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Following the conclusion of the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Round of 16 First Leg, we can presume the potential entrants into the UCL quarter-finals, whereas the fate of some match-ups will be decided in the second leg.
Liverpool, the league phase leaders, managed a hard-fought 1-0 win against PSG; whereas ten-men Barcelona snatched a narrow 1-0 victory over Benfica. Real Madrid emerged victorious by 2-1 in the Madrid Derby against Atletico Madrid.
On the contrary, Bayern Munich thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 and Arsenal ran riot over PSV, winning 7-1 to practically secure their advancement to the next round of the competition.
Read Also | UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Knockout Stage Draw: Round of 16, Quarter-Final, and Semi-Final
UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Round of 16 First Leg Round Up
Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa
Aston Villa salvaged two late goals to triumph 3-1 over Club Brugge in the first leg of the RO16 tie at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges, Belgium.
Leon Bailey opened the account for Aston Villa in only three minutes into the game. Club Brugge quickly answered with Maxim De Cuyper scoring in the 12th minute.
However, Bruges defender Brandon Mechele scored a cheeky own goal to hand Villa the lead in the 82nd minute. Following that, Marco Asensio scored from the spot in the 88th minute, securing a two-goal lead for Aston Villa in the first leg.
Real Madrid 2-1 Atlético Madrid
Real Madrid impressively managed a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the 'Madrid Derby' against Atletico Madrid, in one of the biggest fixtures of UCL 2024-25 RO16 this season.
Rodrygo scored a spectacular goal from Los Blancos in the fourth minute of the game, with Julian Alvarez canceling it out with another world-class strike in the 32nd minute.
However, Brahim Diaz scored the winner for Real Madrid in the 55th minute to hand Atletico a one-goal deficit ahead of the second leg.
PSV 1-7 Arsenal
Arsenal ran demolition over PSV, crushing the Dutch side 7-1 in the first leg at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands, practically securing their quarter-final tickets.
Jurrien Timber opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 18th minute, as Ethan Nwaneri doubled the lead in the 21st minute. Mikel Merino extended the lead in the 31st minutes, but PSV pulled off a goal from Noa Lang's spotkick in the 43rd minute.
Arsenal's scoring spree continued in the second half, with Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard scoring consecutively in the 47th and the 48th minute. Odegaard completed his brace in the 73rd minute, and Ricardo Calafiori put the final coffin on the nail in the 85th minute.
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 LOSC
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Borussia Dortmund and Lille OSC shared an exciting 1-1 stalemate in the first leg at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, with everything to play for in the second leg.
Karim Adeyemi netted an absolute banger in the 22nd minute of the match. Following that, Borussia found the equalizer in the 68th minute with Haraldsson tapping the ball home.
Feyenoord 0-2 Inter Milan
Inter Milan earned a dominant first-leg lead over Feyenoord, winning 2-0 in Rotterdam to manage a two-goal cushion ahead of the reverse fixture.
Marcus Thuram found the breakthrough for Inter in the 38th minute with a volleyed strike. Shortly after the break, Lautaro Martinez doubled the Nerazzurri's lead with a superb strike, also becoming Inter's all-time leading goalscorer in UCL.
The Italian outfit were close to adding a third goal from the spot, but Piotr Zieliński's penalty was well saved by Feyenoord custodian Timon Wellenreuther.
Bayern Munich 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Bayern Munich eased past Bayer Leverkusen in the first-ever all-German tie in the UCL, beating the Bundesliga counterparts 3-0 at the Allianz Arena.
Harry Kane opened the account for Bayern only nine minutes into the game, scoring a powerful header. In the 54th minute, Jamal Musiala extended the lead as he slashed it home from a rebound.
Leverkusen defender Nordi Mukiele was shown a second yellow and was sent off in the 62nd minute, resulting in the third goal for Bayern. Harry Kane completed his brace in the 75th minute by scoring from the penalty spot to hand Bayern a comfortable victory.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Keeper Wojciech Szczęsny's trusted gloves resisted the fall of a ten-men FC Barcelona against Benfica in the first leg at Estádio da Luz, leading them to a slender 1-0 victory.
Defender Pau Cubarsi was sent off in the 22nd minute of the game, following a straight red card. Barcelona were down to ten men, but Wojciech Szczęsny became unbreakable beneath the sticks, making a massive eight saves on the way.
The only goal of the match came off Raphinha's magical feet, as the Brazilian found the back of the net with a sublime long-ranger strike that went past Trubin through the left-bottom corner.
PSG 0-1 Liverpool
It was another Champions League classic at Parc des Princes as Liverpool salvaged a narrow 1-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain in an electric encounter.
Liverpool custodian Alisson Becker became absolute impregnable against continuous efforts from PSG attackers, especially Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Alisson was only beaten once in the 20th minute, when a marvellous curler from Kvaratskhelia ended up in the net, but was cancelled for offside.
Alisson made nine saves in the whole game, whereas Liverpool earned the winning goal in the 87th minute as Harvey Elliot fired his strike past Donnarumma, only 47 seconds after coming off the bench.