The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Playoffs started earlier this month on Feb. 17. The Knockout stages for the round of 16 started off with many exciting games, including the likes of: Benfica Vs. Real Madrid and Monaco Vs. Paris Saint-Germain.
Feb. 17:
Galatasaray Vs. Juventus:
Opening night in Istanbul at the RAMS Park: Galatasaray managed to put the ball into the back of Juve’s net with five goals contributed by Noa Lang (2), Gabriel Sara, Davinson Sanchez, Sacha Boey. Juventus did manage to score twice with both goals from Koopmeiners, and they were a man down, causing them to fall behind even more (with Cabal red-carded in the 67th minute). Juventus’s defense really struggled on opening night and gave them a mountain to climb in the second leg.
Benfica Vs. Real Madrid:
The tie kicked-off in Benfica’s home ground, “Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (da Luz),” in Lisbon, Portugal. The first half was very entertaining, with chances from both sides, with Real Madrid missing four big chances to score. The real headlines came in the second half in the 50th minute with Vinicius “Vini” Jr. screaming from the corner of the penalty box. Vini celebrated in front of the Benfica fans by dancing around the corner flag to agitate the home fans prompting the referee to make a very controversial moment — giving Vini a yellow card. The following 10 minutes, the game stopped play, with Gianluca Prestianni for Benfica allegedly calling Vincius Jr. a racial slur after he scored his goal. Prestianni denies that he said this to Vinicius Jr. and instead claims that he said an anti-gay slur. “Sources told ESPN’s Bruno Andrade that the Argentinian, 20, has given evidence stating that he called Vinicius the anti-gay slur “m——” in Spanish, rather than “mono,” which is Spanish for “monkey.” Vini ran to the referee to speak with him about Prestianni’s behavior, prompting all of the players to have tension between each other and walk off the pitch. The game finally resumed in the 60th minute, to end as a 1-0 win to Real Madrid.
Paris Saint German Vs Monaco:
The French Derby is now fighting for a spot in the playoffs. Monaco kicked off the game in the Stade Louis-II, Monaci.
Monaco managed to get two early goals by Folarin Balogun in the very first minute and in the 18th minute. Not long after, PSG managed to earn themselves a penalty and seek a comeback; Vitinha stepped up and missed it, shattering their hopes of a comeback. Star player Ousmane Dembele, who recently won the Ballon D’or, caught a calf injury in the 27th minute, and for replacement, youngster Desire Doue substituted, and two minutes in, he scored the goal for PSG with a stunning left foot shot into the bottom left corner giving hope for the French giants. Right before halftime, Archaf Hakimi put it into the back of the net with an outside the box shot tying the game 2-2. In the 67th minute, Doue had the ball in the box and unleashed a shot to make the score 3-2 for PSG, creating a successful comeback and making Doue the star player of the game with a rating of 9.2.
Borussia Dortmund Vs. Atalanta:
The final matchup for Feb. 17 was with the German giant, Borussia Dortmund, and the Italian Europa League winners of 2024, Atalanta. The game kicked-off at the Signal Iduna Park or “The Yellow Wall,” in Dortmund, Germany. Dortmund struck very early on with Serhou Girassy in the third minute with a pin point cross from Julian Ryerson. Dortmund ended the first half with a tap-in for Maximillian Beier, assisted by Serhou Guirassy. The Game ended as a 2-0 for Borussia Dortmund.
Feb. 18:
Qarabag FK Vs. Newcastle United:
What a thriller of a match when it came to these two teams, with the score ending in a delightful 6-1 score for Newcastle United. Qarabag FK surely did not end up with a happy ending. In the third minute, Anthony Gordon opened the scoring with a right footed shot inside the box, and not too much later, Malick Thiaw put the English team upfront 2-0 with a header into the right side of the netting. After that, it wasn’t looking too good for Qarabag with Gordon converting two pens from the spot and another right footed shot in front of goal. The score was 5-0 after halftime. Qarabag finally decided to put in some work and score a goal to start a comeback with a goal from Elvin Jafarquilyev, but Newcastle responded quickly and shut out their dreams of a comeback with a goal from Jacob Murphy, as the game ended 6-1 for a Newcastle United win.
Bodø/Glimt Vs. Inter Milan:
Bodø/Glimt have been dark horses so far for the entire UCl campaign, with them being winless in the first six matchweeks of the league stage to beating Manchester City and Atletico Madrid to qualify for the round of 16 playoffs. The game kicked off in Bodø, Norway in the tiny “Aspmyra Stadium.” Bodø struck early in the 20th minute with Norwegian international, Sondre Fet, and was assisted by Kasper Høgh. Inter Milan equalised with a strike from the young, 6 ‘4, Italian striker, Francesco Esposito in the 30th minute. The first half ended 1-1 but had a lot more in store. Bodø struck first in the second half with Jean Hauge scoring in the 61st minute being assisted again by Kasper Høgh. Only three minutes later in the 64th minute, Kasper Høgh finally got his goal to make the score 3-1 to Bodø/Glimt. The game ended with a 3-1 win to Bodø/Glimt to give them a two-goal advantage against the Italian giants, Inter Milan, in the second leg in Italy.
Club Brugge Vs. Atletico Madrid:
Club Brugge hosted one of Spain’s strongest teams, Atletico Madrid, at the Jan Breydelstadion in Brugge, Belgium. Atletico were looking strong in the first half firing away two goals into the Belgium’s team net, one from Alvarez, which he converted from the penalty spot in the 8th minute, and another goal from newly-signed Ademola Lookman right before halftime. Club Brugge weren’t going to back down in their home turf and immediately started the second half with a goal from Onyedika in the 52nd minute, and eight minutes later Tresoldi put it in the back of the net to tie the game back up at 2-2. Unfortunately for Club Brugge, center back Joel Ordonez gave up an own goal in the 80th minute shutting Club Brugge’s hopes of tying the game. A miracle happened, and Christos Tzolis managed to tie the game back up for the Belgium team and make it 3-3 in the 90th minute making this game one of the best of the matchweek.
Olympiacos Vs. Bayer Lervekusen:
Arguably the least exciting fixture of the playoffs took place in the “Stadio Georgios Karaiskáki” in Pireás, Greece in Olympiacos home ground. The first half gave almost no action with only a disallowed goal in the 45th minute by Olympiacos captain Ayoud El-Kaabi. The second half delivered a little more entertainment with two goals from Patrik Schick in quick succession in the 60th and 63rd minute. The game ended in a 2-0 win to Bayer Leverkusen.
