Bayern Munich put down a Champions League marker in Bergamo on a terrific Tuesday of football as the Round of 16 got underway in some style.
Die Bayern hammered Atalanta 6-1, while elsewhere there was a big win for Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray stunned Liverpool again and Barcelona grabbed a late, late draw away to Newcastle United.
Atalanta saw off Borussia Dortmund in the play-offs to make it through to the Round of 16 but they must almost wish they hadn’t bothered after this mauling at the hands of these Bundesliga giants. Josip Stanisic opened the scoring on 12 minutes, turning in a corner from Serge Gnabry and ten minutes later Michael Olise fired a long-range effort into the bottom corner. Olise then teed up Gnabry for the third and Bayern coasted to halftime with a 3-0 lead.
Just seven minutes into the second half Luis Diaz broke away and put through Nicolas Jackson for the fourth, and Olise added a fifth with his second midway through the half and before Jamal Musiala got in on the act to make it 0-6. Mario Pasalic grabbed a goal in stoppage time but, with another 90 plus minutes to play we can’t even call it a consolation.
Barca’s trip to Newcastle seemed likely to produce goals too, but we had to wait until the 86th minute for a goal and, not for the team this writer expected. And it was Harvey Barnes, so often the man to deliver for the Magpies, who latched onto a cross from Jacob Murphy and beat Joan Garcia for what seemed to be a huge first leg winner. But the Geordies couldn’t hold on and when Malick Thaiw fouled Dani Olmo in the penalty area, Lamine Yamal levelled with the last kick of the match.
The Champions League 2026 betting odds fancy the Blaugrana as a potential tournament winner and the momentum shifted towards Catalonia in those last few seconds.
No Turkish Delight for Arne’s Anniversary
Arne Slot’s 100th game as Liverpool manager turned a little sour at the Turk Telecom Arena on Tuesday night as he watched his team lose to Galatasaray for the second time this season. Having lost in the same stadium in the league phase of the competition it was a case of déjà vu for Slot and the Reds as a Mario Lemina goal was enough to win the first leg 1-0. A seventh-minute corner flew over and Victor Osimhen headed it back across the goal for the former Wolverhampton Wanderers star to nod it in unmarked.
Two big VAR calls in he second half kept the game at 1-0.
On the hour Ibrahima Konate failed to clear the ball twice and Osimhen smashed the ball into the net. But, after a VAR review Baros Yilmaz was adjudged to be offside…even though the Turkish striker had not touched the ball. Then Liverpool thought they’d equalised on 70 minutes when a corner took a deflection and flew into the Galatasaray net. But this time the goal was ruled out as the ball had hit the hapless Konate’s arm.
And there was Euro misery for another Premier League club on Tuesday as Tottenham Hotspur fell to a 5-2 drubbing away to Atletico Madrid. Spurs were hoping to park their domestic woes in Madrid but they were blown away within a quarter of the game as Los Rojiblancos stormed into a four-goal lead
An opener from Marcos Llorente on six minutes was followed up by two goals in two minutes from Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez with Robin Le Normand making it four on 22 minutes. Pedro Porro pulled one back early in the second half but then Alvarez restored Atletico’s four-goal lead almost immediately. But on a great night for strikers but a bad one for defenders, Atleti keeper Jan Oblak gifted the ball to Porro and he teed up substitute Dominic Solanke to make the score 5-2.
There’ll be more Champions League 2026 updates tomorrow for SBOTOP football fans with some mouth-watering ties on the cards. Real Madrid versus Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain against Chelsea will pack the fans in, and there’s an interesting tie in Leverkusen where Bayer hosts Premier League leaders Arsenal. But for you romantics, take a look at Norway where Bodo Glimt, conquerors of Inter Milan host Sporting Lisbon.
But tonight…has been a good, good night for Bayern, Atleti and Galatasaray.
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