Champions League Player Power Ranking 2025/26

The Champions League remains the pinnacle of the European game, showcasing the best of what the continent has to offer, both collectively and individually.

Paris Saint-Germain stormed to the title in strong fashion last time, but with Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele only making his first appearance this time due to injury, who will take his place at the front?

ranking factors

• current form

• Importance to the team

• reputation and honor

50-41

Tottenham Hotspur’s Guglielmo Vicario was named Man of the Match in the away match against Monaco and was inspired to rise up into the top 50, while Jude Bellingham also sneaked into the ranking after scoring his first goal of the season in all competitions in a narrow 1-0 win over Juventus.

New additions include Victor Gokeres and Desiree Douet, who each scored twice in the third leg, while Hugo Ekitike is also attracting attention after starring in his return to Frankfurt.

40-31

On a goal-filled night, Barcelona’s Fermín López scored a stunning hat-trick as the La Liga giants put them six points ahead of Olympiakos, while Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli also scored in his third successive game of the season as the Gunners added four to Atletico Madrid.

Elsewhere, surprise package Qarabag suffered their first defeat against Athletic Club, but in that game talisman Leandro Andrade got back on the scoresheet with a goal within the first minute for Bilbao.

30-21

Speaking of wasted goals, Napoli’s Scott McTominay scored twice in the Serie A defeat to PSV Eindhoven 6-2, while former Napoli hero Victor Osimhen added a further two in Galatasaray’s thrashing of Bodo/Glimt.

The latest game was also a great night for the Premier League centre-back. Virgil van Dijk beat Frankfurt 5-1 to take the hosts home, while the man of the hour Gabriel was once again active from set-pieces.

20-11

Inter, currently in third place, have been making good progress in their games so far, with Lautaro Martínez and Hakan Calhanoglu both scoring in their most recent match, a 4-0 win over Union Saint Giroise.

It was also a great game for PSG’s Georgian superstar Kviča Kvaratskhelia, with the former Napoli winger scoring again as the Ligue 1 outfit handed Bayer Leverkusen seven points.

10

Pedri

Spanish prodigy Pedri, who is Paul Scholes’ ‘new favorite footballer’, continues to lead Hansi Flick’s side, with a notable performance in their last win over Newcastle United, and according to Sofascore, he has nine duels won and an impressive 112 touches in central midfield.

9

Ashraf Hakimi

Achraf Hakimi, widely and rightly regarded as the world’s best right-back, remains a key cog in Luis Enrique’s relentless Paris Saint-Germain machine and has already provided three assists despite the new Champions League season still being in its early stages.

8

Denzel Dumfries

Breaking into the top 10 for the first time, Denzel Dumfries continues to be at the heart of everything good about Inter, and was once again featured in goal alongside Lautaro and Calhanoglu in Belgium.

7

michael orise

Bayern Munich must be overjoyed to have signed Michael Olise from Crystal Palace for ‘just’ £50m, with the France international reaching new heights at the Allianz Arena.

With three goals and an assist already in this year’s competition, the fleet-footed winger is already looking dangerous once again.

6

anthony gordon

Anthony Gordon, who has already emerged as a key figure in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, is set to return to Newcastle to take over as Alexander Isak’s new talisman. Four goals and one assist in just three Champions League games is a perfect start.

5

erling haaland

Aside from the obvious pairing of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, we haven’t seen a presence as prolific as Erling Haaland in the modern era, and the Norwegian has already ruined that in the new season.

A star for club and country, the 25-year-old ranks only second to a certain Harry Kane as arguably the continent’s best No.9.

4

marcus rashford

Marcus Rashford has already given plenty of reason to be entertained, especially with his blistering home runs, but there may be a perceived lack of interest or importance in these league-phase games. that He was phenomenal at St James’ Park, picking up Ferran Torres against PSG and providing an early season assist candidate.

With two more goals against Olympiakos, the 27-year-old is finally looking back on his brightest days.

3

nuno mendes

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better left-back right now. Nuno Mendes has picked up where he left off last season and was excellent in recent games against Barcelona and Leverkusen.

2

Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappé suffered a bit of a slump after joining then-owner Real Madrid last summer, but he has found his form again under Xabi Alonso. With five goals so far in the 2025/26 Champions League alone, there is no stopping the Frenchman.

1

harry kane

The England captain, who is the fastest player this century to reach 100 goals for a single club, is in prime form and has already scored five goals, giving momentum to Bayern’s bid to win the elusive Champions League.

Kane, who ranks alongside Mbappe at the top of the scoring list, is the man to beat now.