How to Watch UEFA Champions League Matchday 1: Schedule and Highlights

Paramount+ will stream every minute of Champions League action on Matchday 1, including the Golazo Show, a whip-around program offering live highlights from all matches. CBS Sports Network will air the UEFA Champions League Today pre-match and post-match shows, along with select games from Matchday 1. Additionally, CBS Sports Golazo Network will extend coverage after the post-match show, concluding Tuesday’s programming with the return of Kickin’ It, the interview series hosted by Kate Abdo, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey, and Maurice Edu. This week’s guest is World Cup winner Alessandro Del Piero, who joins the Champions League broadcast team this season as a sideline reporter.

Matchday 1 TV schedule

All times Eastern

Storylines for Matchday 1

1. Hello, new format

Rare is the occasion when an administrative decision almost overshadows the actual action on the field, but UEFA’s updated format changes the Champions League as we know it and could be the competition’s biggest talking point through mid-winter.

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At first glance, the switch to the Swiss-system tournament looks like it might live up to the promise of offering more high-stakes matchups earlier in the season. Perhaps the headlining act of Matchday 1 is a matchup between two domestic league champions, Manchester City and Inter — it will serve as an early test of City’s status as one of the favorites to win the whole thing, especially as some suggest that it is a foregone conclusion that either they or Real Madrid will lift the title next spring. Another match with similar stakes is Liverpool’s trip to AC Milan, where the Reds hope to bounce back from their first loss under Arne Slot over the weekend and Milan aim to reverse course after an underwhelming start to the season.

The context in which we now judge these matchups, though, has also changed. No longer will these teams be competing for two spots out of four in a group, but 24 spots out of 36 in the league phase and for the best teams in Europe, with even more emphasis on being in the top eight. It might be difficult to visualize the permutations at the end of Matchday 1, but with each team beholden to each other in the league phase, the mental math that precedes the knockout stage could be more chaotic than ever before.

2. Kylian Mbappe joins Real Madrid title defense

New format or not, there’s no reason to doubt Real Madrid’s case as the favorites to win the competition for a second season in a row. The squad from last season’s triumph is mostly intact, the notable exception to the rule being Toni Kroos after his retirement, but they did make the summer’s biggest signing — Kylian Mbappe. His addition, combined with an already star-studded team that includes Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo, means expectations are high for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. There is, though, an added weight on Mbappe, who is considered the heir-apparent to Lionel Messi’s crown as the greatest player currently playing the game. He won the World Cup at 19 but his seven-year spell at Paris Saint-Germain did not lead him to Champions League glory, which is no doubt seeking now at Madrid, sitting in a locker room full of winners of Europe’s top club prize.

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On a new-look Galacticos team, many will still expect Mbappe to create an individual legacy even as he shares the spotlight with a handful of the game’s top stars. Understandably, it still feels like Mbappe is still in an adjustment period, even if four goals in six games is nothing to scoff at. Real Madrid also seem to be slowly building form after two draws in their opening five La Liga games this season, but the European champions benefitted from a sense of inevitability in an imperfect run to the title last season. As the group aims to hit their stride sooner rather than later this season, all eyes will be on Mbappe to see if he, too, can peak alongside his new team.

3. Are Barcelona the real deal?

While most of Europe’s top teams are exactly where one might expect them to be at this early stage of the season, the perennially chaotic Barcelona are off to a surprisingly strong start to their first campaign under manager Hansi Flick. They have a perfect five wins out of five in La Liga, the only team in Spain’s top flight with that record, and sit atop the league after scoring 17 goals and conceding just four.

The immediate question facing Barcelona at this point is how long they can keep the winning streak going, which they could extend to six as the favorites against Monaco on Thursday. That remains the case even though their marquee summer signing, Euro champion Dani Olmo, could miss the Champions League match after picking up a hamstring injury over the weekend. His club and country teammate Lamine Yamal, though, is stealing the show — he now has three goals and four assists to start the season and may be the key to Barcelona’s attempts to stay competitive with Real Madrid despite haphazard squad building and financial difficulties.