The Champions League provided pure entertainment in the first leg of the round of 16 as the home teams came on top. PSG secured a significant advantage with a 5-2 win over Chelsea, the French team exploited Chelsea’s defense every time they pressed high, the blues were level 2-2 before their keeper Filip Jorgensen gave away the ball and got punished, from their it went downhill for Chelsea as Kvicha Kvaratshkelia came of the bench and scored the brace to increase the lead by 3 goals.
At the Santiago Bernabeu, expectations were high as Real Madrid, despite recent poor form and struggles against stronger opponents, hosted Manchester City. Federico Valverde scored a first-half hat-trick, giving Real Madrid a commanding 3-0 lead. Madrid’s performance showed a threat even without top scorer Mbappe, who hopes to return for the second leg.
In a matchday where goalkeeping mistakes were many, Tottenham’s Kinsky was the highlight of it, giving the ball away against Atletico Madrid twice in the opening 15 minutes, which resulted in him being substituted. By halftime, Tottenham were 4 goals down. Consolation goals by Pedro and Richarlison reduced the gap to 3 goals as the game ended 5-2. Their neighbours in North London, Arsenal, grabbed a late goal to equalize after going one goal down against Bayer Leverkusen. Kai Havertz came on against his former team and scored a penalty in the 89th minute.
Norwegian champions Bodo Glimt continued their impressive underdog story by beating Sporting 3-0 at home, with all three goals coming in the second half. The victory puts them close to becoming the first Norwegian team to reach the quarter-finals. Galatasaray also caused a major upset by defeating English champions Liverpool 1-0, thanks to an early first-half goal by Lamina. They now go to Anfield with a 1-0 advantage as they aim to qualify for the next round.
Vincent Kompany’s Bayern made a statement of intent when they blew away Atalanta by a 6-goal margin. It was Olise’s night to shine as their talisman, Harry Kane, did not start. Olise scored twice and assisted, helping the German champions win 6-1, taking a five-goal advantage to the second leg, which they played at their home. Barcelona were lucky to walk away with a draw against Newcastle as they dominated the entire game. Barnes gave the Magpies the lead, but Barcelona equalised in the last minute through a penalty, which was converted by Yamal.
