The Champions League Bracket tightened this week as Real Madrid and defending champion PSG advanced to the quarterfinals, Arsenal eliminated Bayer Leverkusen over two legs and Sporting Lisbon completed a dramatic overturn of Bodø/Glimt to set up a last-eight meeting with Arsenal.
Champions League Bracket Takes Shape After Round of 16
Real Madrid won 2-1 at Manchester City — helped by an early red card to City captain Bernardo Silva — to advance 5-1 on aggregate. Defending champion PSG scored twice in the first 14 minutes on the way to a 3-0 victory at Chelsea, sealing an 8-2 aggregate success and progression to the quarterfinals.
Arsenal beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in the second leg to claim a 3-1 aggregate win and keep their hopes of a season-long trophy haul alive. Sporting Lisbon overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Bodø/Glimt 5-0 after extra time, erasing a 3-0 lead the Norwegian side had carried into the return leg and earning a quarterfinal matchup with Arsenal.
Bodø/Glimt Fairytale Run Ends
Small-town Bodø/Glimt, the northern Norwegian club from a fishing town of roughly 55, 000 people, saw its unlikely Champions League run brought to a close after being swept aside by Sporting Lisbon in the second leg. The club had held a 3-0 advantage from the first meeting but was beaten 5-0 after extra time, ending a sequence that had captured wide attention.
The Norwegian side’s route to the round of 16 had included wins over major opponents: they beat Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the final two rounds of the league stage to reach the playoff round, then defeated Inter Milan home and away to advance to the last 16. Their run is now over, leaving Sporting to progress.
Remaining Second-Leg Fixtures and Predicted Lineups
As the competition moved through its round of 16 second legs, predicted lineups were assembled for all eight fixtures. Matches listed for the upcoming second legs included Sporting CP vs Bodø/Glimt, Arsenal vs Bayer Leverkusen, Manchester City vs Real Madrid, Barcelona vs Newcastle, Tottenham vs Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich vs Atalanta, Liverpool vs Galatasaray, and Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen were noted as German clubs in action.
With Real Madrid and PSG confirmed in the last eight and Sporting set to face Arsenal, the Champions League Bracket now centers on those confirmed quarterfinalists while other ties complete their second legs and predicted starting elevens are rolled out for the remaining fixtures.
Follow-up matches and the confirmed quarterfinal draw will determine the full pathway through the knockout stages as teams eliminated at this stage exit the competition and the remaining clubs prepare for the last-eight ties.
