How to watch the Champions League live for free

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.

Only four teams remain: Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germaine (PSG), Barcelona and Inter Milan. Now, they’ll go head-to-head in the semi-finals, building towards that all-important title on 31 May.

Here’s how to watch all the clashes live, wherever you are in the world.

When are the semi-finals of the Champions League?

Two matches take place this week, with the remaining two the week after. Here are the dates and times they kick off, along with which channels they’ll be airing on in the UK and US:

Tues 29 Apr

• Arsenal vs PSG – KO 8pm BST/3pm ET/12pm PT – Amazon Prime Video (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)

Weds 30 Apr

• Barcelona vs Inter – KO 8pm UK/3pm ET/12pm PT – TNT Sports 1, Discovery+ (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)

Tuesday 6 May

• Inter vs Barcelona – KO 8pm UK/3pm ET/12pm PT – Amazon Prime Video (UK), CBS, Paramount+ (US)

Wednesday 7 May

• PSG vs Arsenal – KO 8pm BST/3pm ET/12pm PT – TNT Sports 1, 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 Arsenal vs PSG, and Inter vs Barcelona next week.

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.

1.

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.

2.

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.

3.

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.