5️⃣ things we learned from Tuesday's Champions League action | OneFootball

The Champions League returned tonight for the first time in 2025 for the first games of game week seven, and it delivered in big style.

Here is what we made of it all.

Game of the season? Definitely. Of any season? Maybe.

An all-time comeback, nine goals, three penalties, a hat-trick, an epic goalkeeper howler, a red card for an unused substitute, and a controversial winner deep, deep into injury time. And breathe.

Barcelona's incredible 5-4 win over Benfica at the Estádio da Luz might be the best Champions League game of all time, let alone in recent memory, and it took less than two minutes to take off.

Vangelis Pavlidis opened the scoring, and had a hat-trick inside 30 minutes, the third quickest in competition history. His second came after Wojciech Szczęsny charged up the pitch, missed the ball and collided with Alejandro Balde, allowing the Greek striker to tap into an empty net. His third came from the spot.

Barça had briefly levelled things at 1-1 through the first of Robert Lewandowski's two penalties, and Raphinha made it 3-2 just after the hour.

Chaos then ensued.

Benfica restored their two-goal lead, before Lewandowski and Eric Garcia made it 4-4, and seemingly rescued an improbable point for Hansi Flick's side, but there would be more.

In an incredible final sequence, the Portuguese side had a strong penalty claim rejected, and Raphinha finished off Barça's counter with a finish worthy of a biblical game, fittingly played in rain of biblical proportions.

Football, bloody hell.

📸 PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA - AFP or licensors

Alvarez and Atlético are a serious threat

Atlético de Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen's clash at the Metropolitano was a meeting of two of Europe's most in-form sides, with the German champions travelling to Madrid on a 12-game winning run, and the hosts having their own 15-game win streak snapped with a shock loss to Leganes at the weekend.

For a long period, it looked as if Leverkusen's run would continue, especially after Pablo Barrios was sent off, and Piero Hincapié gave them the lead just before the break.

However, few sides thrive in adversity like Diego Simeone's men, and no side knows how to work a crowd and deploy the dark arts as well as them, while still having the class to pull off a brilliant win.

Julián Alvarez was the hero, expertly finishing eight minutes into the second half with his left foot, and again in the 90th minute with his right foot to turn the game on its head. It continues a fine season for him, and his stunning record in the Champions League.

On the other hand, Leverkusen struggled in a true pressure cooker, perhaps showing both theirs and Xabi Alonso's inexperience at the very top level of the club game.

They failed to deal with long balls for both goals, and goalscorer Hincapié being sent off with the game level was a symbol of the momentum shift.

Both sides should automatically qualify for the knockout rounds, but it's Simeone's hardened side that look the better bet to win it all.

📸 Angel Martinez - 2025 Getty Images

Seventh heaven for Slot

While there was chaos elsewhere on the continent, it was mostly business as usual on Merseyside, as Liverpool booked their spot in the round of 16 and made it seven wins from seven.

Unsurprisingly, Mohamed Salah played a big role in it, scoring his 22nd goal of the season in the first half, as well as his 50th in Europe for the Reds, and his 51st in total in the Champions League.

A nod to Curtis Jones too, whose ball for the Egyptian was inch-perfect.

Having gone down to 10 men, Lille stunned Anfield with an equaliser through Jonathan David, but Harvey Elliott quickly restored their lead, continuing a fine week for the youngster.

Slot's men now need just one point from their final game to seal the no.1 seed for the knockout phase and, right now, it is a very accurate representation of the European club game.

📸 Carl Recine - 2025 Getty Images

Bologna make history, Şahin suffers again

It was a night of contrasting emotions in northern Italy, as Bologna made history with their first-ever win in the Champions League, and Borussia Dortmund slumped to yet another defeat.

It had all started so well for the Black and Yellow, with Serhou Guirassy giving them the lead from the spot after just 15 minutes.

However, this is not the side that went all the way to the final last night, and they had just one more shot on target in the remaining 75 minutes.

It's not all Nuri Şahin's fault, and there are much deeper issues at the club, but the concession of two goals in as many minutes with a win in sight really summed up their current plight. They now face a real struggle to qualify automatically for the round of 16.

Not that anyone connected to Bologna will care, as they enjoyed arguably the greatest night in club history.

📸 ALBERTO PIZZOLI - AFP or licensors

It's all to play for

There's been plenty of criticism of the new Champions League "Swiss Model", and much of it is valid, particularly when it comes to UEFA looking to further line their pockets with more and more games.

However, there has been positives, with nearly every side set to have something to play for in the final round.

Just three points separate Atlético in third place on 15 points and Milan in 15th position with 12 points, and that's with the seven-time champions and the other half of the competition playing tomorrow night.

Sides like Stuttgart and PSV kept their hopes of a playoff round spot alive with wins tonight, and next Wednesday is shaping up to be bedlam, with all 36 teams in action at the exact same time.

Who knows what might happen?

📸 ANDREJ ISAKOVIC - AFP or Licensors

📸 PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA - AFP or licensors