The Champions League returns for the 2025/26 season and the road to Budapest continues on matchday three. The usual suspects PSG and Real Madrid have impressed in the opening weeks, while Liverpool, Benfica and Ajax have not disappointed.
Still not excited? Here’s more: RTÉ Player and Virgin multimedia game will broadcast five games for free to viewers in Ireland.
But how can you watch the 2025/26 Champions League on RTÉ and Virgin Media from anywhere? Can you access free UCL streams in the UK and US too? And what games will be shown on the service.
Here’s our simple guide on how to watch the 2025/26 Champions League for free from anywhere in the world using NordVPN.
Free Champions League games and channels
Virgin Media Play and RTE Player have five games for you this week:
All times in BST
RTÉ Player and Virgin multimedia game will broadcast the Champions League free of charge for Irish residents.
To watch RTÉ: visit the RTÉ website or download the RTÉ Player app (iOS/Android).
To watch Virgin Media Play: visit the Virgin multimedia game website or download the Virgin Media Play app (iOS/Android)
Both RTÉ Player and Virgin Media Play are free
OUTSIDE IRELAND? ACCESS FREE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE STREAMS FROM ANYWHERE WITH NORDVPN
How to watch the 2025/26 Champions League for free from anywhere
Although RTÉ and Virgin Media Play are some of our favorite streaming platforms for the 2025/26 Champions League, they are only available in Ireland.
Football lovers traveling outside of the Emerald Isle can still access these free Champions League streams using a VPN.
There are many VPNs, but NordVPN is our pick for unblocking RTE and Virgin Media Play for streaming the Champions League. like a pro….and you can save 70% right now.
It’s really easy to use a VPN to watch RTÉ player and Virgin Media Play.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we have said, NordVPN It is the best option.
2. Choose the location you want to connect to in the VPN app. For example, if you are visiting Canada and want to watch your free Irish Virgin Media Play stream, you will select Ireland from the options.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Go to Virgin multimedia game website, log in and watch the Champions League for free.
RTÉ and Virgin Media Play Q&A
RTÉ Player and Virgin Media Play are two of our favorite streaming services for Irish residents, and offer a ton of live sports, as well as a ton of great TV shows.
Among the events we have enjoyed on these platforms over the past year are Gaelic football, the Six Nations and horse racing.
RTÉ recommends an internet speed of at least 5 to 10 Mbps for quality streaming.
What devices can I watch RTÉ with?
- amazon fire (Tablets, Cube, Stick and Fire TV)
- android tv (please note: some models may not be supported)
- Android (Mobile and tablet: Android 7.0 and above)
- AppleTV (tvOS 14 or later)
- GoogleTV (including Chromecast with Google TV and NVIDIA Shield)
- Freely
- free satellite (please note: some models may not be supported)
- DTT playback (TVs and set-top boxes; some models may not be compatible)
- iOS (iPhone and iPad: iOS 14 and above)
- LG Smart TVs (2016-2024 models)
- NOW Smart Sticks and Boxes (minimum firmware version 11.5.0)
- games station (PS4 and PS5)
- roku (TVs with Stick and Roku OS: minimum firmware version 11.5.0)
- Samsung smart TVs (2017 and newer models)
- Darling (Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream disc)
- Virgin media (360, Stream and TiVo)
- TuSee (BT, Humax, Sony and TalkTalk boxes)
- xbox (One, Series X and Series S)
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