Early morning on March 11 (Vietnam time), the first leg of the 2025/26 Champions League Round of 16 witnessed many unexpected results with Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid winning convincingly, whereas Barcelona and Liverpool encountered numerous challenges.
| Match | Score |
|---|---|
| Atalanta vs Bayern Munich | 1-6 |
| Atletico Madrid vs Tottenham | 5-2 |
| Newcastle vs Barcelona | 1-1 |
| Galatasaray vs Liverpool | 1-0 |
Early morning on March 11 (Vietnam time), the series of first-leg matches in the 2025/26 Champions League Round of 16 proceeded with high drama and notable results, among which Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid produced devastating victories.
Most notable was Atletico Madrid's dominant performance against Tottenham at their home stadium, Wanda Metropolitano. The La Liga representative quickly turned the match into a nightmare for the English side by scoring three goals within less than 15 minutes of play. Tottenham's goalkeeper Antonín Kinský had a disastrous Champions League debut and was withdrawn by coach Igor Tudor after Atletico led 3-0.
According to Opta statistics, Atletico leading by three goals after 14 minutes and 59 seconds marks the earliest time a team has established a three-goal margin in a Champions League knockout stage match. After Guglielmo Vicario replaced Kinský, the situation did not improve for Tottenham as the home team added two more goals to seal a decisive 5-2 victory.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich also delivered a destructive performance by defeating Atalanta 6-1 right in Italy. The German team nearly decided the match in the first half as Josip Stanišić, Michael Olise, and Serge Gnabry scored successively within the first 25 minutes. This victory allows Bayern to secure a spot in the quarter-finals ahead of the return leg at Allianz Arena.
At St James’ Park, Barcelona narrowly avoided defeat against Newcastle. Harvey Barnes almost became the hero for the home team with an opening goal in the 86th minute. However, in the fifth minute of added time, Malick Thiaw fouled Dani Olmo inside the penalty area, enabling Lamine Yamal to successfully convert the penalty kick, securing a valuable 1-1 draw for the Catalan side.
In the remaining match, Liverpool disappointed by losing 0-1 at Galatasaray's ground. Mario Lemina scored the only goal of the match from the 7th minute, giving the Turkish representative an advantage before the return leg at Anfield. Notably, this is already the 12th match this season where Liverpool failed to win after conceding first.