Matchday 5 of this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League league phase is in the books and there are plenty of talking points beginning to crop up.

Tuesday saw Juventus thrash St Polten 5-0, before Arsenal beat FC Twente 1-0, Real Madrid saw off VfL Wolfsburg 2-0, and Paris Saint-Germain were knocked out after only managing a 0-0 draw with Oud-Heverlee Leuven.

On Wednesday, OL Lyonnes made light work of Manchester United to beat them 3-0, while Chelsea hit six past cellar-dwelling Roma.

Elsewhere, Bayern Munich held Atletico Madrid 2-2 and Paris FC beat Valerenga 1-0, but it’s Barcelona that remain top of the table after a 3-1 win over Benfica and — for now — favorites for the title.

Read on as ESPN experts Emily Keogh, Yash Thakur and Sam Marsden offer their thoughts on some of our burning questions.

– UWCL permutations: Who has qualified? What’s left?
– Hamilton: Man Utd’s UWCL ambitions tempered by OL Lyonnes’ brilliance
– Keogh: Wasteful Wolfsburg allow Madrid to join UWCL contenders
– As it happened: OL Lyonnes beat Man United, Chelsea roll past Roma

Q1: Who will take the final two places in the top 4?

Keogh: With goalkeeper Stina Johannes a possible doubt after taking a boot to the face against Real Madrid, and their current lack of clinical finishing and poor final touch in front of goal, I am not convinced VfL Wolfsburg will have enough in the tank to defeat Chelsea. That’s especially true after the Blues’ recent loss to Everton in the WSL sparked them into a ruthless performance against Roma on Wednesday — so I think Chelsea will claim third place.

Bayern Munich or Real Madrid are realistically best placed to clinch fourth, while Juventus will face a wounded Manchester United. A draw feels likely between the two teams, who have been pretty evenly matched thus far. Bayern and Madrid both have fairly easy draws against minnows in comparison to their history and financial backing so, assuming they both claim three points, I think Madrid will sneak in with their goal difference already significantly higher than Bayern’s.

Thakur: I feel Real Madrid are one of the best positioned teams to take one of the spots after their win against Wolfsburg this week. With a final game against FC Twente remaining, Las Blancas will feel confident of securing another three points. Linda Caicedo and Caroline Weir are back to their best and have carried the side on their backs again. After a 6-0 win this matchday, Chelsea are the other likely contender for the final two spots. Despite a tricky fixture against former European champions Wolfsburg, Sonia Bompastor’s side will feel confident. However, the last time these two sides met in the UWCL, the She-Wolves beat Chelsea 4-0 and knocked them out of the group stage in 2021-22.

Marsden: Chelsea, with 11 points, are in pole position behind Barcelona and OL Lyonnes, but they have the hardest game of the teams in the chasing pack. If they fail to win away at Wolfsburg, Juventus, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, all on 10 points, are waiting to pounce. A Wolfsburg win could even propel them into the top four, so it’s all to play for when it comes to claiming a direct spot in the quarterfinals.

Given Wolfsburg are still in the running, I’m going to pick them to frustrate Chelsea, Juve to fail to beat Manchester United at home, and Madrid and Bayern to sneak into the top four. They have the most winnable games on paper — Madrid at Twente and Bayern at home to Vålerenga — but do need other results to go their way.

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How Wolfsburg can recover from Real Madrid loss

VfL Wolfsburg striker Lineth Beerensteyn discusses what she thinks her team need to comeback stronger after UEFA Women’s Champions League loss.

Q2: Bayern have really turned things around since that mauling by Barcelona. What’s been the catalyst?

Marsden: A shout out to coach José Barcala and the belief demonstrated by the Bayern players to bounce back from that 7-1 Barça humbling on matchday one, but it certainly helps when you have the quality of Klara Bühl and Pernille Harder. Harder has scored big goals in big moments, including two more against Atlético this week, but Bühl has been sensational when it comes to driving her team on. With seven assists and one goal, she has more goal contributions than anyone else in the league phase. She has created a whopping 27 chances in five games, 10 more than Lyon’s Melchie Dumornay, who ranks second in chance creation in the competition. If Bayern are going to go far in this competition, it’s going to be at the feet of Bühl.

Keogh: Realistically, the only way Bayern could have responded to that humbling defeat at the hands of Barcelona was by going on an extended unbeaten run. That crushing loss served as a wake-up call; none of those players would ever want to experience a performance or the emotions that came with it again. In many ways, it jolted them into gear. Since then, individual performances have risen sharply, and the result has been a noticeably improved team as a whole. Their press has become far more cohesive and organized, and their patience, something evident in both meetings with Arsenal last season and this one, has allowed them to withstand pressure with real resilience and grind out results. In the past, Bayern might have crumbled in those moments, so this shift in approach and mentality is clearly paying off.

Thakur: I feel Bayern Munich and Barcala had the worst audition at the European stage that belied their true level. The club have since gone on a 13-game unbeaten run, including 12 straight wins until the draw on Wednesday. Barcala’s approach forces them to be slightly braver on the ball and aggressive off it. This urge to play vertical and press high can leave the side exposed in moments. Against Barcelona, all such moments were punished and the team lost morale as the game went on. Since then, the Bavarian giants have put their squad depth — especially in attacking areas — to great use. Bühl’s otherworldly form has quite literally been the difference maker on multiple occasions. The Germany winger has been involved in 46% of Bayern’s goals this season, creating 20 goals before mid-December.

Q3: Did you expect Juventus to be so good, and Paris Saint-Germain so bad?

Thakur: I feel Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are two sides of the same coin. The two teams are closer in their performances than the table might suggest. One team has had the lion’s share of the fortune compared to the other. Juventus have scored 11 non-penalty goals from a non-penalty expected goals (npxG) value of 7.7 while PSG have three goals from a npxG of 8.1. The Parisian club have conceded 11 times as compared to Juventus’ seven, despite both clubs conceding the same xG so far (6.9). Juve had some freakish moments, especially in the 3-3 draw with OL Lyonnes, where everything they tried turned to gold before the opponents came back. Unfortunately, PSG haven’t had that luxury this campaign.

Marsden: Yash is right, the points difference between Juve and PSG is not completely representative of how matches have always gone, but I also want to take this chance to gloat about suggesting Italy‘s success in reaching the semifinals at the European Championship last summer could propel Juve on in the Champions League this season. Eight members of that Italy squad played for Juve, who have an experienced squad and will be eyeing a quarterfinal spot at the least. As for PSG, however fine the margins have been, it’s unacceptable to only have one point from five games. I did not expect them to be exiting the competition after the league phase — and certainly not with one game to spare.

Keogh: PSG are probably finally feeling the real repercussions of having their talent pool drained summer after summer by French rivals OL Lyonnes. It has been a conveyor belt of top players moving from one teams to the other, and while OL Lyonnes have continued to strengthen, PSG have unmistakably regressed. That doesn’t excuse their frankly unforgivable performances, but when you compare last season’s squad to the one that they have now, the gaps are obvious. And they go a long way toward explaining why this season has unravelled so badly.

As for Juventus, they’ve grown steadily, keeping pace with the evolution of the women’s game without trying to accelerate too quickly, and that patience has paid off. As Sam mentioned, Italy’s Euro 2025 campaign has also boosted development, investment, and overall player quality. On top of that, Juve’s smart summer business has ensured they remain competitive. They have assessed the conditions of each of their games well and adapted quickly, which has led to their current standing.

Q4: How impressive have Oud-Heverlee Leuven been this tournament?

Keogh: Reaching the knockout stages in their first-ever European campaign would be an extraordinary achievement, especially for a club that had never even reached the qualifiers before this season. I’m a sucker for a fairytale, and I can’t help but hope Leuven complete theirs by making it to the playoffs. It isn’t always about the results. They may not beat Arsenal, yet they’ve already exceeded all expectations with a win and three draws.

In truth, they probably would have been delighted simply to experience their first European adventure, however condescending that might sound from the outside. Perhaps having nothing to lose and an opportunity to shake up the competition without any real expectations is what has aided their impressive run. Having spent a lot of time researching the club, I can say the project behind their rise is genuinely impressive. And the core group of fans who have been with them every step of the way has made the journey even more special. Their support for the minnows of the competition is what makes this story so heartwarming.

Thakur: Mighty impressive. The debutants from Belgium have been the surprise package with just one loss in five games. They have made themselves a difficult side to score against, conceding just seven times so far. They even managed to keep the mighty Barcelona out for almost the entirety of the first half. Belgian goalkeeper Lowiese Seynhaeve has been a standout performer. She made 11 and 14 saves against Roma and Barcelona respectively and made another six against PSG this matchday. Her spectacular shot stopping skills have saved their blushes on multiple occasions. Unless Valerenga — without star striker Karina Saevik — upset Bayern in their final game, the Belgium side have all-but secured their place in the top 12, irrespective of their result against Arsenal in the final matchday.

Marsden: With Christmas coming, shall I play Scrooge? Leuven look set to reach the knockout round and that will be a remarkable and unexpected feat, but hindsight does put a slightly different gloss on their performances. Apart from Barcelona, who they lost to, they haven’t played anyone higher than 10th in the standings. Three of their five matches have been against teams who have already been eliminated in PSG, Twente and Roma. Of course, reaching this stage with just one defeat so far is impressive. They should make the next round now — save defeat to Arsenal next week and an unlikely Vålerenga win at Bayern — but it’s hard to see them causing any major upsets.

When the Indianapolis Colts, in desperate need of a viable quarterback, reached deep into their emergency contacts list to sign Philip Rivers, it was surprising because he was retired and hadn’t played since 2020.

And you know what has been equally surprising in the wake of this move? No one of note complained Colin Kaepernick wasn’t an option.

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No Kaepernick Complaint Whatsoever

Kaepernick didn’t get a workout with the Colts, wasn’t contacted, wasn’t even considered, although the Colts did reach out to other quarterbacks. 

And what followed after that Kaepernick omission was, well, nothing.

There has been no backlash. No notable complaints about Kaepernick being blackballed. No charges of racism after Indianapolis signed a 44-year-old white guy instead of the 38-year-old black guy.

There has not been so much as a mention in NFL media and pundit circles about another Kaepernick snub – not even from Kaepernick advocate-in-chief Mike Florio.

So why is this noteworthy? 

It merits attention because it could signal the end of an era. Finally! It signals that maybe we’re past the days when people accused every NFL team of being racist when they didn’t sign Kaepernick to fill a quarterback need.

Colin Kaepernick arrives for a workout for NFL football scouts and media in Riverdale, Georgia, on Nov. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Todd Kirkland, File)

Colin Kaepernick Memory Fades

It signals an understanding that teams don’t care about fan or media complaints nearly as much as Kaepernick’s complications.

It signals that folks at last understand charges of racism from people of a certain political bent against the 75-percent-black NFL ring hollow. 

So, yeah, this is a big deal. 

BRONCOS’ PRACTICE SQUAD QUARTERBACK REVEALS HE DECLINED OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN TO COLTS

It matters because the worshipers that portrayed Kaepernick as some kind of hero when he said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” once forgot what a hypocrite he was the very day of his first protest.

But now maybe they’ve just forgotten him.

Tons Of QB Moves Without Complaint

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) on the sideline during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on Dec. 6, 2020. (Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports)

Rivers is not the first quarterback this year to come out of nowhere and get signed to a practice squad deal ahead of Kaepernick. We’ve had a slew of mostly unaccomplished quarterbacks sign practice-squad contracts throughout this season.

Shane Buechele with the Bills.

Brady Cook with the Jets.

Bailey Zappe with the Browns.

Seth Henigan with the Jaguars before he worked out for the Colts on Tuesday, just as Rivers did.

More? Well traveled Trevor Siemian with the Titans, Chris Oladokun with the Chiefs, Cam Miller with the Raiders.

Colts Also Added Brett Rypien

There are close to a dozen more such quarterbacks toiling on NFL practice squads. And some of these guys were cut and replaced. Some even caught on with other teams.

Brett Rypien started out with the Bengals, then got promoted to the active roster, then got released, then got signed to the Colts’ practice squad, then got promoted to the Indy active roster on Wednesday.

But amid all these moves, no Kaepernick

And no complaints about it, either.

Activists in 2017 would not recognize this peace.

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The End Has Come For Kaepernick

None of these other guys have reached the ceiling Kaepernick once did in starting for a Super Bowl team. But their potential is much higher than the floor Kaepernick fell to at the end of his NFL career.

Notice what I did there? “At the end of his NFL career” was not typed by mistake. 

That end indeed came after the 2016 season.

It just so happens that it took nearly a decade for everyone to accept it and apparently move on.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday that it has launched ticket sales for the Men’s T20I World Cup 2026, with more than two million tickets available in the first phase.

In a statement, the ICC said it set at as low as INR100 in India and LKR1,000 in Sri Lanka, the two hosting countries of the 20-team tournament.

The details regarding the second phase of the T20 World Cup 2026 ticket sale will be announced in due course.

“The low and affordable pricing for Phase I has been done to give cricket fans a fair and equitable opportunity to purchase tickets in the landmark 10th edition of the tournament,” the ICC said in a statement.

ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta termed the first phase of ticket sales an “important milestone” in their strategy of delivering the most accessible and global cricket event ever staged.

“Phase I of ticket sales is an important milestone in our journey towards delivering the most accessible and global ICC event ever staged,” Gupta was quoted as saying by ICC.

It added: “Our vision for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 is clear: every fan, regardless of background, geography or financial means, should have the chance to access an in-stadia experience of world-class marquee cricket.”

“With tickets starting from just INR100 and LKR1000, we are putting affordability at the centre of our strategy. This is about opening the gates wide and inviting millions to be part of a global celebration of cricket, not as spectators from afar, but as active participants in the energy, emotion and magic that only a stadium can offer.”

For the unversed, the 10th edition of the men’s T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8 next year.

The mega event will feature 20 teams, divided into four groups of five, with the top two from each group advancing into the Super Eight stage, which will then feature two pools of four sides each.

The tournament will get underway with Pakistan taking on Netherlands on the opening day, which will also see hosts and defending champions India taking on the United States of America (USA) in Mumbai.

The group stage will conclude on February 20 with the fixture between Australia and Oman in Kandy. The Super Eight stage will then run from February 21 to March 1, followed by the two semi-finals on March 4 and 5, respectively.

Meanwhile, the blockbuster final will be played on March 8 in either Ahmedabad or Colombo, depending on Pakistan’s qualification, as the 2009 champions will play all of their matches in Sri Lanka.