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Liverpool and Spurs suffered away defeats in their first-leg knockout ties in the Champions League whilst Newcastle draw to Barcelona at home.
The Red’s were narrowly beaten in Turkey by Galatasaray, Spurs were thrashed by Atletico Madrid and Newcastle draw after a late penalty from Lamine Yamal.
Galatasaray 1 Liverpool 0
The early kick-off saw Arne Slot’s Liverpool beaten 1-0 by Turkish giants Galatasaray at Rams Park.
Liverpool got off to the worse possible start as the hosts took the lead seven minutes in when Mario Lemina headed home from close range after a corner was nodded back across goal by Victor Osimhen, giving the Turkish side the advantage.
The visitors had opportunities to respond before the break, with Florian Wirtz particularly involved. The German midfielder had a couple of excellent chances in the first half but failed to capitalise, first firing wide after a defensive error and later seeing another effort saved by Ugurcan Cakır.
Liverpool continued to probe in the second half and they thought they had found an equaliser when a corner from Dominik Szoboszlai caused chaos in the six-yard box and the ball was forced over the line by Ibrahima Konate. However, after a VAR review, the referee ruled the goal out for handball, denying Liverpool a leveller.
There was further drama late on when Osimhen appeared to double Galatasaray’s lead after a dreadful mistake from Konate. The Nigerian striker finished into an empty net, but the goal was ultimately ruled out for offside in the build-up, sparing the Liverpool defender from what would have been a costly error.
Despite the narrow defeat, Liverpool remain firmly in the tie heading into the second-leg at Anfield, where the Reds will hope home advantage will help them progress.
Atletico Madrid 5 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Igor Tudor lost his fourth consecutive game since taking over as Spurs manager at the hands of a ruthless Atletico Madrid side.
The Spanish side made a blistering start and went ahead in the 6th minute when Marcos Llorente capitalised on a poor clearance from Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky to slot home the opener. Just minutes later, Antoine Griezmann doubled the lead after another defensive lapse, before Julian Alvarez added a third inside the opening 15 minutes to leave Spurs stunned.
Kinsky had been handed his first start for the club in the competition, but the young goalkeeper endured a nightmare evening and was substituted after just 17 minutes following two costly mistakes that contributed to Atletico’s early goals.
The home side continued their dominance as Robin Le Normand headed in a fourth before the visitors managed to respond, with Pedro Porro pulling one back for Spurs in the 26th minute.
After the break, Atletico struck again when Alvarez grabbed his second of the night on the counterattack to make it 5–1, effectively putting the tie beyond reach. Spurs did find another late goal through Dominic Solanke in the 76th minute after intercepting a poor clearance from Jan Oblak.
Spurs were again largely their own worst enemies, with costly mistakes allowing Atletico to take full control of the match. The heavy defeat leaves the North London club facing an enormous challenge in the second-leg, where it will take a huge effort to overturn the three-goal deficit and keep their Champions League hopes alive.
Newcastle United 1 Barcelona 1
Newcastle will be disappointed not to have taken a lead into the second-leg after conceding late in a dramatic 1–1 draw with Barcelona in their Champions League clash on Tuesday night.
The Magpies made a strong start, pressing high and creating a number of early openings as they looked to take control of the tie in front of a lively home crowd.
The Geordie side were forced to wait until the 86th minute to take the lead when Harvey Barnes lost his marker at the back post to get on the end of a Jacob Murphy cross sending St. James’ Park wild.
For much of the evening, Lewis Hall did an impressive job of keeping Barcelona’s star man Lamine Yamal quiet, limiting the Spaniard’s influence and forcing the visitors to search for other routes forward. However, Barcelona were handed a lifeline deep into injury time when Dani Olmo was brought down inside the penalty area.
Yamal stepped up to take the spot kick and calmly converted on 96 minutes, sending Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to level the match late on and silence the home crowd.
Despite a disciplined performance for large parts of the night, Newcastle now face a daunting challenge in the second-leg against the three-time winners at the Camp Nou.
