Bayern Munich have one foot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after a Harry Kane double helped them to comfortable win against 10-man Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
06 Mar 2025
Kane gave the hosts an early breakthrough in the all-German meeting before Jamal Musiala doubled their lead by capitalising on a mistake from Leverkusen goalkeeper Matej Kovar.
The visitors went down to 10 men after a second yellow for Nordi Mukiele just past the hour mark, then Kane scored his 31st goal of the season from the penalty spot to seal the victory.
It only took Bayern nine minutes to draw first blood as Kane popped up in front of Mukiele to head home a perfectly-weighted cross from Michael Olise.
The visitors almost found a way back when Dayot Upamecano's dreadful backpass was intercepted by Jeremie Frimpong inside the box, but Bayern captain Manuel Neuer came to his team-mate's rescue with a brilliant save to deny Leverkusen a swift equaliser.
Vincent Kompany's side were denied a second as Musiala headed Joshua Kimmich's corner against the crossbar.
After being outplayed in the first half, Leverkusen's hopes of a comeback in the second were dashed when Kovar let a Kimmich cross slip through his gloves for Musiala to poke into an open goal.
Mukiele was then dismissed for a reckless challenge on Kingsley Coman before Kane was dragged down to the floor by substitute Edmond Tapsoba during a corner.
Referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot after a video assistant referee (VAR) review and the England captain made no mistake from 12 yards to pull the Bundesliga leaders further ahead.
"This is the Champions League, this is the biggest game of all," Kane told TNT Sports after the game.
"We're playing against a team who have had an unbelievable couple of seasons. If we don't carry it on, then it doesn't mean anything.
"We're here to send a message not just to everyone but to ourselves."
Raphinha was once again Barcelona's hero as they claimed a narrow win over Benfica in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, despite going down to 10 men.
06 Mar 2025
The Brazilian capitalised on a defensive error to drive forward and slot in the bottom corner in the 61st minute, notching his 25th goal of the season and ninth in the Champions League campaign.
Raphinha also came to the rescue for five-time winners Barca in January when the two sides met in the league group phase, scoring a 96th-minute winner in a nine-goal thriller.
Meeting again at this knockout stage of the competition, Barcelona had to play with 10 men from the 22nd minute after teenager Pau Cubarsi brought down Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis on the edge of the penalty box but, as the last man, received a straight red card.
The Portuguese hosts thought they had a penalty in the 82nd minute after the otherwise faultless Wojciech Szczesny brought down Andrea Belotti, but the spot-kick was overturned for offside in the build-up.
Barcelona held on to take a narrow lead to the Camp Nou for the second leg on Tuesday 11 March (17:45 GMT).
Lautaro Martinez scored a landmark goal as Inter Milan took a commanding lead against Feyenoord in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
06 Mar 2025
Marcus Thuram struck their opener seven minutes before the break when he stabbed home Nicolo Barella's looping ball into the box from close range.
Kristjan Asllani's free-kick from 25 yards was tipped over the bar by Feyenoord goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther in the final action of the first half.
But Inter doubled their lead five minutes after the interval as captain Martinez fired high into the roof of the net from Piotr Zielinski's lay-off.
It was the Argentine's 18th goal in the competition and took him one clear of the legendary Sandro Mazzola as the club's record scorer in the European Cup/Champions League.
Polish midfielder Zielinski had a chance to get on the scoresheet when Thuram was fouled in the box by Jeyland Mitchell - but Wellenreuther got down low to his right to save the penalty.
The second leg takes place at the San Siro on Tuesday, 11 March (20:00 GMT).
Feyenoord tried to find a way back into the tie and Brighton loanee Jakub Moder came close when his strike smashed off the crossbar.
But they will be without winger Ibrahim Osman for the return in Milan after he was shown a yellow card for fouling Denzel Dumfries and will be suspended.
Hakon Haraldsson scored the equaliser as Lille fought back to earn a draw at Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
05 Mar 2025
Dortmund had taken the lead through a brilliant strike from Karim Adeyemi in a first half in which last season's runners-up were by far the superior side.
But Haraldsson's goal during Lille's much-improved showing after the break put the tie in the balance before the return leg in France on Wednesday, 12 March (17:45 GMT).
The game lacked spark in the early stages but Adeyemi produced a moment of brilliance after 22 minutes to score from a corner and put Dortmund ahead.
Julian Ryerson's delivery was met by Lille defender Alexsandro Ribeiro but his weak headed clearance fell for Adeyemi, who planted a sublime half-volley from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
Niko Kovac's side had the ball in the back of the net from a corner again before the break, but the visitors were saved by the assistant referee's raised flag for offside when Pascal Gross turned in from close range.
Lille were barely given a look-in by the Dortmund defence in the first half and the closest they went to scoring was when Thomas Meunier exchanged passes with Haraldsson before firing into the side-netting.
The French side, however, were far more lively in the second period and deservedly secured the draw when Iceland midfielder Haraldsson ran on to a through ball from Jonathan David and poked past Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel while off-balance.
Lille substitute Andre Gomes was lucky to escape a late red card for an awful challenge which forced Daniel Svensson off with an injury as the visitors held on.
Arsenal demolished PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands to take a commanding lead into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
05 Mar 2025
The Gunners scored three goals in the first half and four goals in the second to all but confirm their place in the quarter-finals of the competition, with a trip to Madrid on the horizon.
Ismael Saibari hit the crossbar early on for the home side but Arsenal took control after Jurrien Timber scored Arsenal's opener in the 18th minute.
Ethan Nwaneri doubled Arsenal's lead just three minutes later when Myles Lewis-Skelly cleverly cut the ball back for the 17-year-old to powerfully score past Walter Benitez.
Lewis-Skelly, who had already been booked, was fortunate to stay on the pitch shortly after when he fouled Ledezma, and Mikel Arteta replaced him with Riccardo Calafiori with 10 minutes of the first half left.
Mikel Merino added a third following a defensive mix-up before Noa Lang pulled one back from the penalty spot for PSV after Thomas Partey fouled Luuk De Jong.
Arsenal continued to attack with ease as soon as the second half started and Martin Odegaard made sure there was not going to be a PSV comeback when he scored from close range after Benitez pushed a cross out into the area.
Substitute Calafiori then combined well with Leandro Trossard who chipped the ball over Benitez from close range to score Arsenal's fifth just one minute later.
Odegaard scored his second with an excellent individual effort before Calafiori grabbed a goal late on as Arsenal registered their record away win in the Champions League.
In the new format, Arsenal can plot their route through the competition, and despite having next week's second leg to come, they look set to take on either 15-time champions Real Madrid, or their city rivals Atletico.
Real won the first leg of their last-16 tie 2-1 on Tuesday with the second leg to follow at Atletico.