The Champions Blog #2.11

  THE CHAMPIONS BLOG 

Some of Europe's best teams are back in action in the Champions League as we saw teams win big and have already put themselves one foot into the quarter finals. Over Tuesday and Wednesday night, we were treated to wins by massive amounts, lots of drama and some great goals. This is the Champions Blog. 

Tuesday 4th: 

Club Brugge vs Aston Villa (Jan Breydal Stadium, Brugge, Belgium)

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid (Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain)

PSV vs Arsenal (Phillips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands)

Borussia Dortmund vs Lille (Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany)

The week started off with four matches, but arguably the most eye catching one was PSV's encounter with Arsenal. The Gunners haven't really been at their best domestically, but in Europe, they've been proven to be a formidable force. With big names like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines due to injury, Arsenal have had to rely on their young stars, and are set to count on them again in the Champions League. PSV's journey has been one to remember for the fans, as the produced a miracle comeback against Juventus, defeating them 4-3 on aggregate to set up a tie with Arsenal. 

Within the first 15 minutes of the tie, PSV came agonisingly close when Ivan Perišić fired a low cross into the penalty area, while David Raya failed to get a hand to it. The ball fell to Ismael Saibari, who was there to tap it into an open net. However, his strike only hit the post, as Arsenal survived an early scare. Just 3 minutes later, Arsenal found the lead when Declan Rice turned into the PSV penalty area and crossed the ball to Jurrien Timber who headed in from close range. The Gunner's evening would get so much more better from then onwards, as Ethan Nwaneri scored his first Champions League goal, firing the ball into the roof of the net following a low cross from Myles Lewis-Skelly. 10 minutes later, Mikel Merino made it 3-0 at the half hour mark, following some calamitous errors in the penalty area from the PSV defenders, leaving Merino to easily pounce in on his chance. A few minutes towards the end of the half, PSV won a penalty which was successfully converted by Noa Lang, giving the hosts a bit of hope going into the first half. However, Arsenal's lead would only get bigger from there. 

Arsenal had the perfect start to the second half, scoring twice in five minutes, making it 5-1 still a huge amount of the second half to play. Goal number 1 came from Martin Ødegaard, after Nwaneri's shot wasn't effectively saved by Benitez, leaving the ball to fall into the path of the Norweigan to pounce into the bottom corner from close range. Leandro Trossard got the fifth goal of the game, after playing beautiful one-two football with Riccardo Calafiori, before the Belgian dinked the ball over Benitez to surely wrap up the game and potentially the tie. With 15 minutes remaining, Ødegaard made it 6-1 to the Gunners, following a beautiful strike from outside the penalty area, before Calafiori made it 7-1 with 5 minutes remaining through the simplest of finishes. With this victory, Arsenal might as well hav put themselves in the quarter finals, while PSV have to pull of arguably the greatest Champions League comeback ever if they still want to qualify. 

Elsewhere, we were treated to a Madrid derby at the Santiago Bernabéu between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. These two sides have rich history and even met in the final of the competition in 2014 and 2016, with Real winning on both occasions. Atletico Madrid are looking to seek revenge on their city rivals as they've never beaten Los Blancos in the Champions League, whether it's the final or on aggregate as Diego Simeone looks to finally end the Real Madrid dominance. 

However, things would start in favour of the hosts and European Champions. Real Madrid took the lead inside four minutes, following a brilliant solo goal from Rodrygo, as he became the fifth youngest player in Champions League history to score 25 goals. Following an excellent pass from Federico Valverde, the Brazilian danced his way through an unfocused Atletico Madrid defence before thumping his shot past Jan Oblak, making it 1-0 within the opening 5 minutes. Things looked to be going Real's way, however all it took to crack their defence was a moment of magic. At the half hour mark, Atletico's moment of magic came when Julian Alvarez netted a potential goal of the season contender, following a beautiful curling effort which was shot beautifully from such a tight angle, leaving Thibaut Courtois with no chance of saving. The two city rivals would go into the half drawing 1 a piece, however though, this was still anyone's game. 

In the second half, Real turned on their attacking mode, as they regained their lead within the opening 10 minutes of the half. Brahim Diaz continued his impressive form with another goal, following a simple yet effective pass from Ferland Mendy, shrugging off defenders before latching his shot into the bottom corner, regaining the lead for Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid had some chances of their own, but none were powerful enough to defeat Courtois. Real, meanwhile managed to register some shots on target, but neither could help extend their lead to 2 goals. In the end, Real has to settle with a satisfying 2-1 victory against their city rivals. Despite this, Atletico aren't out of the tie just yet as we could see a turnaround in the Wanda Metropolitano one week from now. 

Pictures Above: Arsenal players, Martin Ødegaard and Leandro Trossard celebrating after scoring. Real Madrid forward, Brahim Diaz about to celebrate after scoring while Atletico Madrid midfielder, Rodrigo de Paul reacts.

Earlier on that day, Aston Villa travelled to Belgium to face reigning Belgian champions, Club Brugge. In the match in Bruges, Villa took an early lead following a sumptuous first time finish from Leon Bailey inside the opening three minutes. Club Brugge hit back within 10 minutes after Maxim De Cuyper, who planted a pin-point finish into he bottom corner of Emi Martinez's net, making it 1-1 with barely 15 minutes gone. It wasn't until the 82nd minute when Villa would regain their lead. They found through the very unfortunateness of an own goal from Brandon Mechele, who tried to intercept a low cross from Morgan Rogers, only to tip the ball into his own net. Loanee, Marco Asensio then sealed the win for Villa and hand them a precious 3-1 lead going into the second leg in Birmingham. 

Later on, Lille travelled to the Signal Iduna Park to face Borussia Dortmund, who were facing each other for the first time in the Champions League. The hosts started to attack within the early parts of the game, and eventually, midway through the first half, Dortmund opened the scoring through an absolute thunderbolt to open the scoring. Dortmund looked to double their lead through Pascal Groß, poking the ball from close range, but offside was the call for the hosts. Lille managed to equalise at the half hour mark, as Hákon Arnar Haraldsson, poking the ball from a low cross from Jonathan David, making it 1-1. Afterwards, the teams couldn't be separated, so all was to be decided in Lille the following week. 

Pictures Above: Aston Villa forward, Marco Asensio celebrating after scoring a penalty against Club Brugge. Borussia Dortmund defender, Nico Schlotterbeck making a tackle of Hákon Arnar Haraldsson of Lille. 

Wednesday 5th: 

Feyenoord vs Inter Milan (De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen (Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany)

Benfica vs Barcelona (Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal)

PSG vs Liverpool (Parc de Princes, Paris, France)

The following day in Munich, Bayern welcomed Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen. These two sides have been probably the biggest German rivalry in the past year, as Bayern to inflict former player, Xabi Alonso's first loss against his former club as manager. It's the first ever encounter between these two sides in the competition, while it's their fourth encounter of the season, having previously met twice in the Bundesliga and once in the DFB Pokal. 

Within the first 10 minutes of the game, Harry Kane netted a powerful and pin-pointed header, following a beautiful cross from Michael Olise, with Kane's header blazing into the back of the net, making it 1-0 to the Bavarians. Just moments later, Bayern fans had to dwell in a major scare as Dayot Upamecano's weak attempted pass to Manuel Neuer, fell in the path of Jeremie Frimpong, leaving the Dutch one-on-one with Neuer; however, the German veteran made a brilliant save to deny Frimpong and it remained 1-0 to the hosts. Speaking of, Bayern came close to doubling their lead midway through the first half, when Jamal Musiala's header following a Joshua Kimmich corner hit the crossbar from just a few yards out. Bayern remained dominant throughout the first half and maintained their lead, going into the second half. However, Vincent Kompany's side weren't done there. 

Within 10 minutes of the first half, Joshua Kimmich played a beautiful cross into the Leverkusen penalty area, hoping to find someone. Matěj Kovář looked to safely catch the ball, but it slipped form his hands, leaving Musiala to poke the ball into an open net, doubling Bayern's lead. The Bayern fan's joy quickly turned to worry after Neuer was forced to come off due to sustaining an injury, but quickly regained happiness when Nordi Mukiele of Leverkusen, received a second yellow card following a late challenge on Coman. Things would only get better for Bayern from then on, as in the 73rd minute, Kane was fouled by Edmond Tapsoba in the penalty area, with the Burkinabé defender bringing the Englishman down in the penalty area. After a check with VAR, the verdict was penalty given, and Kane made no mistake from 12 yards out, making it 3-0 while sealing the deal for Bayern. As for Leverkusen, it's a long way back from here as Xabi Alonso has lost a managerial game against Bayern Munich for the first time in his career. 

Meanwhile in the French capital, European heavyweights, PSG and Liverpool were ready to take to the stage in the Parc de Princes. As night falls in the city of Lights, Liverpool looked to end PSG's unbeaten start to the calendar year while PSG look to take the advantage to Anfield the following week. Liverpool have already defeated the reigning champions of Spain, England and Germany this season, and now look to defeat the champions of France next. 

Almost immediately, PSG looked to cause problems for the Liverpool defence as only 15 minutes in, Ousmane Dembélé confidently skipped past Andy Robertson and Alexis Mac Allister, cutting the ball inside the penalty area for João Neves to pounce, but the youngster's shot was bobbled over the bar, leaving Liverpool with a huge let off. Eventually, PSG looked to find the lead in the 20th minute when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who curled a beautiful shot beating Alisson to give the hosts a deserved lead. However, VAR disallowed the goal after it was revealed that in the build up, Vitinha, who initially assisted Kvaratskhelia, was in an offside position, disallowing the goal. Alisson proved he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now, as he produced some magical saves since PSG's disallowed goal. The best one came in the 30th minute when Dembélé found himself free from defenders, leaving him one on one with the Brazilian. However, Alisson proved too good as he made a fantastic save with his feet, as Liverpool survived once more. The teams would then go into the half drawing 0-0, but for the time being, this was PSG's game to lose. 

In the second half, PSG's relentless attacks would only continue. Within the first 10 minutes of the half, Kvaratskhelia had a free kick, which was shot on target, but saved by Alisson. PSG had chance after chance, but still couldn't find a way past Alisson, who was on top of his game in Paris, who eventually brought his tally of saves of the night to 9, setting a new record for most saves by a Liverpool goalkeeper in a single match. Meanwhile Liverpool, who've only had one shot on goal throughout the entire match, need to find the goal they desperately needed to nudge themselves in front. Then came the 87th minute when Alisson played a long ball to Darwin Nuñez who controlled the ball perfectly before passing it to Harvey Elliott, who scored with just his first touch since coming on for Mohamed Salah just a minute ago. Liverpool managed to hold for another three minutes plus added time before clinching arguably the biggest smash and grab victory of the season. PSG, despite having 28 shots on goal, 9 on target, just couldn't find a way past a miraculous Alisson, who was definitely Liverpool's best player in Paris, meanwhile PSG's unbeaten start to 2025 has ended. 

Pictures Above: Bayern Munich players celebrating a goal against Bayer Leverkusen. Liverpool midfielder, Harvey Elliott reacts after scoring his last-minute winner against PSG. 

Earlier that day, Serie A champions, Inter Milan were set to face Dutch giants, Feyenoord, who were making their first appearance in the Round of 16 of the competition, after overcoming Inter's cross-city rivals, AC Milan. The first half saw both teams threatening in attack, but only Inter found the back of the net. Just 7 minutes from the end of the first half, Marcus Thuram silenced the crowd in De Kuip as the Frenchman scored a scintillating volley to make it 1-0 before the break. In the second half, Lautaro Martínez made Inter Milan history following his lashed out shot into the top corner. He's now Inter Milan's all-time top scorer in the European Cup/Champions League. Piotr Zieliński's saved penalty could've sealed the tie, but Inter went on to win the first leg and take a promising lead to Milan the following week. 

Later on, Lisbon hosted the second encounter between Benfica and Barcelona this season, with the first being arguably the game of the season. The Catalans came from 4-2 down in the 75th minute, to produce three sensational goals to snatch the three points from Benfica's grasp, with the Portuguese side now looking to avenge their defeat. In the first half beautiful saves from both goalkeepers kept the sides at 0-0, but Benfica had the advantage as midway through the first half, as Pau Cubarsí lunged into Vangelas Pavlidis, denying a certain goalscoring chance, leaving the referee no choice but to send the youngster off. Within 15 minutes into the second half, the now 10-man Barca snatched the lead, and it was Raphinha, the man who scored the last minute winner in the Estadio da Luz back in January, who opened the scoring, following a blunder by Benfica defender Antonio Silva, who gifted the ball to the Brazilian, leaving him to pounce on it and later score following a deflected shot which Anatoliy Trubin just couldn't save. Eventually, Barca managed to hold on following some incredible saves from goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczęsny, taking the advantage back to Catalonia. 

Pictures Above: Inter Milan players, Lautaro Martínez and Denzel Dumfries celebrating after the former's goal against Feyenoord. Barca forward, Raphinha taking a shot against Benfica. 

The first leg of this season's Round of 16 certainly didn't disappoint, as over the past few days, we were treated to some big wins, amazing saves, exciting drama and much more. We're halfway done in the Round of 16 and soon 16 will become 8, as the other eight teams will say goodbye and exit the competition with failed dreams. The Champions Blog will return soon for the second leg of the last 16.