Barcelona Dodges Disaster in Prague While Liverpool Cruise in France
The Champions League is back and its been a wild ride so far in 2026.
Last season’s semi-finalists Barcelona nearly tripped over their own shoelaces in Prague before escaping with a 4-2 victory against Slavia Praha. The Catalan giants found themselves in a back-and-forth slugfest that had everything except defensive discipline.
Slavia came out swinging and got the early punch when Vasil Kušej crashed home from a corner. But Fermín López wasn’t having any of it. The midfielder went absolutely nuclear with a brilliant brace that flipped the script and put Barça ahead. Then things got weird. Robert Lewandowski, in a moment he’d like to forget, somehow tapped the ball into his own net off another Slavia corner to level things right before halftime.
Substitute Dani Olmo restored sanity with an absolute screamer from distance in the second half. Lewandowski redeemed himself later with a clinical finish from close range following Marcus Rashford’s delivery, bringing his UEFA competition tally to a ridiculous 114 goals. Crisis averted, but Barcelona’s backline better wake up before someone else punishes them.
The Reds Roll in Marseille, Newcastle Dominate at Home
While Barcelona sweated bullets, Liverpool made their trip to France look like a training session. The six-time champions dismantled Marseille 3-0 in a performance that screamed “we’re coming for the top eight.”
Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring with a cheeky free-kick that snuck under the wall. Marseille had their chances—Hugo Ekitiké smashed the woodwork—but an own goal from Gerónimo Rulli and Cody Gakpo’s stoppage-time finish sealed a comfortable evening for the Reds.
Newcastle United kept their own top-eight dreams alive with a clinical 3-0 destruction of PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park. Yoane Wissa announced himself on the Champions League stage with a goal and an assist. Anthony Gordon capitalized on a terrible back pass to make it 2-0, and Harvey Barnes danced through the PSV defense to add the cherry on top. Three straight home wins without conceding? The Magpies are flying.
Kane Scores Twice, Bayern Survive Red Card Drama
Bayern München became just the second club ever to reach 250 Champions League wins, but they had to work for it against Union Saint-Gilloise. Harry Kane bagged two goals in a frantic four-minute stretch—first a header from a corner, then a penalty conversion. But the drama wasn’t over.
Minjae Kim picked up a red card with 30 minutes left, and Kane somehow missed a penalty in the 81st minute. Still, Bayern held on for the 2-0 win, and Kane climbed to sixth on the all-time UEFA club competition scoring list with 71 goals.
Meanwhile in Baku, Qarabağ pulled off the upset of the night with a last-gasp 3-2 thriller over Frankfurt. Bahlul Mustafazade hammered home the winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time after Camilo Duran had scored twice to keep his team in the fight. Frankfurt’s penalty from Fares Chaibi looked like it might be enough, but Qarabağ refused to die. That’s Champions League football at its finest—chaos until the final whistle.
