Liverpool Secures Round of 16 Spot; Barcelona Triumphs in 9-Goal Thriller
Liverpool edges Lille 2-1 to guarantee progression, while Barcelona stages a dramatic comeback to beat Benfica 5-4.
LIVERPOOL (AP) — Liverpool became the first team to secure a spot in the Champions League round of 16, defeating Lille 2-1 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Barcelona stunned Benfica with a dramatic 5-4 comeback in a thrilling match that produced a stunning nine goals.
Liverpool had already secured their place in the knockout stages with a point but extended their perfect record in the group phase, making it seven wins from seven games. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring in the 34th minute, netting his 22nd goal of the season, but Lille quickly equalized through Jonathan David in the 62nd minute after Canada’s striker converted from close range. The equalizer came despite Lille playing with ten men after Aissa Mandi’s red card.
However, Liverpool regained the lead just five minutes later thanks to a deflected shot from Harvey Elliott, which sealed the win and confirmed their place at the top of the group. Elliott, reflecting on the victory, said, “All my life I’ve dreamt of playing Champions League football... especially to score here at Anfield in front of our fans, it’s kind of a pinch-me moment.”
Barcelona’s remarkable 5-4 victory over Benfica, meanwhile, became the talk of the night. Trailing 4-2 with under 15 minutes to go, Barcelona fought back to win thanks to a stoppage-time goal by Raphinha. The match featured a standout performance by Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis, who netted a hat trick early on—two of which came from mistakes by Barcelona’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski added two penalties to keep his position as the Champions League top scorer with nine goals, one ahead of Raphinha. The result kept Barcelona second in the group with 18 points, extending their unbeaten run to six matches across all competitions.
In another dramatic encounter, Atletico Madrid came from behind to defeat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1. Despite being reduced to ten men after a 23rd-minute red card to Pablo Barrios, Atletico fought back, with Julian Alvarez scoring twice, including a 90th-minute winner, securing a crucial victory and lifting Atletico to third place in the group.
Aston Villa’s hopes of automatic qualification took a hit with a 1-0 loss to Monaco, with Villa’s early strong form now in jeopardy. Wilfried Singo's early goal at a corner handed Monaco the win, leaving Villa in eighth place and at risk of missing out on a top-eight finish.
Borussia Dortmund’s poor form continued as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Bologna, marking their fourth consecutive loss in all competitions. Despite an early lead, two quick goals from Bologna turned the game around, leaving Dortmund struggling in the group stage.
In other matches, Atalanta reinforced their push to qualify directly for the round of 16 with a dominant 5-0 win over Sturm Graz, and PSV Eindhoven held on for a 3-2 victory against Red Star Belgrade, despite losing a player to a red card.
The only Europa League match of the night saw Galatasaray squander a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 with last-place Dynamo Kyiv.
As the group stages near their conclusion, Liverpool’s strong performance and Barcelona’s resilience ensure their places in the knockout rounds, while several other teams will face tense battles in the final matchdays.