The 2024/25 Champions League is one of the most anticipated events in the world of football, and we’re now entering a crucial stage for the competition.
Eight teams qualified from the league phase, including Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa. The remaining eight teams face the play-offs, which take place this week. Those fighting for a place include Milan, Real Madrid and Man City.
Here’s how to watch all the clashes live, wherever you are in the world.
PROMOTION
Get the internet you expect with ExpressVPN
Stream and download your favorite content—from live sports to reality TV—securely from anywhere with ExpressVPN.
You get both high-speed servers in 105 countries and industry-leading encryption. Works on all devices.
Buy now and get 3 extra months for free. Includes 30-day money-back guarantee.
Which Champions League games are on this week?
Eight play-off matches will be taking place this week. The winning teams will advance to the final round of 16, while the losers will be out of the Champions League this season.
Here are all the matches coming up, along with which channels they’ll be airing on in the UK and US:
Tues 18 Feb
- Milan vs Feyenoord – KO 5.45pm UK/12.45pm ET/9.45am PT – TNT Sports 3, Discovery+ (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)
- Benfica vs Monaco – KO 8pm UK/3pm ET/12pm PT – TNT Sports 2, Discovery+ (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)
- Atalanta vs Club Brugge – KO 8pm UK/3pm ET/12pm PT – TNT Sports 1, Discovery+ (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)
- Bayern vs Celtic – KO 8pm UK/3pm ET/12pm PT – Amazon Prime Video (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)
Weds 19 Feb
- Dortmund vs Sporting – KO 5.45pm UK/12.45pm ET/9.45am PT – TNT Sports 4, Discovery+ (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)
- Real Madrid vs Man City – KO 8pm UK/3pm ET/12pm PT – TNT Sports 1, Discovery+ (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)
- PSG vs Brest – KO 8pm UK/3pm ET/12pm PT – TNT Sports 4, Discovery+ (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)
- PSV vs Juventus – KO 8pm UK/3pm ET/12pm PT – TNT Sports 3, Discovery+ (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)
How to watch the Champions League for free in the UK
There is one match each week that you can stream for free in the UK, and that’s the one that airs on Amazon Prime Video. This week, that’s Bayern vs Celtic.
This is Amazon’s big jump into sports live streaming. If you’ve not done so before, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, which includes streaming.
All the other matches are available via the premium service, TNT Sports, which was previously known as BT Sport.
If you can’t get TNT Sport on your TV, then you can sign up for a package that includes it with Discovery+. This costs £30.99 per month.
The Discovery+ app is compatible with lots of different devices.
Alternatively, highlights will be shown for free on BBC One and BBC iPlayer for those with a valid TV License.
How to watch the Champions League in the US
Unfortunately, there’s no free option if you’re based in the US. Instead, you’ll need to pay for access to CBS if you don’t have it already.
If you already have cable TV, check if it’s supported on the CBS website and then contact your provider.
But if you don’t want to get cable, there’s an easy alternative. Simply sign up to the Paramount+ streaming service (from $7.99 per month) and you’ll have full access on all your devices.
The most hassle-free way is to sign up for a live TV streaming service. YouTube TV ($72.99 per month), Hulu+ Live TV ($76.99 per month), Fubo Pro ($79.99 per month) and DirecTV Stream ($69.99 per month) all include CBS Sports. None of these are cheap, but they offer plenty of other benefits.
How to watch the Champions League for free outside the UK and US
Some broadcasters in Europe are showing certain matches for free. There’s a full list on the UEFA website, but this year’s include ServusTV (Austria) and RTÉ (Ireland).
To watch either of these, you’ll need a VPN.
We’re using NordVPN for the purposes of this tutorial, but other options include ExpressVPN, Surfshark, or the alternatives listed in our best VPN chart.
Download the relevant VPN app
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Head to the download page for the VPN you’d like to install and click ‘Download App’. The likes of NordVPN are available on a range of devices.
Connect to your chosen server
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Open the app and sign in to your account if necessary. Then, select your chosen server (for the purposes of this tutorial, Austria or Ireland) and connect to it.
Depending on the service you’re using, it might look quite different to the above. But this should be relatively easy to find.
Start watching as usual
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
You’ll hopefully now be able to stream content as normal and without any restrictions.
If you’re only planning on using the VPN for the football, you might also want to consider a free VPN. Nearly all will have a UK server, but there may be strict data limits.
Read the full article here
