Champions League opening stats show English dominance and few shocks

The opening week of the 2026-27 Champions League league phase already points to a clear pattern: strong English control and very few disruptions. As The Guardian notes, there are still 126 matches left to decide the 24 teams for the knockout playoff, but the early data is telling.

Premier League’s big numbers

In the first round, Premier League clubs had already taken five of the eight automatic qualifying spots in 2025-26, and they backed it up this week by winning all their matches. The article highlights a massive statistical gap: English teams outshot opponents 102-44, created 28 more on target, and recorded 24 “big chances” per Opta—while conceding just five.

The expected-goal difference by country also underlines the contrast, with Italy at the bottom of the chart. Como won, Roma drew at Fenerbahçe, and Napoli and Inter faced Arsenal and Real Madrid respectively—results The Guardian says don’t look great for Serie A.

Inter impressed, shocks didn’t arrive

To soften the headline, Inter had one standout profile: they were one of only two teams to reach at least 57 touches in the opposition penalty area. The Guardian calls out how that pressure showed up even at the Bernabéu, where Inter produced a high volume of attempts despite the defeat.

Still, the week offered no real “shock” stories in the wider sense: out of 18 matches, 16 were won, but major upsets were scarce. The article says only two underdog wins came in according to bookmakers, and one of them was Europa League winners Aston Villa beating Club Brugge—hardly a surprise given the finances. The standout upset-by-prediction was Real Betis beating Lille 3-2.

Finally, there were no draws on the first two nights and not many close games under the underlying xG measure—only four of the 18 matches had an expected-goal margin below one. The Guardian also points to the short-term fallout from a result: Ismail Kartal resigned as Fenerbahçe head coach after a 1-1 draw with Roma.