those games and conceding just nine times, recovering from a defensively shaky start to the season. Atletico, meanwhile, are on a 16-game unbeaten run that has inspired new life into Diego Simeone’s approach, leaving them in 11th place in the Champions League and just two points behind Real Madrid in La Liga.

Both sides have notched statement wins during their runs, with Leverkusen beating Inter in the Champions League and Atletico outdoing Barcelona shortly before the new year. Whether or not they can add another to their impressive unbeaten streaks is the big question in Madrid on Tuesday.