Champions League predictions - 25 November 2025, Round 5

Slavia are flying at home and in the league, unbeaten after 16 domestic games (10 wins, six draws) with 32 goals scored and just 12 conceded, and 14 goals in their last five matches across all competitions. The problem is Europe: no wins in four Champions League outings (D2, L2) and eight goals shipped, so the pressure is really on in Prague. Athletic arrive on the back of just one win in their last five matches, scoring only three times in that run, and have lost three of their four Champions League games with a 4:9 goal line – plus they were hammered 4-0 by Barcelona at the weekend. Slavia’s home form and goal rush against a Basque side leaking chances and cards (two reds in their last five) makes this feel like the night the Czech champions finally turn their domestic dominance into a big European win.

Napoli’s Champions League campaign has been stop–start: four points from four games (L-W-L-D) and a goal difference heavily dented by that 6-2 hammering from PSV. They did steady the ship with a 0-0 against Frankfurt and overall have three wins, two draws and one defeat in their last six in all competitions, but this is still a side searching for rhythm under Antonio Conte. The one big plus is that their home record in Europe remains strong. Qarabag, by contrast, are punching well above their historical weight: two wins, one draw and one defeat in the league phase puts them three points clear of Napoli and up in 15th, and they’ve just beaten Sumqayit 4-2 to stay three points clear at the top of the Azerbaijan Premier League. This is their 12th straight season of UEFA group/league-stage football and it shows – but they’re still winless in six attempts against Italian clubs. With the Horsemen in form but the Italians desperate and at home, this feels like a tense, late Napoli win rather than the stroll the odds suggest.

Marseille are living two different seasons: in Ligue 1 they’ve just smashed Brest 3-0 and Nice 5-1, with Mason Greenwood into double figures and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back on the scoresheet. In Europe, though, they’ve lost three of four Champions League games – beaten by Sporting Lisbon, Real Madrid and Atalanta – with only a home win against a woeful Ajax to cling to, leaving them down in 25th in the league phase. They also carry a grim 12-match winless run against English clubs in UEFA competition. Newcastle, meanwhile, have turned the Champions League into their happy place: since an opening defeat to Barcelona they’ve rattled off three straight wins against Union SG, Benfica and Athletic Bilbao, and sit sixth in the table. They come into this clash on the back of a brilliant 2-1 home win over Manchester City, but their domestic away form is ropey – three straight Premier League away losses – even if they’ve only lost two of their last 13 Champions League away league/group games. With Marseille’s injury list growing and Newcastle chasing a club-record fourth straight European win, a tight game under the Velodrome lights still leans towards the Magpies edging it.

Bodo/Glimt are making their first-ever appearance in the Champions League proper and are learning the hard way: no wins in four (D2, L2) but very competitive 2-2 draws with Slavia Prague and Spurs, and they remain a nightmare to visit at their Arctic home, losing just one of their last 11 matches. They’ve won four of their last six in all competitions and are fighting for the Eliteserien title, but they will be eager to clinch a prized Champions League win. Juventus are winless in this season’s league phase (D-D-L-D) and have conceded in seven straight Champions League matches at an average of two per game. In freezing conditions and on a plastic pitch against a Bodo side that runs teams into the ground, it’s hard to see Juventus suddenly looking like European giants again! This has “another frustrating night and dropped points for the Bianconeri” written all over it.