September 16 begins the first matchday of the 25-26 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League. There are 8 matchdays, and 18 games will take place over the 8 days.
On October 1 at 12:00 p.m., Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain will be playing against each other. This is a match lots of people are looking forward to, including me. They are both great clubs with great players, so I think it will be a pretty fun and exciting match. I expect Barcelona’s Raphinha to score a few goals, and PSG’s (Paris Saint-Germain) Dembele to also score a few goals. I equally like both of these clubs, so if they tie, I would be happy.
Speaking of Ousmane Dembele, he is likely to win this year’s Ballon d’Or for his incredible performance last year’s season in Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League, being voted Player of the Season.
Other players likely to win the Ballon d’Or are Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, with 21 goals in the 2024-2025 season, and with a few other titles won. Another player likely to win is Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, who placed 3rd in the 2023 Ballon d’Or but lost against Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, the 8-time Ballon d’Or winner, and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland. Mbappe has a high chance of winning this year because he scored 6 goals in the 2024-2025 season and has 2 other titles won.
Back to the UEFA Champions League, my hopes are that Real Madrid can win this season’s title, making it their 16th title victory. Real Madrid haven’t lost many games since their defeat in the FIFA Club World Cup Semifinals against Paris Saint-Germain, who beat them 4-0. However, I think they have a decent chance of winning, although Real Madrid’s competition is difficult when putting them against other amazing clubs like Manchester City and their powerful goal scorer, Erling Haaland.
ERHS freshman Selah Barrett shared her hopes for the upcoming season.
“I don’t want Real Madrid to win the UEFA Champions League because I want PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) to win,” Barrett said. “I want PSG to win because they are the GOAT. Also, because I don’t like the players on Real Madrid as much, I think they aren’t very sportsman-like.”
During a press conference about how his team feels and their approach to the first UEFA match, head coach of Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso, shared that the team was “Starting off with the utmost excitement to play in the Champions League with Madrid. It’s even more special for this club, and being at the Bernabeu is incredibly motivating. Everyone is eager to take steps forward and continue growing. We face tough opponents, and we hope to start well.”
You can read the full conference here: https://en.as.com/soccer/xabi-alonso-opens-up-on-real-madrid-tension-n/
