Champions League: Bayern and Atlético de Madrid sweep aside; Barcelona must win in the return leg

A day of goals and suspense in the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid booked their places in the quarterfinals of European soccer's top competition after sweeping aside Atalanta and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively. Meanwhile, FC Barcelona earned a late equalizer from the penalty spot against Newcastle, while Liverpool succumbed to Galatasaray in Turkey.

Bayern showed their favorite's credentials

In Bergamo, Italy, Bayern Munich showed their might. The German side showed no mercy to Atalanta, to whom they put no less than six goals (1-6) despite being without one of their big stars, Harry Kane. The English striker did not play a single minute in this first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16.

"This is the kind of performance we wanted. We were dangerous throughout the match. We have talent and quality in the team. So it's no surprise when the boys perform like this," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany of Belgium.

Josip Stanicic, Serge Gnabry, Jamaal Musiala, Nicolas Jackson and Michael Olise (brace) were the scorers for the Bavarian side. Mario Pasalic scored the consolation goal for the Italians.

Atletico Madrid did not waste their chances

The other of Tuesday's goals was scored by Atlético de Madrid. At their home stadium, the men led by Diego Pablo Simeone did Tottenham Hotspur with a 5-2 win. The north London side's starting goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky, was substituted in the 15th minute of the first half after making two mistakes that accounted for two of the red-and-white's goals and doomed his team.

"I liked the team, it had an impact on the match favored by the mistakes, which we favored them to happen, that generated confidence for us to keep trying to press in the rival field and take a lead in the first half important," Simeone said at the end of the game.

Marcos Llorente, Antoine Griezmann, Robin Le Normand and Julián Álvarez (brace) left Atlético practically qualified for the quarterfinals. With their goals, Perro Porro and Dominic Solanke give Tottenham a small glimmer of hope.

Barcelona, a last-ditch equalizer

They had to wait until the last seconds of their clash to get a halfway decent result. FC Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw by Newcastle in England in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie. With the English almost celebrating the win, the Spaniards, who did not perform as expected, put the tie on the scoreboard from the penalty spot in the 90+6th minute.

"We didn't play a good game with the ball. Without the ball we were good, we defended together, as a team. That was positive. It wasn't easy to play in this stadium, with that pressure and this atmosphere. We had a lot of mistakes with that pressure and we have to improve," said Hansi Flick, Barcelona's technical director.

Lamine Yamal converted the penalty to give the Azulgrana the equalizer. Earlier, Harvey Barnes had put Newcastle ahead.

Liverpool forced to come from behind

The surprise of the day came in Turkey. Galatasaray beat Liverpool 1-0 in Istanbul, forcing the English side to come from behind at Anfield in the second leg. It is the second time that the Arne Slot-led squad has lost to the Turks this season.

"It's a very difficult stadium. Both for the opposing players and the coaches. It is difficult to concentrate and communicate," said Slot after the game.

The only goal of the match was scored by Mario Lemina with just seven minutes gone.