The initial chapter of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League knockout round playoffs concluded on Wednesday night, leaving several European giants on the brink of elimination while others secured commanding advantages. Across eight high-intensity fixtures, teams battled to secure their path to the Round of 16, with Wednesday’s slate providing a mix of lopsided victories and nail-biting draws. Newcastle United emerged as the week’s biggest winners, effectively silencing the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium with a clinical performance, while Club Brugge and Atlético Madrid remains the most finely balanced tie of the round.
Wednesday’s action saw Newcastle United dismantle Qarabağ in a 6-1 rout, fueled by a historic four-goal first-half blitz from Anthony Gordon. Meanwhile, in Belgium, Club Brugge recovered from an early deficit to snatch a 3-3 draw against Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid, thanks to a last-minute strike from Christos Tzolis. The evening also featured a significant upset in Norway, where Bodø/Glimt continued their giant-killing reputation by defeating Inter Milan 3-1, and Bayer Leverkusen took a professional 2-0 lead away from Olympiacos.
The complete results from this week’s first-leg playoff fixtures include:
Tuesday, February 17
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Galatasaray 5-2 Juventus
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Monaco 2-3 Paris Saint-Germain
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Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Atalanta
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Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid
Wednesday, February 18
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Qarabağ 1-6 Newcastle United
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Club Brugge 3-3 Atlético Madrid
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Bodø/Glimt 3-1 Inter Milan
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Olympiacos 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
These results set the stage for a series of explosive second-leg encounters scheduled for February 24 and 25. Under the competition’s revised format, these sixteen teams—who finished between 9th and 24th in the league phase—must fight for the final eight spots in the official Round of 16 bracket. Only the aggregate winners will advance to join the top eight seeded teams, including Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City, who earned direct qualification earlier this year.
The drama shifts to iconic venues like the Santiago Bernabéu and the San Siro next week as the seeded teams look to overturn deficits or protect narrow leads. With the away goals rule no longer in effect, the tied matches in Brugge and the narrow margins in Lisbon and Monaco ensure that the race for the 2026 Budapest final remains wide open. Fans expect a high-stakes week of football as the continent’s elite attempt to avoid a premature exit from the world’s premier club competition.
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