UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round Of 16 First Legs

Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool - Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi

A great night in Istanbul for Galatasaray as they narrowly beat Liverpool to set up a vital game at Anfield for both teams. It was a game that was literally 50/50 in terms of possession, but Liverpool had the most shots but only 1 extra shot on target. This ultimately seemed to be the downfall of Liverpool on the night as they were not clinical enough in front of goal. Galatasaray take the lead to defend at Anfield which is not an easy place to go by any means but Liverpool have it all to do. 

It was nearly a 2-0 lead that Liverpool had to comeback from after a mistake from Konate at the back let in Noa Lang and he squared the ball to Osimhen who eventually put it in. However, in the buildup Yilmaz was judged to have affected the play from an offside position. Therefore, the goal was ruled out. 

The only goal of the game was scored in the 7th minute by Mario Lemina. An outswinging corner taken by Gabriel Sara was headed towards goal by Osimhen. Waiting in the 6 yard box was Lemina as he nodded it in from close range despite there being 2 Liverpool players and Giorgi Mamardashvili in the goal. 

Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham - Estadio Metropolitano

A nightmare 90 minutes for Tottenham as they have to come back from 5-2 down to make it to the quarter finals. The London club were outmatched and outplayed on the night and a 3 goal deficit was a good result in the end to give themselves a glimmer of hope back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Atletico Madrid dominated the stats and were 4-0 up in 22 minutes after defensive mistakes cost them. An uphill task to say the least for Tottenham in the second leg. 

It took just 6 minutes for the breakthrough for Atletico through Marcos Llorente. Antonín Kinský looked to play the ball from his 6 yard box but slipped as he tried to do so. It fell to Lookman just inside the corner of the box, he played it to Alvarez across the box. He then laid it off to an arriving Llorente who passed the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-0. 

The lead was doubled just 8 minutes later and another slip from a Tottenham player proved costly. The ball was hopefully nudged forward by Llorente and seemed to be going straight to Van De Ven but he slipped at the crucial moment and let in Antoine Griezmann. He made no mistake in dispatching the shot and made it 2-0. 

Just a minute later it was 3-0. Another moment to forget for Kinský as he looked to play the ball out wide to Danso but he completely miss hit the pass and put it straight into the path of Alvarez. It was an open goal for the Argentine as he passed it in to triple their lead. Just 2 minutes later Kinský was subbed off by Igor Tudor which was not well received by commentary teams as it was seen as embarrassing and humiliating for the 23 year old with his whole career still ahead of him and his confidence now more than likely on the floor. 

Despite the change in goal for Spurs the goals did not stop. In the 22nd minute it was 4-0 to Atletico, this time from a free kick. It was flicked on by a Tottenham head and was saved well by Vicario but the follow up was headed down by Le Normand. His effort was cleared from the goal but not before it had crossed the line as the referee pointed to his watch to say it was a goal. 

There was a small response from Tottenham 4 minutes later in a hectic and crazy first half with Pedro Porro getting a goal back. It was good play in the box by Richarlison as he went past 2 players and laid the ball off to Porro. He took a delayed touch past Matteo Ruggeri and shot into the bottom corner past Oblak. 

Another goal did not come until the 55th minute and it was a goal made from a counter attack as Spurs nearly scored another if it wasn’t for the hands of Oblak in the Atletico goal. The clearance from that chance was immaculately touched down by Griezmann into the path of Alvarez. Another perfect first touch from Alvarez set himself away and he ran from 10 yards into his own half to the Spurs goal and put it into the bottom corner to make it 5-1. A crazy game of football perfectly summed up by that 1 goal. 

A final goal of the game was another consolation goal for Tottenham and Dominic Solanke. There was another mistake from a goalkeeper but this time it was Oblak as he passed the ball straight to Porro. He played the ball to Solanke who took a touch on the turn and fired it into the roof of the net to make it 5-2. 

Paris Saint-Germain 5-2 Chelsea - Parcs Des Princes Stadium

A game with a scoreline that came undone in the final 16 minutes of the match as it was 2-2 up until the 74th, then 3 quick goals seemed to put the tie out of Chelsea’s reach before the second leg. From the 9 shots that PSG had they put 7 on target and scored 5 of them. The final 15 or so minutes seemed to be key moments of the game and tie as a whole with PSG excelling in them final stages and showing everyone why they are the current UCL holders. 

Only 10 minutes was needed for Bradley Barcola to make the breakthrough for PSG. It was a swift and devastating move from the French champions as it went from Dembele on the right wing to the far post to Vitinha, who nodded it down to Barcola. He took it down off his chest and hit it on the half volley off the crossbar and in. The move only took 5 seconds from Dembele to the back of the net. 

Chelsea were back level before the half hour mark by Malo Gusto. The goal was made by the ball from Enzo Fernandez who saw Gusto in a lot of space on the PSG left side and floated the ball over to him. Gusto took a touch and hit the ball on the half volley with Matvei Safonov in the PSG goal probably thinking he should have done better but Chelsea were back in the game. 

Just before half time it was 2-1 to PSG thanks to Ballon D’Or winner Ousmane Dembele. It was another devastating counter attack that cost Chelsea as it cost Tottenham in the same matchday. There was a chance for Cole Palmer to put Chelsea ahead but it was well saved by Safonov. Then 2 passes later from their own box PSG and Dembele were through. He had the chance to pass it to Hakimi but used him as a decoy to turn back and put it into the bottom corner himself. 

The game was once again drawn level by Chelsea and Enzo Fernandez turned from provider to goalscorer. A goal made by Pedro Neto with great anticipation to dispossess PSG. He continued down the left and used his pace to get past Marquinhos before a clever cut back to Fernandez who blasted it past Safonov to make it 2-2. 

In the 74th minute, PSG had the lead for the third time. Another mistake from a goalkeeper which seemed to be a theme in these first legs as Filip Jörgensen was intercepted as he tried to pass the ball out of the box. It fell to Vitinha on the edge of the box who delightfully dinked the ball over Jörgensen to make it 3-2. An excellent finish from one of the best midfielders in the world over the last few seasons of European football. 

The game quickly then went away from Chelsea from 2 goals in quick succession by Kvaratskhelia off the bench. His first was a great solo goal where he cut in from the left and wrapped his foot around the ball and fired it into the bottom corner with no chance for Jörgensen. The second for Kvaratskhelia was a cut back after a good run down the right by Hakimi which fell to the Georgian international to shoot at goal and it bobbled in despite the best efforts of Jörgensen. Both goals were scored within 8 minutes of each other to make it 5-2 and a long way back for Chelsea.