Another year of Champions League playoff action is ahead of us this coming week, as the group stage has come to an end, and teams finish the first round of playoff action. Every football fan across Europe (and beyond) is ready to be swept up in a whirlwind of raw emotion, shocking upsets, and, of course, some truly jaw-dropping mistakes that will make us all wonder why we don’t all just become professional footballers ourselves. After all, if these players can trip over their own feet, why can’t we? Jokes aside, the 2025 Champions League playoffs seem to be quite the spectacle this year, with some very promising match-ups and rivalries. If you haven't been following, you've come to the right place. So, regardless if you call the came "Soccer" or "Football," let's dive into this year's Champions League action!

As expected, all the big guns are here such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and PSG. What's even more interesting with these names, is one will be eliminated in the first round. As always, the Champions League draw makes absolutely no sense a lot of the time, and that's what we've got here as Real Madrid and Manchester City have met in the first round, and we'll lose what honestly should be a finals match-up. Leading 3-2 on aggregate, the defending champions Real Madrid will be looking to put away the English titans in a shocking first round battle. Advancing to the last -16 is worth 11 million euros ($11.5 million) in prize money from UEFA, more than we'll ever see in our lifetimes, am I right? -- Which would come as a frustrating hit to all of Manchester City's progress. We have to admit, regardless of their efforts, it's got to be exciting to know you're walking off into the sunset filthy rich, all while going down holding your knee in pain after someone brushes your eyelash with a gust of wind.

With Dortmund, PSG, and Juventus both dominating their first round match-ups, this comes as a true statement game from Real Madrid, showing the rest of the contenders they're looking to obtain back-back championships for the first time since they managed to three-peat back in 2015-2018. With Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atlético Madrid, Bayer, Lille and Aston Villa awaiting the results for their match-ups to be announced, these teams will need more than just a good game plan if they want to challenge Real Madrid, a team who just can't stand to lose and continuously is breaking the hearts of millions of Europeans around the globe. Truly, this is shaping up to be Real Madrid's tournament to lose, and if they can sneak out this first round, they'll have no one to beat other them themselves. Of course, Liverpool has looked absolutely remarkable this year with all their changes, but only time will tell if they're ready for such a task at hand.

Like most of us, it's a pain in the ass to watch 90+ minutes of football, especially if no one's putting the ball in the back of the net, correct? But, that won't stop us from being the lovely degenerates we are as we get our early morning fix to scratch that good ol' gambling itch. Regardless if you're a die hard fan, or just want an excuse to start day drinking -- Betcoin has you covered with all the action, and while we may not be at the game, we'll sure feel like we're a part of it!

Cheers to another Champions League bracket!