Bill Connelly
Multiple Authors
One of the major storylines of the 2025-26 European soccer campaign has been how the best league in the world, the Premier League, has a bit of a boringness problem. Open-play scoring is down — hell, the amount of time the ball is in play is down — and has been replaced by meat walls, long throw-ins and all sorts of functional, but aesthetically unpleasant, actions.
So does that mean soccer as a whole is going through a more stolid, cruddy-to-watch period? Hell no! It just means you just have to watch other leagues!
The Champions League knockout rounds have featured a run of incredible matches, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona is attempting the same high-wire act as ever, and Flick’s former team, Bayern — the inspiration for the first Watchability rankings and the three-time winners of the Watchability crown — have laid waste to their own Bundesliga scoring record.
Real Madrid are as flawed and wide open as ever, PSG are playing increasingly sexy ball, RB Leipzig have found the gas pedal again, a transformed Lens team continues to ride PSG’s bumper close in Ligue 1, and even dark arts master Diego Simeone has opened up his Atletico Madrid team’s play quite a bit. Atletico vs. Barca matches have been must-watch — and we’ve gotten a lot of them — and last week’s Bayern vs. Real Madrid match in the Champions League quarterfinal was a reminder of everything this sport can be. If you’re bored with soccer right now, it’s your own damn fault. Branch out a little.
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– How would an NFL-style draft work in Premier League?
For years now, I’ve been tinkering with a way to apply numbers to aesthetics, using a combination of stats that measure quality, scoring prowess, defensive intensity, verticality, switches, through-balls, match tension, openness against good teams and, as of last year, how interesting you are when you’re behind. It’s time to unveil this season’s Watchability rankings.
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The most watchable matches in Europe to date
A couple of years ago, I began applying a similar algorithm to individual matches to look at the most entertaining single games of a given year. Here’s this season’s top 20 to date from Europe’s Big Five leagues and UEFA competitions, and one thing stands out: the Champions League knockout rounds have delivered.
1. UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid 2-1 Manchester City, Mar. 17. I guess this one needs a “Real Madrid held a three-goal lead from the first leg” caveat, but with City forced to hit the gas at home — and with City playing down for 70 minutes after Bernardo Silva’s red card — this game was as wide open as any all season. City attempted 22 shots, but got predictably carved up by Real Madrid’s lethal counterattack, and the Blancos were unlucky to score only twice. A really fun, if not particularly high-jeopardy, matchup.
2. German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 5-1 RB Leipzig, Jan. 17. This one was as close as a 5-1 game can be. Bayern were flirting with being a little too wide open at this point in the schedule, and RB Leipzig took an early lead with a goal from Rômulo. It was still tied into the 67th minute when Bayern pulled off one of the combinations only they seem capable of: They scored in the 67th, 82nd, 85th and 88th minutes, and easily won with 36 combined shots and 7.1 combined xG.
3. Spanish LaLiga: Real Madrid 3-2 Atletico Madrid, Mar. 22. Amid a big run of great Atleti vs. Barca matches came this delight. Ademola Lookman gave Atletico an early lead in the Bernabeu, then the teams combined for four goals (three from Real Madrid, two from Vinícius Júnior) in a wacky 21-minute span. A late Fede Valverde red card made things tense for the hosts, but they held on in a delightfully direct affair.
4. UEFA Champions League: Atletico Madrid 3-3 Club Brugge, Feb. 18. We should have gotten rid of the away goals rule decades earlier. Instead of cautious, paranoid first legs in the Champions League knockout rounds, we instead got scores like 5-2, 6-1, 3-3, 3-2 and 3-1 in the knockout phase playoffs, and 5-2, 5-2, 6-1, 3-0 and 3-0 in the round of 16. The most watchable of the bunch evidently happened in Bruges, where Atletico took a 2-0 lead into halftime before Brugge charged back to tie. An own goal gave Ateti another lead, but Christos Tzolis tied it again in the 89th minute. The second leg was pretty tight, too, until Atletico finally pulled away in the last 15 minutes.
5. UEFA Champions League: Bayern Munich 4-3 Real Madrid, Apr. 15. Honestly, the only surprise is that this didn’t rank first.
6. German Bundesliga: RB Leipzig 2-1 Augsburg, Mar. 7. Only poor finishing kept this one from lighting up the scoreboard. The teams combined for 33 shots worth 5.4 xG, and Augsburg led for much of the way until Yan Diomande tied things up for RBL in the 76th minute and a stoppage time own goal gave the home team the win.
7. UEFA Champions League: Barcelona 3-3 Club Brugge, Nov. 5. If this year’s Champions League was any indication, we should have made Club Brugge temporary LaLiga members. They’d have threatened for a top-four finish, and they’d have ramped up the entertainment value significantly.
8. German Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 RB Leipzig, Dec. 20. RBL had three of the top eight matches, but won only one. Goals from Martin Terrier and Patrik Schick late in the first half gave Bayer Leverkusen a 2-1 lead, and while RBL assaulted Mark Flekken’s goal in the second half, Leverkusen put the match away with a late goal from 18-year-old Montrell Culbreath.
9. French Ligue 1: Marseille 3-2 Lyon, Mar. 1. The fourth March match on the list! One of France’s most bitter rivalries produced a delightful track meet here. Lyon led for 54 total minutes, but Marseille came back from a pair of deficits and seized all three points when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in the 81st and 91st minutes.
10. German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 5-1 Hoffenheim, Feb. 8. No one does fun blowout wins like Bayern. Despite an early red card, Hoffenheim tied this match up at 1-1 late in the first half before the inevitable Bayern charge. Harry Kane and Luis Díaz both scored late in the first half, then Diaz scored twice more in the second. Bayern attempted 27 shots worth 6.0 xG!
The rest of the top 20
11. French Ligue 1: PSG 3-3 Strasbourg, Oct. 17
12. Spanish LaLiga: Girona 2-1 Barcelona, Feb. 16
13. German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 3-2 Freiburg, Apr. 4
14. UEFA Conference League: AEK Athens 3-2 Universitatea Craiova, Dec. 18
15. German Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Hoffenheim, Feb. 1
16. English Premier League: Manchester United 3-2 Burnley, Aug. 30
17. German Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen 3-3 Freiburg, Mar. 7
18. Spanish LaLiga: Real Madrid 2-2 Elche, Nov. 23
19. UEFA Champions League: Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Bodø/Glimt, Dec. 10
20. Spanish LaLiga: Atletico Madrid 3-2 Rayo Vallecano, Sept. 24
The most watchable teams in Europe’s Big Five leagues to date
Let’s be honest: You already know who the top two teams on this list are going to be. It was just a question of who would be No. 1.
Clear room in your schedule to always watch (Grade: 9.1-10.0)
1. Bayern München (9.6). Granted, Bayern are still aiming for bigger trophies this spring — with the Bundesliga already in the bag, they still have a shot at the DFB Pokal and Champions League trophies — but they are now four-time Watchability champions despite the fact that only 64% of their possessions have come with a match within one goal, by far the lowest percentage of any team here. And the reason is pretty self-explanatory.
This genuinely might be the best attack soccer has ever seen. That’s generally a pretty watchable thing.
2. Barcelona (9.6). They have one of the most disruptive defenses in the sport, they allow by far the fewest passes per opponent possession, and they draw far more offsides than anyone else. With both Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski contributing far less than they did a year ago, their attack is merely very good — scoring only two goals in 180 minutes led to defeat against Atletico in the Champions League quarterfinals, after all — but every second you watch Barca, you know this is a Hansi Flick team.
1:09
Laurens: I can’t see Lamine Yamal playing vs. Getafe
Gab and Juls discuss Lamine Yamal’s potential hamstring injury and fears over his availability for Getafe and El Clásico.
3. Real Madrid (9.5). With their random defensive breakdowns (spurred at least in part by a shakier-than-usual midfield), you could easily say that Real Madrid have been a little too fun and watchable this season. But their loss in that regard is our gain. They played in three of the top five games in the list above, and while both Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham have missed quite a bit of time to injury, Arda Güler’s creativity and bursts from Vini Jr. and Fede Valverde have kept them potent.
0:48
Laurens: They were booed, Real Madrid’s performance was not reassuring
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens show concern over Real Madrid’s 2-1 win vs. Alavés, suggesting they won’t catch up to Barcelona.
4. PSG (9.5). I can’t imagine a Luis Enrique team ever ranking too low on the Watchability scale, and giving him players like Khvicha Kvaratshkelia, Ousmane Dembélé, Vitinha, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Achraf Hakimi is almost unfair. PSG’s attention span has been a bit spotty this year — understandable after last season’s Champions League breakthrough win — but it would surprise no one if they finished the job and ended up as back-to-back European champs.
5. RB Leipzig (9.5). This club’s job is to produce great young talent and play high-octane ball. They did far less of either than usual last season, but new additions Yan Diomande (19) and Romulo (24) have combined for 20 league goals and 10 assists, and RBL are back to playing prolific and intense ball. They’ll almost certainly be back in the Champions League next season, too.
6. Lens (9.4). Lens were eighth in Ligue 1 and 41st in Watchability last year, but maybe no one in the sport had a more transformative summer. After selling the rights to Kevin Danso (Tottenham), Neil El Aynaoui (Roma) and Andy Diouf (Inter Milan) for a combined €68.5 million, they brought in 19 new players, and 14 of them have combined for 59% of their minutes this season. The new attack of Florian Thauvin, Odsonne Édouard and Matthieu Udol have combined for 22 goals, 15 assists and 132 chances created in league play; they’re ridiculously entertaining, their home crowds are reliably loud, and they’ve charged all the way to second in the league, still only four points behind PSG. They are easily one of the coolest stories in Europe.
7. Manchester United (9.4). Only two of the top 17 teams here are from the Premier League, which fits this season’s general perceptions, but you have to give United credit: They’ve been pretty damn entertaining. They don’t create all that many high-quality scoring chances, but their matches feature over 27 combined shot attempts on average, their matches are almost always within one goal, and Bruno Fernandes’ creativity has been off the charts.
8. Monaco (9.4). A mainstay in and around the Watchability top 10 each year, Monaco have been too defensively shaky to fight for a Champions League spot this year, but Folarin Balogun, Maghnes Akliouche & Co. have ensured they remain prolific and entertaining.
1:09
Has Balogun’s Ligue 1 hot streak secured his USMNT starting spot?
Gab & Juls react to Folarin Balogun scoring in eight consecutive Ligue 1 games for Monaco.
9-10. Inter Milan (9.4) and Juventus (9.3). It’s been a forgettable season for Serie A. Only one Italian team made the Champions League round of 16, none made the quarterfinals, and none made the semis of either the Europa or Conference leagues either. Beyond all that, the play hasn’t been particularly attractive: Serie A has only two of the top 23 teams here. But these two teams have played more active defense than most, with solid passing in attacking areas, and Juve have played in loads of close games. They’ve done their best to make things attractive.
11. AFC Bournemouth (9.3). Andoni Iraola’s last Bournemouth team takes huge swings against good teams — their matches against the Premier League’s top five have averaged 4.6 total goals — and they’re defensively aggressive against teams good and bad, even if Iraola has dialed back the pressure a bit. I’m fascinated by where he might end up next season.
12. Atlético Madrid (9.3). If you still think of Diego Simeone’s Atletico as a dark-arts, 0-0 team, you haven’t watched nearly enough of them this season. They’ll bunker in at times, and with a top-four league finish secured and two cups to play for (Champions League and, until last weekend, Copa del Rey), Simeone has rotated his squad heavily of late, with some shaky results to show for it. But their counterattacking has been particularly scary this year, and their matches against both Barca and Real Madrid over the last year have been absolutely wonderful to watch.
Do I expect Simeone to unleash a year’s worth of dark arts against Arsenal in the Champions League semifinals? Is “0-0 after 180 minutes” on the table? Hell yes it is. And I will find that awfully entertaining too.
13-14. Stuttgart (9.2) and Borussia Dortmund (9.2). Stuttgart have been entertaining all season and have sometimes looked like Germany’s second-best team, while BVB have been Germany’s second-best team most of the way and have sometimes been entertaining.
15. Rennes (9.1). Both good at pressing and vulnerable to good pressing, Rennes has had a chaotic streak, as evidenced by this year’s two matches against PSG: a 5-0 loss and a 3-1 win.
16. Hoffenheim (9.1). A recent run of one win in seven league matches nearly ended Hoffenheim’s run at a top-four finish, but last week’s win over Borussia Dortmund rekindled hopes. They have a solid attack and a defense that is both intense and glitchy. That’s a magic combination in the Watchability world.
You’re going to have a good time (Grade: 8.1-9.0)
2:06
How Pellegrino Matarazzo became the first American manager to win a major European trophy
The Futbol Americas panel review Pellegrino Matarazzo’s performance after leading Real Sociedad to their 4th Copa del Rey title.
17. Real Sociedad (9.0). La Real have turned around a dismal season. They were in 16th, two points from the relegation zone, when Pellegrino Matarazzo was hired on Dec. 20, but they’ve played at a top-four level since and won the Copa del Rey amid chaotic scenes last weekend. Matarazzo’s made them far better and far more aesthetically pleasing.
18. Manchester City (8.7)
19. Newcastle United (8.7). Aston Villa, Manchester United and Newcastle have all trailed in 16 Premier League matches this season. From these matches, Villa have pulled 19 points, Manchester United have pulled 15, and Newcastle have earned … three. They’re a pretty intense and occasionally fun team, but they’ve been atrocious from behind.
2:26
Could Newcastle United’s Saudi owners sell their share in the club?
Gab Marcotti discusses whether the Saudi Public Investment fund could sell their majority stake in Newcastle United.
20. Brighton (8.5)
21-22. Liverpool (8.5) and Chelsea (8.5). They were fourth and sixth respectively last season, but both the performances and the pizzazz have fallen off in 2025-26. Liverpool’s still probably going to reach the Champions League, at least.
23. Marseille (8.4)
24. Como (8.3). Fifth in the Serie A table, third in watchability. A hell of a season for Cesc Fabregas and Como.
25. Aston Villa (8.3)
26. Strasbourg (8.1). Unlike Chelsea, they actually played well for Liam Rosenior. Like Chelsea, they’ve fallen off since he moved. Well done, BlueCo.
The potential for enjoyment is pretty good (Grade: 6.1-8.0)
27. Lyon (7.4). They were third in Watchability, but sixth in Ligue 1 last season; they’ve traded aesthetics for a bit more defensive solidity (third in goals allowed, fourth in the table).
28. Arsenal (7.2). Eight Big Five teams have averaged over 2.0 points per game in league and UEFA play this season. Six are currently in the Watchability top 10 (Bayern, Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, Lens and Inter), and the two others — Aston Villa and Arsenal — are in the Premier League. I guess that fits this season’s general vibe.
29. Bayer Leverkusen (7.1)
30. Atalanta (7.1). They lost Watchability king Gian Piero Gasperini to Roma, and they’re four points behind Roma in the Serie A table, but they’re four spots ahead of Roma here, so who’s really come out ahead?
31. Elche (7.1). They aren’t good – they’re currently two points above the LaLiga relegation zone – but they sure are intense.
32. Milan (7.0)
33. Lille (6.7)
34. Roma (6.7)
35. Köln (6.5). The Billy Goats trail only Elche on the “bad but fun” list.
36. Paris FC (6.1). Their first Ligue 1 season in nearly 50 years has been a relative success: They beat PSG in the Coupe de France, they’re comfortably mid-table, and they both attempt and allow pretty high-quality shots.
37. Real Betis (6.1)
Could be great fun, could be awful (Grade: 3.1-6.0)
38. Fiorentina (5.7). At the turn of the calendar year, Fiorentina were dead last in Serie A with nine points from 17 matches. They’ve been at a top-seven pace since.
39. Napoli (5.6)
40. Augsburg (5.4)
41. Fulham (5.2)
42. Sevilla (5.1)
43. Athletic Club (5.1)
44. Freiburg (5.0)
45. Wolfsburg (4.9). If you’re going to be bad — and Wolfsburg’s relegation odds are quite high right now — be bad in a way that allows you to (a) score a solid number of goals and (b) lose matches by scores like 8-1, 4-0 and 6-3.
46. Deportivo Alavés (4.7)
47. Rayo Vallecano (4.7). Rayo have one hell of a balancing act going on at the moment. After collapsing and rebounding against AEK Athens, they’re now in the Conference League semis and achingly close to their first European trophy. They’re also two points from relegation from LaLiga. They’re going to be must-watch down the stretch, whether they’re watchable or not.
48. Bologna (4.5)
49. Espanyol (4.5). The anti-Fiorentina. Espanyol were shockingly good (and fun) to start the season, and when 2025 turned to 2026, they were fifth in the table thanks to brilliant set pieces and quick attacks. Then 2026 began. They have five points in their last 15 matches.
50. Villarreal (4.5)
51. Eintracht Frankfurt (4.4). Last year, they were third in the Bundesliga and eighth in Watchability. Now they’re eighth in the table, and even with a decent attack and atrocious defense, they’ve still fallen more than 40 spots on this list. That’s hard to do.
52. Genoa (3.9)
1:16
Laurens: Spurs showed more heart and intensity in Brighton defeat
Julien Laurens says relegation-threatened Spurs’ next fixture league against Wolves is “the must of the must-wins.”
53. Tottenham Hotspur (3.9). I’m not going to lie: If I could figure out a way to incorporate Bill’s Great Sense of Morbid Curiosity into this formula, Spurs would be in the top 20. They’ve assuredly been the most fascinating team to watch in recent weeks.
54. Celta de Vigo (3.9)
55. Brest (3.8)
56. Mainz (3.7)
57. Werder Bremen (3.7)
58. Brentford (3.6). Is it a grind watching Brentford sometimes? Yes. Will they care if their unwatchability earns them a spot in a European competition next year? Absolutely not.
59. Heidenheim (3.5)
60. Toulouse (3.5)
61. Crystal Palace (3.2)
At least it’s soccer on TV, right? (Grade: 1.1-3.0)
62. Le Havre (2.9)
63. Girona (2.9)
64. Lorient (2.5)
65. Mallorca (2.4). I was surprised hat Mallorca were both this low on the list and only two points from relegation, as every time I’ve watched them of late, they’re doing something fun and impressive — beating Athletic Club 3-2 in January, beating Sevilla 4-1 in February, beating Espanyol 2-1 in March, beating Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano by a combined 5-1 this month. I guess they should pay me to watch every one of their matches.
66. Osasuna (2.4)
67. Hamburg (2.4)
68. Sassuolo (2.4)
69. Nottingham Forest (2.2). Like Rayo, Forest are toeing the line between something fantastic (winning a first UEFA trophy in 46 years) and something terrifying (five points above the relegation line). Their fourth manager of the season, Vitor Pereira, seems to be steering them toward the former and away from the latter.
70. Torino (2.2)
3:13
Brenden Aaronson: It’s a dream to play at Wembley
ESPN FC’s Julien Laurens and Brenden Aaronson discuss the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea and his USMNT career.
71. Leeds United (2.1)
72. Pisa (2.0)
73. Levante (1.9)
74. Burnley (1.9)
75. Valencia (1.8). Eight of LaLiga’s 20 teams are either in or within three points of the relegation zone and Valencia, wobbly for years, are among them. They play in loads of close games, and their defense is reasonably organized. Unfortunately you also need to score goals.
76. Everton (1.8). Even good David Moyes teams aren’t going to grade out well here, are they? But hey, Everton were 94th last season. Improvement!
77. West Ham United (1.6)
78. Metz (1.6)
79. Udinese (1.5)
80. Sunderland (1.3). Only Aston Villa have averaged more points per game in matches they’ve trailed than Sunderland’s comeback Cats. That’s fun! Their matches have also averaged just 2.3 combined goals per game this season. Less fun! But considering they were supposed to be immediate relegation fodder, I am sure nobody at the Stadium of Light is complaining too much at this ranking.
81. Nice (1.2)
82. Angers (1.1)
83. St. Pauli (1.1). The lovable pirates from the north were dead last in Watchability last season, but survived relegation by three points. This season they seem to be steaming full speed ahead toward the relegation playoff, but their defensive high line is kind of fun?
Don’t watch unless you have a rooting interest (Grade: 0.0-1.0)
84. Union Berlin (1.0)
85. Hellas Verona (1.0)
86. Parma (1.0)
87. Lecce (1.0)
88. Nantes (1.0)
89. Borussia Mönchengladbach (0.9). Five years ago, Gladbach were 17th in Watchability and playing in the Champions League. It’s been a hell of a slow-motion slide.
90. Lazio (0.9). Lazio are fighting some serious attendance issues thanks to the frustration of their hardcore fans — their home average is down 27% to under 32,000 this season — and while I’m sure mediocre play is part of the problem (they’re currently ninth in Serie A, which would be their worst finish since 2013-14), being mediocre and unwatchable is a toxic combination. They were 29th on this list last year!
91. Getafe (0.9)
92. Cagliari (0.9)
93. Cremonese (0.8)
94. Auxerre (0.7)
95. Real Oviedo (0.7)
96. Wolves (0.6). I was going to think there was something wrong with the formula if Bayern and Barca weren’t first and second in some order. I was also going to think there was something wrong if Wolves weren’t last.
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