Champions League Knockouts Kick Off with Goalkeeping Gaffes and Goal Fest

Picture this: you're Igor Tudor, Tottenham's gaffer, and you've ditched your regular keeper Guglielmo Vicario for the untested Antonín Kinský. Seventeen minutes into the Champions League round of 16 against Atlético Madrid, and it's already a horror show. Spurs are 3-0 down, Kinský's slipped up twice – once fumbling a pass out from the back leading to Marcos Llorente's opener, then gifting Julián Álvarez an empty net after a howler. Tudor's response? Yanks him off sharper than a dodgy curry. Blimey, the lad trudged off humiliated, with Dominic Solanke, Conor Gallagher and João Palhinha chasing after for a pat on the back, while Atlético fans gave him a bizarre standing ovation.

David de Gea chimed in on socials with keeper solidarity: tough gig, chin up, kid. Ex-City No.1 Joe Hart was gutted on TNT, calling it heartbreaking. Vicario stemmed the bleeding a bit but still shipped two more – Robin Le Normand's header rebound and another Álvarez ripper on the break. Spurs clawed one back via Pedro Porro, and Dominic Solanke nabbed a late consolation after Jan Oblak fluffed his lines. Final whistle: 5-2 to the Spanish kings. With relegation nipping at their heels in the Premier League, Spurs need a miracle at home next week. As Rob McCarthy at TEAMtalk noted, it's a mountain to climb.

Bayern's Olise Masterclass Buries Atalanta

If Atlético had a foot in the quarters, Bayern Munich have both legs planted. They hammered Atalanta 6-1 in Bergamo without even unleashing Harry Kane, who got a night off the bench. Michael Olise was the star turn, bagging a double and an assist in a performance that's got transfer gossips drooling – 41 goal involvements in 37 games this term. Josip Stanišić nodded in early, Olise curled one home from distance, Serge Gnabry made it three before the break.

Second half? Nicolas Jackson tapped in a counter, Olise replicated his beauty, then Jamal Musiala volleyed from a Jackson cutback. Mario Pašalić's 93rd-minute poke was scant consolation. Bayern's machine-like, as Kedar Bayley at FourFourTwo reported – quarters beckon.

Nail-Biters: Newcastle-Barça Level, Liverpool Stunned

Up at St James' Park, Newcastle and Barcelona played out a 1-1 thriller that went down to the wire. No goals till the 86th, when Harvey Barnes – nine UCL contributions this season and eyeing an England World Cup spot – scuffed a volley past Joan García. Cue bedlam! But Malick Thiaw's daft lunge on Dani Olmo gifted Lamine Yamal a stoppage-time pen to level it. All square for Camp Nou, per Lorenzo Bettoni at Football Italia.

Liverpool? Ouch. Galatasaray nicked it 1-0 in Istanbul for the second time this campaign, thanks to Mario Lemina's scrappy corner poach early doors. Arne Slot's Reds dominated but fluffed it – Ibrahima Konaté's double clanger leading to a ruled-out Victor Osimhen strike. Anfield return next week is must-win, as Football365's coverage highlighted.

What a first-leg frenzy! Errors, brilliance, and ties teetering. Fancy a pint to mull it over?