Liverpool FC ripped up the script at Anfield on Wednesday night, overturning a first-leg deficit to smash Galatasaray 4-0 and march into the Champions League quarter-finals, while Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich joined them after chaotic wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Atalanta.
At Anfield, Arne Slot demanded control and his side delivered it early. Dominik Szoboszlai attacked a corner and drilled a first-time finish that flipped the tie’s mood inside 25 minutes. Liverpool squeezed space, forced turnovers, and pinned Galatasaray deep.
Then came the wobble. Mohamed Salah fluffed a penalty before the break, a rare misfire that could have shifted momentum. Instead, he snapped back with intent.
Salah created chaos after half-time, slipping two assists in three ruthless minutes, one for Hugo Ekitike, another for Ryan Gravenberch. He then curled home the fourth from the edge, taking a neat lay-off from Florian Wirtz and burying it into the far corner. That strike dragged him to 50 Champions League goals and buried the tie at 4-1 on aggregate.
Ekitike claimed Liverpool “could have won 10-0,” a line that screams dressing-room bravado, but the numbers back the dominance. Liverpool flooded central zones, rotated runners off the nine, and attacked second balls with hunger. PSG now await, and they will not gift that much space between the lines.
Across London, Diego Simeone watched his Atletico Madrid side bend under pressure but refuse to snap. Spurs struck first through Randal Kolo Muani, igniting belief in a comeback. Atletico responded like a side drilled in survival.
Julian Alvarez lashed in a strike that killed momentum just after the break, a classic Simeone punch on the counter. Xavi Simons dragged Spurs back again, then David Hancko nodded Atletico ahead on the night. Simons’ late penalty added gloss, but Atletico carried a 7-5 aggregate and walked out with the job done. Eight matches without a win ended for Spurs, yet Simeone’s structure stole the tie.
In Munich, Harry Kane turned a procession into a statement. Bayern never looked back after the first-leg demolition, but Kane still demanded more. He buried a retaken penalty, then rifled a second with authority to reach 50 in the competition.
That milestone places him alongside Salah and Thierry Henry, but Kane hit the mark quicker and sharper. Teenager Lennart Karl added gloss, Luis Diaz chipped in, and Bayern closed the tie 10-2 on aggregate. Lazar Samardzic grabbed a consolation that nobody in Bavaria cared about.
Kane shrugged off the looming clash with Real Madrid and insisted “we don’t fear anyone,” a line that fits Bayern’s swagger but invites a tactical duel. Madrid will test their rest-defence and punish any loose spacing between midfield and back line.
