The restructured 20-24/25 UEFA Champions League has thrown up no shortage of thrillers so far this season, and the newly installed knockout playoff round was no different. Heading into the second legs, several contests looked dead and buried already. Borussia Dortmund romped to a 3-0 victory over Portuguese champions Sporting CP, while Paris Saint-Germain beat compatriots Brest by the same scoreline.
Neither of those two is considered the favourites to win the tournament outright, however. That’s an honour that online football betting sites have given to current Premier League table-toppers Liverpool, pricing them as the 9/2 (at the time of writing) frontrunner to lift the trophy in the Allianz Arena. The Reds are already safely through to the Round of 16 after they topped the initial league phase, but which teams would join them?
Late, Great Davies Spares Bayern Munich’s Blushes
Bayern Munich ran out comfortable 2-1 victors in the first leg of their tie against Old Firm giants Celtic in Glasgow, and they really should have had more goals. Despite them only holding a slender one-goal lead, they remained huge favourites to progress on home turf. Ultimately, though, their evening would end up being a difficult one.
After the Bavarians spurned a whole host of chances in the first half, the visitors stunned the Allianz Arena on the hour mark as Nicolas Kuhn took advantage of some dreadful defending to slot past Manuel Neuer, sparking scenes of delirium amongst the travelling fans. The Scottish Champions were as long as 18/1 to progress to prematch, but those odds shortened dramatically as their former Bayern academy product tied things up on aggregate.
As the game entered the latter stages, the hosts began to pile on the pressure. Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel saved a whopping nine shots for the visitors in a herculean display. However, in the 94th minute, he was finally beaten. The Danish shot-stopper saved brilliantly from Leon Goretzka’s point-blank header, only for the ball to fall at the feet of Alphonso Davies, who managed to bundle the ball home and spare his side’s blushes.
Kasper Schmeichel made 9 saves against Bayern Munich tonight.
Still performing on the biggest stage at 38 years old 🧤 pic.twitter.com/bWmuQnSjMg
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 18, 2025
Italian Contingent Falls
The first set of knockout round second legs ended up being a disastrous evening for Italian clubs. Both AC Milan and Atalanta lost their first legs despite being much fancied. The Rossoneri were beaten away at Feyenoord by a single goal, while last season’s Europa League winners were stunned away at Club Brugge. Both Azzurri outfits were on home turf in the second leg, and they were heavily favoured to progress, but in the end, neither would.
Things looked to be going according to plan for Milan when January signing Santiago Gimenez gave his side the lead against his former club inside 30 seconds. However, things unravelled in the second half. Milan reached three straight finals in the 1990s, but things began to go wrong for the seven-time champions when captain Theo Hernandez was sent off for diving in an attempt to win a penalty. Shortly after, Feyenoord equalised on the night through Julian Carranza, whose 71st-minute header gave his side a 2-1 lead on aggregate, a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Just 45 minutes down the road from the San Siro, Atalanta was also having a dismal time of it. Despite the return of star player Ademola Lookman, the Bergamo side found themselves 3-0 down at halftime – extending the aggregate lead to four – to Club Brugge, the lowest-ranked side in the competition. Things went from bad to worse in the second half as the aforementioned Lookman missed a penalty, captain Rafael Toloi was sent off, and the Italians were powerless to overturn the 5-2 aggregate deficit.
Club Brugge finished 24th in the UCL league phase to 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 reach the playoff round.
Now they’re headed to the last 16 after eliminating last season’s Europa League champions 🌟 pic.twitter.com/rkcFTIQ8Fx
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 18, 2025
Benfica and Monaco Playout a Classic in Lisbon
Benfica’s 1-0 victory in the away first leg in Monaco put them in pole position to seal the deal on home turf and progress to the round of 16. But the Monegasque outfit wouldn’t go down without a fight.
The hosts got off to the perfect start when Kerem Akturkoglu gave his side a 22nd-minute lead. Ten minutes later, though, the visitors were level on the night through former Liverpool man Takumi Minamino, and six minutes after the half-time break, they led through winger Eliesse Ben Seghir’s smart finish. That tied the contest up at two goals apiece on aggregate, but the drama wasn’t over yet.
Vangelis Pavlidis gave his side the lead on aggregate from the penalty spot, but back came Monaco, who netted in the 81st minute through substitute George Ilenikena. With the game in its dying embers and looking poised for extra time, Orkun Kokcu managed to find the winner, flicking home from Alvaro Fernandez’s cross to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory after a thriller.