..to The Tap-Inn. Where you can tap in to the world of soccer with me, your first-gen Irish Tap-Inn bartender, Joe.

Hope everyone’s recovered from the weekend, because Europe’s biggest show is back.

The UEFA Champions League returns this week — which always gets people asking the same thing at the bar: why are there so many different competitions in soccer? 

Confused? Fear not, Joe’s got you covered.

Let’s get into it…

If you’re new to soccer, it can feel like every time you turn on the TV, your team is playing in a different competition.

One day they’re up against a quality team from the same country, the next they’re battling it out with 11 cowboys from Kazakhstan. What gives?

Unlike American sports, where a team plays in one competition that ends with playoffs, soccer teams juggle multiple competitions at once — kind of like a bartender working shifts at three different pubs. 🍻

Here’s the 3 main types of competition teams play in

The crème de la crème of European soccer is back as matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League kicks off on Tuesday night.

There’s just be the 108 UCL group stage games left to keep track of over the next 3 months before 36 teams get reduced to 24 for the knockout rounds. If that sounds like a lot, it absolutely is. If you don’t think you’ll be able to keep track, you absolutely won’t. But Joe’s got you covered.

Key fixtures from this week below:

Arsenal vs Athletico Madrid (3pm EST Tuesday, Oct 21st) - Last seasons Premier League Runners up vs 3rd place in the La Liga (Spains top division).

Real Madrid vs Juventus (3pm EST Wednesday, Oct 21st) - A rematch of both the 1998 and 2017 finals.

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Liverpool (3pm EST Wednesday, Oct 21st)- Can Liverpool stop their losing streak or will it be 5 losses in a row for the Premier League champions?

You can watch all these games live on Paramount+.

What team has won the Champions League (UCL) the most times?

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

Subscribe to 1440 today.

Last week, Qatar booked their ticket to the 2026 World Cup with a 2–1 win over the UAE in Doha. The match was frostier than a pint glass fresh out of The Tap-Inn’s freezer, and things boiled over fast — both sets of fans stormed the pitch in what looked more like a bar brawl than a football match.

Passion? Definitely. Chill? Not so much.

📊 Stat of the Week:

After yesterday’s game vs Man Utd, Liverpool have now lost four games in a row. The last time this has happened? November, 2014. Someone pour them a drink. Wait, that’s my job..

🧤Clean Sheet:

A ‘Clean sheet’ is when a goalkeeper does not concede a goal in a game. The goalkeeper who gets the most clean sheets across the season is awarded the Golden Glove - making them the MVP of goalkeepers.

🤩 Name of the week:

Marvelous Nakamba. He’s from Zimbabwe and plays exactly like his name suggests, kinda.

Real Madrid. They’ve won the UCL a staggering 15 times.

Thanks for stopping by The Tap-Inn.

If you enjoyed this, forward it to that friend who knows nothing about soccer and help spread the good word.

I’ll be behind the bar every week, Monday and Friday, serving up soccer. Sláinte.

— Joe