How to stream Champions League football online from anywhere in 2021

Bayern Munich won the 2019/2020 Champions League final in August, beating PSG 1-0.
Bayern Munich won the 2019/2020 Champions League final, beating PSG 1-0. (Image credit: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

There is nothing quite like Champions League football. (That's soccer for those of us in the United States.) The UEFA Champions League was born in 1955 and is also known as the European Cup. It takes 79 teams in all, winnows them down to 32 in the group stage, and ultimately finds the top team from all the European clubs.

Essentially it's a giant multi-national tournament. (It's also a step above the Europa League.) Games are played throughout the year — and during the clubs' regular seasons, which adds all sorts of of dynamics to play. Injuries and trades happen. 

The first leg of the Round of 16 is scheduled for February 2021, with Leg 2 in March. The quarterfinals will take place in April, with the semifinals and final in May 2021.

Champions League 2021 Round of 16 Draw

There are two legs to the Round of 16, meaning that each pairing will play twice. The team that scores the most goals over the two games will advance to the next round.

If there's a tie, the team that scores the most goals on the road in the two games will advance. If that still results in a tie, there will be an extra 30 minutes played.

Here's how the draw looks for the 2021 Round of 16 along with the dates of the matches:

  • Leipzig vs. Liverpool (Feb. 16, March 10)
  • Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-Germain (Feb. 16, March 10)
  • Porto vs. Juventus (Feb. 17, March 9)
  • Sevilla vs. Dortmund (Feb. 17, March 9)
  • Lazio vs. Bayern Munich (Feb. 23, March 17)
  • Atlético vs. Chelsea (Feb. 23, March 17)
  • Atalanta vs. Real Madrid (Feb. 24, March 16)
  • Mönchengladbach vs. Manchester City (Feb. 24, March 16)

Watch Champions League football from anywhere with a VPN

If you're not in your usual neck of the woods when your favorite Champions League teams going at it, you can still catch all the action on your usual streaming service with the help of a VPN.

A virtual private network takes all the traffic coming from all your devices and routs it through a specific set of servers in a specific country. That means if you're normally in the UK and watch through a UK service but have found yourself somewhere else for the time being, you can make it look as if your computer is still in England.

The one catch here is that you need to make sure you trust your VPN company because all of your network traffic — encrypted and unencrypted alike — will be transiting it. That's important. And that's a big reason why we've been longtime fans of ExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN

<a href="https://go.expressvpn.com/c/4550836/1330033/16063?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.expressvpn.com%2F%3Foffer%3D3monthsfree%26a_fid%3D744" data-link-merchant="expressvpn.com"">ExpressVPN is one of the easiest and affordable ways to watch what you want from anywhere you want to watch it. Plus it'll help keep your network traffic away from any prying eyes on public networks.

And it's a great way to watch all of the Champions League games on your favorite streaming service, no matter where you are in the world.

How to watch Champions League livestream in the United States

If you're in the U.S. and you want to watch Champions League matches, you're in luck, with a couple of great options.

CBS All Access is where you'll head for the English-language streaming of Champions League Games. And we're not just talking highlights or some of the games — we're talking every single Champions League game, from the group stage on down to the final.

Along with live sports that you can't get anywhere else, CBS All Access is the exclusive home to the Star Trek universe, including new classics like Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and the upcoming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It's also where you'll find other exclusive shows like The Twilight Zone and The Good Fight.

CBS All Access costs $5.99 a month with advertising on the on-demand content, and $9.99 a month if you don't want to see ads. Note that we're indeed talking about CBS All Access, the streaming side of CBS, not the traditional broadcast network. While you might find the odd Champions League match on CBS Sports Network, the bulk of play will be found on the streaming service.

If you're looking for a Spanish-language option for Champions League games in the United States, TUDN is where you'll be headed. Formerly known as Univision Deportes, it's home to all kinds of football, including Liga MX as well as the Champions League games.

How to watch Champions League match livestreams in the UK

If you're in England and want to catch the latest Champions League Matches, you'll be headed to BT Sport, which has the rights for the 2020/21 season.

BT Sport is available BT TV customers for £10 a month. It's also available on Sky, Virgin Media, and TalkTalk. And if you prefer not to lock yourself in to an annual contract, there's also a monthly pass now available for BT Sport, which is a great way to hop in and out of the matches as you see fit.

(And it's also worth another mention that you can use your favorite method no matter where you are if you're outside the UK, so long as you have a good VPN.)

How to watch Champions League soccer in Canada

Catching every Champions League match should you be in Canada is relatively simple as well. 

You'll need a subscription to DAZN, which has become somewhat of a sports staple in Canada. DAZN runs $150 a year for the annual subscription, or $20 a month if you prefer to pay a lot more money. (We're talking about a savings of $8.50 a month here.)

Along with Champions League soccer, DAZN has all kinds of other sports on tap, including boxing and MMA, billiards and darts, cricket, wrestling and more.

Told you it had become a staple.

What teams are playing in the Champions League?

Following are the 32 teams that advanced to the group stage of the 2020-21 Champions League tournament:

  • Ajax (Netherlands)
  • Atalanta BCAtalanta (Italy)
  • Club Atlético de MadridAtlético (Spain)
  • FC Barcelona (Spain)
  • FC Bayern München (Germany)
  • Chelsea FC (England)
  • Club Brugge (Belgium)
  • Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
  • FC Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
  • Ferencvárosi TC (Hungary)
  • FC Internazionale Milano (Italy)
  • İstanbul Başakşehir (Turkey)
  • Juventus (Italy) 
  • FC Krasnodar (Russia)
  • SS Lazio (Italy)
  • RB Leipzig (Germany)
  • Liverpool FC (England)
  • FC Lokomotiv Moskva (Russia)
  • Manchester City FC (England)
  • Manchester United FC (England)
  • Olympique de Marseille (France)
  • FC Midtjylland (Denmark)
  • VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach (Germany)
  • Olympiacos FC (Greece)
  • Paris Saint-Germain (France)
  • Porto (Portugal)
  • Real Madrid CF (Spain) 
  • Stade Rennais FC (France)
  • FC Salzburg (Austria)
  • Sevilla FC (Spain)
  • FC Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
  • FC Zenit (Russia)
Phil Nickinson

Phil spent his 20s in the newsroom of the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, his 30s on the road for AndroidCentral.com and Mobile Nations and is the Dad part of Modern Dad.