It’s a historic fixture for Unai Emery’s Aston Villa as they take on Bayern Munich today in their first ever home UEFA Champions League game at Villa Park.
Currently in fifth place in the English Premier League, Villa kicked off their European campaign with a solid 3-0 win away to Swiss outfit Young Boys last week.
They take on a Bayern team currently top of the Bundesliga after making an unbeaten start to the season. New boss Vincent Kompany saw his side thrash Dynamo Zagreb 9-2 in their first UCL game of the season.
Tonight’s glamour tie is a repeat of arguably the hosts’ greatest ever triumph — the 1982 European Cup final, which saw Villa beat Bayern 2-1 in Rotterdam.
Aston Villa take on Bayern Munich on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Villa Park in Birmingham, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. BST local time in the UK, making it a 3 p.m. ET or 12 p.m. PT start in the US and Canada, and a 5 a.m. AEST kick-off in Australia on Thursday morning.
Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the match as it happens, wherever you are in the world.
Harry Kane returns to his home country in ominous form, having hit four goals in Bayern Munich’s 9-2 thumping of Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League fixture last week.
Livestream Aston Villa vs. Bayern Munich in the US
American soccer fans can stream every fixture of this season’s tournament via Paramount Plus, which has exclusive live English-language broadcast rights in the US for the UEFA Champions League.
Paramount Plus has two main subscription plans in the US: Essential for $8 per month and Premium for $13 per month. Both offer coverage of the Champions League.
The cheaper Essential option has ads for on-demand streaming and lacks live CBS feeds as well as the ability to download shows to watch offline later. Newcomers to the service can take advantage of a 30-day free trial, while students may qualify for a 25% discount.
Read our Paramount Plus review.
How to watch every UEFA Champions League 2024/25 game online from anywhere using a VPN
If you find yourself unable to view UCL matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the games — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Latest Tests DNS leaks detected, 25% speed loss in 2024 testsNetwork 3,000 plus servers in 105 countriesJurisdiction British Virgin Islands
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It’s normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you’ll get three months free and save 49%. That’s the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Livestream Aston Villa vs. Bayern Munich in the UK
Along with the shake-up of the Champions League format, the new season brings with it some changes to how to watch UCL games in the UK.
TNT Sports will continue to broadcast the majority of Champions League games, but Amazon Prime Video now has first pick for games on a Tuesday, with one per match week being shown exclusively live on the platform.
This match is set to be shown live on TNT Sports 1.
TNT Sports is offering the lions share of Champions League matches exclusively live this season to viewers in the UK. You can access TNT Sports in a number of ways, including via Sky Q as a TV package, or direct streaming from its range of mobile and smart TV apps. It costs £31 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus’ library of documentary content.
Livestream Aston Villa vs. Bayern Munich in Canada
If you want to stream UCL games live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to DAZN Canada. The service has exclusive broadcast rights to the Champions League this season.
A DAZN subscription currently costs CA$30 a month or CA$200 a year and will also give you access to Europa League and EFL Championship soccer, Six Nations rugby and WTA tennis.
As well as dedicated apps for iOS and Android, there’s a wide range of support for set-top boxes and smart TVs.
Livestream Aston Villa vs. Bayern Munich in Australia
Football fans Down Under can watch UCL matches on streaming service Stan Sport, which has exclusive rights to show the Champions League live in Australia this season.
Stan Sport will set you back AU$10 per month (on top of a AU$10 Stan subscription), but the streaming service is currently offering a seven-day free trial.
A subscription will also give you access to Europa League and Europa Conference League action, as well as international rugby and Formula E.
Quick tips for streaming UEFA Champions League matches using a VPN
- With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming Champions League games may vary.
- If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
- If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try to fix quickly. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
- All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
- Remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.