Wednesday's Champions League matches were quite eventful indeed with Harvey Elliott bailing Liverpool out in Paris with a 1-0 victory scoring in the 87th minute on only their second shot of the match. Barcelona went down to 10 men only 22 minutes into facing Benfica, but a bit of fortune, great play from Wojciech Szczesny, and a moment of brilliance from Raphinha was enough to push Barcelona to a 1-0 victory. Bayern Munich and Inter had slightly easier matches compared to the other teams.
A Harry Kane brace led Bayern to a 3-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen with Nordi Mukiele also seeing red and now Leverkusen will have a mountain to overcome in the second leg in order to emerge with a result. Inter picked up a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Feyenoord with tidy goals from Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez.
Nothing is close to settled with the return legs incoming next week, but a few teams are teetering on the brink of elimination while Benfica and PSG can't feel great about suffering narrow losses in their games.
Mohamed Salah, Harvey Elliott will make you pay. Almost with his first touch of the ball, Elliott puts Liverpool ahead completely against the run of play. PSG has no one to blame but their own finishing but this one hurts.
It's a penalty for Bayern Munich after Kane was bear-hugged in the box by Tah, Kane keeps his perfect record going for Bayern on penalties and they have one foot in the last eight of the Champions League.
Silva gave the ball away and the Brazilian did the rest in a brilliant solo effort to give to give Barcelona a critical lead.
it's a second yellow for Nordi Mukiele for a rash challenge on Kingsley Coman. This is quickly going from bad to worse.
Manuel Neuer had to be subbed off with an injury and has been replaced by 21-year-old Jonas Urbig. The young keeper is making his Bayern Munich debut in a big moment as Bayer Leverkusen will turn up the pressure to see if they can get him to crack.
So far, Bayern is the only team that has scored in this late slate of matches as Jamal Musiala has been gifted a goal from poor keeper play. Kovar dropped Kimmich's cross into the box and now Leverkusen will need to turn up the pressure.
it's a moment where managers are allowing their teams a chance to work out their kinks to start the second half but early hooks could be coming.
After PSG's domination, Liverpool will be happy to reach the half level but changes could be incoming to kick things into gear because PSG needs a victory at home. Similarly, Bayer Leverkusen is lucky to only trail by one goal at the half and may need a rethink as Bayern's having too much joy with this formation. After going down to 10, Barcelona would be happy to draw their match 0-0 and so far, they just need to make it 45 minutes to accomplish that.
PSG has had more chances to score which they could regret while Barcelona has held strong since going down to 10 men. Bayern Munich is dominating but they haven't netted a second goal to show for it.
Cubarsi is sent off for denial of a goal scoring opportunity and this is now quite a clash in Portugal.
PSG thought they had the first goal of the game via Khvicha Kvaratskhelia but following a second look by VAR, it was judged to be just off.
Dembele turned into a creator for PSG but Neves couldn't keep his shot down. Liverpool's playing with fire early in this match and PSG is growing in confidence by the minute.
Barcelona somehow had a triple save executed against them on Lewandowski and Yamal but this is one that could come back to hurt Barcelona if they don't score soon.
It only took 10 minutes for the German giants to find the back of the net via none other than Harry Kane who has been in excellent form so far this season. It was an assist from Olise but Kane started and finished the move in true Bayern fashion.
All the 3 pm matches are underway and in full swing.
As much fun as a repeat of Barcelona's 5-4 win at Benfica on Matchday 7 might be, that game was probably a one-off. We will still likely be treated to a few goals, since Barcelona are generally happy to run up the score, and sort of need to most days with Wojciech Szczesny in the lineup, since he's good to give up a goal more often than not.-- Pardeep Cattry
This one feels a little difficult to predict considering the circumstances that follow each team. Paris Saint-Germain have goals in them and seem to have corrected course a bit with the addition of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barclola's uptick in form, even if they are still fairly untested against Europe's elites. Liverpool are still on course for an impressive first season under manager Arne Slot, but it's hard not to argue that the fatigue of a long season has already settled in. Mohamed Salah is currently a cheat code for the Reds, though, so expect him to ensure the visitors have the edge in the first leg, even if it is a slight one. -- Pardeep Cattry
The former Napoli winger has had a big impact at his new club since he joined PSG this winter, and already scored one goal against Brest in the playoffs of the tournament as he could only play after the end of the winter transfer window. Kvaratskhelia's performances in the two legs will likely determine the chances of the French giants to make it to the quarter finals. -- Francesco Porzio
The form forward of 2025, Dembele has already put Brest and Stuttgart to the sword in the Champions League. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, however, are by far the best center backs he has run into since the goals burst forth. Has a lower standard of opponent swelled Dembele's scoring numbers? We might just be about to find out. -- James Benge
All the attackers start as expected for what will be a serious clash in Paris.
PSG XI: Donnarumma, Mendes, Pacho, Marquinhos, Hakimi, Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz, Barcola, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Mac Allister, Grabenberch, Szomoszlai, Diaz, Jota, Salah
Cubarsi starts at center back for Barcelona instead of Ronald Araujo but other than that, this is another XI that is as expected.
Benfica XI: Trubin, Carreras, Otamendi, Silva, Araujo, Kokcu, Barreiro, Aursnes, Schjelderup, Pavlidis, Akturkoglu
Barcelona XI: Szczesny, Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde, Pedri, de Jong, Olmo, Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha
No major surprises as Aleksandar Pavlovic misses out as expected but Xabi Alonso opts to go with Amine Adli as his point forward away from home.
Bayern Munich XI: Neuer, Davies, Kim, Upamecano, Laimer, Kimmich, Goretzka, Olise, Musiala, Coman, Kane
Bayer Leverkusen XI: Kovar, Hincapie, Hermoso, Tah, Mukiele, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo, Wirtz, Frimpong, Adli
Lautaro Martinez has come out right after the half to provide Inter with a 2-0 advantage in the match. Feyenoord has come back from big deficits before but this one feels like it may be a little too much to overcome.
Looking to win their first Champions League title since 2019, Liverpool have run into a team that no one wants to face, PSG. The Reds have been able to coast after getting out to a big lead in the Premier League, but recent matches have shown some wobbles, drawing two of their last five matches. Of course, for most teams, draws wouldn't be a concern, but when you've been as good as Liverpool, the standard is different.
All eyes are on Dembele with 27 goals in all competitions, but there's another major threat on PSG that must be tracked. Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is finding his form in the attack, giving PSG numerous options. Adding another winger while Dembele takes on the striker role full time, with players like Achraf Hakimi overlapping in the attack, has taken this team to another level. Defense will be a concern still, but if PSG can keep pressure on Liverpool by turning up the heat in attack, anything could happen.
Winning their last six La Liga matches, Barcelona will enter with confidence to accomplish their goals, especially since they're comfortable winning if the match turns into a shootout. Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski will be looked at to pace the attack but there are so many ways that Barcelona can carve a team apart if they sit back or come at them in attack, which makes it tough to gameplan against.
Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis scored a hat trick in the last meeting between these teams and he will be leaned on yet again. He has been involved in nine goals in 10 Champions League appearances so far this campaign, but he'll need even more goal involvement if his team is to advance further in the competition. This is a team in good form but defensively there is a lot of work to do.
Edmond Tapsoba appears to have shaken off a thigh issue having been fully involved in Tuesday's training session, giving Xabi Alonso a near fully fit squad to consider. Only the ill Robert Andrich is absent, "a setback for our preparation", as Alonso put it.
A potential complicating factor for Leverkusen is that three of their most important players -- Granit Xhaka, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong -- are one yellow card away from a suspension for the second leg. "It's a situation we need to approach intelligently and control when possible," said Alonso. "We'll see - we have a good referee tomorrow, Michael Oliver, who has great experience, so we'll see."
