The 2025–26 Champions League league phase is entering its climax, but despite every team still having at least one more game to play, there are sides who have already been eliminated from Europe’s most prestigious club competition.
All 36 teams competing in the Champions League entered 2026 still with a mathematical chance of qualifying to the knockout rounds. Still, as league phase action resumed following the winter break, some teams were unable to correct course and earned the dishonorable feat of becoming the first eliminated sides in the tournament.
With 24 of the 36 teams advancing past the league phase, there are teams that have already secured their place in the upcoming knockout rounds. Instead of fighting to avoid eliminations, these clubs are aiming for a top eight finish.
Given the amount of teams that advance, those eliminated in the opening round of the Champions League will feel frustrated not to have been able to secure a couple of results that would’ve sufficed to make it through. Getting eliminated with games still left to play, however, is an even more disappointing feat.
Here are the teams that have been eliminated from the 2025–26 Champions League during Gameweek 7.
Every Team Eliminated From The 2025–26 Champions League
Despite trailing only Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga, Villarreal have been a major disappointment in the Champions League this term and were eliminated by the similarly struggling Ajax, losing 2–1 in a win-or-go-home clash in Gameweek 7.
Marcelino García’s side were unable to replicate its domestic form in Europe, with a 2–2 draw vs. Juventus accounting for their only point of the league phase so far. It’s a massive failure from one of the top teams in La Liga, yet they weren’t the first team to be eliminated from the competition.
Champions League debutants Kairat Almaty became the first casualty of the 2025–26 campaign. The Kazakhstani outfit will be happy to have participated in the competition for the first time ever in club history, but after managing just one point, their elimination was confirmed in their 4–1 defeat against Club Brugge.
Still, it was a record-setting Champions League debut for the Asian side, who made the longest journey in competition history when they travelled three time zones and around 4,300 miles (6,900km) to face Sporting CP in their competition debut.
| Club | Stage Eliminated |
|---|---|
| Kairat Almaty | League Phase |
| Villarreal | League Phase |
2025–26 Champions League Table: League Phase Standings
| Position | Club | Points | Games Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Arsenal | 21 | 7 |
| 2. | Real Madrid | 15 | 7 |
| 3. | Bayern Munich | 15 | 6 |
| 4. | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | 7 |
| 5. | Paris Saint-Germain | 13 | 7 |
| 6. | Sporting CP | 13 | 7 |
| 7. | Manchester City | 13 | 7 |
| 8. | Atalanta | 13 | 6 |
| 9. | Inter Milan | 12 | 7 |
| 10. | Atlético Madrid | 12 | 6 |
| 11. | Liverpool | 12 | 6 |
| 12. | Borussia Dortmund | 11 | 7 |
| 13. | Newcastle United | 10 | 6 |
| 14. | Chelsea | 10 | 6 |
| 15. | Barcelona | 10 | 6 |
| 16. | Marseille | 9 | 6 |
| 17. | Juventus | 9 | 6 |
| 18. | Galatasaray | 9 | 6 |
| 19. | Bayer Leverkusen | 9 | 7 |
| 20. | Monaco | 9 | 7 |
| 21. | PSV Eindhoven | 8 | 6 |
| 22. | Olympiacos | 8 | 7 |
| 23. | Napoli | 8 | 7 |
| 24. | Copenhagen | 8 | 7 |
| 25. | Qarabağ | 7 | 6 |
| 26. | Club Brugge | 7 | 7 |
| 27. | Bodø/Glimt | 6 | 7 |
| 28. | Benfica | 6 | 6 |
| 29. | Pafos | 6 | 6 |
| 30. | Union Saint-Gilloise | 6 | 6 |
| 31. | Ajax | 6 | 7 |
| 32. | Athletic Club | 5 | 6 |
| 33. | Eintracht Frankfurt | 4 | 6 |
| 34. | Slavia Prague | 3 | 6 |
| 35. | Villarreal | 1 | 7 |
| 36. | Kairat Almaty | 1 | 7 |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Every Team Eliminated From the 2025–26 Champions League.
