Real Madrid make their best Champions League start under the new format

Real Madrid have won their first four matches in the Champions League league phase, marking the club’s best start in the competition since the introduction of the new format. José Mourinho’s side have beaten Inter, Roma, Leipzig and AEK.

The UEFA reform, introduced for the 2024/2025 season, replaced the traditional group stage with a league phase in which teams compete in a shared table. In the first edition under that format, Real Madrid won two of their opening four matches and lost the other two. Their record over the same stretch in 2025/2026 was three wins and one defeat.

Madrid’s run has also included more difficult spells. Liverpool beat them 1-0, beginning an eight-match sequence in which Madrid won twice, drew three times — against Rayo Vallecano, Elche and Girona in LaLiga — and lost three times, including defeats to Liverpool, Celta in LaLiga and Manchester City in the Champions League. Benfica, coached by José Mourinho at the time, also won 4-2 at home on the final league-phase matchday, leaving Real with 15 points, not enough to finish in the top eight.

Mourinho has now underlined the importance of avoiding the play-off before the round of 16. “We have 12 points, I think we are qualified; now it is about not playing the play-off, saving two matches, because we have so many. We have to get what remains, seven or eight points,” the coach said after the win over AEK.

The seven or eight points Mourinho is targeting could put Madrid in second or third place, based on results so far. Real have already set their best start under this format; the remaining league-phase matches will determine whether they can secure a direct place in the round of 16.