Official UEFA Champions League Podcast Folgen

A stunning start to the last 16 saw 17 goals shared amongst Tuesday’s four first leg encounters. It was a tightly contested Madrid derby with the defending champions edging neighbours Atleti 2-1 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu thanks to a second half Brahim Diaz winner. Arsenal hit seven in Eindhoven to take full control of their Round of 16 tie against PSV – there were six different goalscorers for the Gunners and we hear from one of them, Dutch defender Jurrien Timber. It was a far tighter affair in Dortmund as Lille came back from a goal down to earn a hard fought 1-1 draw – the scorer of their equaliser and Player of the Match, Hákon Arnar Haraldsson, believes the home crowd could prove pivotal for his side in the second leg in France. And in the day’s early kick off in Brugge, Aston Villa scored two late goals to take a 3-1 first leg advantage back to Birmingham – we hear from their satisfied manager Unai Emery.  We also look ahead to Wednesday’s Round of 16 first legs, including a heavyweight clash at the Parc des Princes between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool, a match Reds boss Arne Slot says they are not taking lightly.  

The final four clubs confirmed their spots in the Round of 16 on Wednesday night. PSV needed extra time to complete the turnaround in the tie, beating Juventus 3-1 on the night, 4-3 on aggregate. In Madrid, the defending Champions put in another fine performance to defeat Manchester City 3-1, 6-3 on aggregate, thanks to a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappe. Meanwhile, Paris fired 7 goals past Brest, and although Dortmund were unable to break the deadlock against Sporting, their 3-0 advantage from the 1st leg was enough to see them through.

Tuesday’s Knockout Phase play-off second legs went right down to the wire with red cards, late goals and plenty of drama. It was heartbreak for Celtic in Munich as Bayern equalised deep into injury time to sneak through 2-1 on aggregate thanks to their late goalscoring hero Alphonso Davies. It was raining goals in Lisbon as Benfica and Monaco drew 3-3, the Portuguese side progressing 4-3 on aggregate – we hear from their Player of the Match Orkun Kökçü.   Elsewhere Feyenoord and Club Brugge pulled off the upsets of the night with superb away displays to eliminate Italian sides Milan and Atalanta respectively and reach the Round of 16 – we hear from Feyenoord defender David Hancko. We also look ahead to Wednesday’s second leg encounters with Man City manager Pep Guardiola telling us his side need to be on top of their game to overcome a first leg deficit against Real Madrid.