AI has predicted the next 15 Champions League winners with surprise 2040 champions
AI has predicted the next 15 winners of the Champions League - with one surprise team chosen.
The Champions League round of 16 stage for 2025/26 kicks off this week, with each of the 16 teams in action between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Holders Paris Saint-Germain host Chelsea in the first leg in what has been tipped to be one of the ties of the round, while 2023/24 winners Real Madrid received a tough draw against Manchester City.
In the past 15 years, PSG, Chelsea and City are the three teams to have won the Champions League for the first time, with Chelsea lifting the trophy in 2012 and City doing likewise in 2023.
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There are a number of candidates who could achieve their first triumph over the next 15 years, with Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle currently best-placed as teams who are still in this year's competition.
We asked ChatGPT for its thoughts on which teams will lift the Champions League up until 2040 - and while it stayed with the status quo at first, there were some surprises towards the end.
It predicts that Real Madrid will ultimately go on to win their record-extending 16th title this season, before Manchester City lift the title in 2027 - whether Pep Guardiola is in charge then remains to be seen.
Bayern Munich (2028), Paris Saint-Germain (2029) and Real Madrid (again, 2030) are next up, with ChatGPT predicting that Barcelona (2031) will end what will then be their 16-year drought without a European trophy.
Manchester City then win the title for a third time in 2032, before Arsenal become the first new winners since 2025 by lifting the 2033 edition.
Bayern Munich (2034), Liverpool (2035), Real Madrid (2036) and Chelsea (2037) are the next four winners - before things get slightly more interesting.
Inter Milan are predicted to win their first Champions League title for 28 years in 2038 - with ChatGPT seemingly predicting a more positive outlook for Italian football over the coming seasons.
Inter were knocked out of the competition by Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the play-off round last month, with Atalanta the only one of four Serie A sides to make it through to the last 16.
ChatGPT predicts PSG to return to the summit in 2039 - 10 years after their second triumph - before Newcastle win their first-ever Champions League title in 2040.
Eddie Howe's side progressed through the play-off stages by thrashing Qarabag 9-3 on aggregate this season, and take on Barcelona over two legs in the last 16.
Newcastle are now, of course, backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), although significant investment into the playing squad has slightly stalled over recent seasons partially due to PSR restrictions.
Key players Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali have been linked with summer moves away from St James' Park, while the future of £65 million summer signing Nick Woltemade is uncertain amid Howe shifting him back into an attacking midfield position from centre forward.
All in all, ChatGPT didn't exactly produce a shocking list of future winners, with very little changing at the very top of football apart from, arguably, Inter and Newcastle's victories.
Which surprise teams do you think could go on to win the Champions League in the next 15 years? Let us know.
Topics: Champions League, Football, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Arsenal, FC Barcelona, Man City, PSG
Ryan Smart