Real Madrid, PSG and Bodø/Glimt protect 3-goal leads in the Champions League

Lisbon, Portugal – While Sporting CP produced a record-equalling comeback to oust Bodø/Glimt 5-3 on aggregate, the night’s other heavyweights avoided a similar fate, protecting three-goal advantages to cruise into the quarter-finals of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League.

Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and the Norwegian champions all carried healthy first-leg cushions into Tuesday’s decisive encounters. Their progression means the competition’s last-eight lineup will feature two Spanish clubs, at least one French representative and, for the first time ever, a team based north of the Arctic Circle through to the knockout phase, even if Bodø/Glimt’s own dream run ended in dramatic fashion at Estádio José Alvalade.

Sporting 5-0 Bodø/Glimt (aet, 5-3 agg) – Suárez double inspires historic rally Trailing 3-0 from the opening leg in the 8,000-capacity Aspmyra Stadion, Sporting produced one of the most stirring recoveries in Champions League history. Luis Suárez struck twice and set the tone before halftime, and centre-back Gonçalo Inácio’s header levelled the tie on 66 minutes. Extra-time substitute Maximiliano Araújo rifled home the aggregate winner in the 92nd minute, and Rafael Nel’s stoppage-time fifth ensured the Portuguese side matched Barcelona’s 2016-17 turnaround against PSG as the joint-largest in the competition’s modern era.

The defeat ended Bodø/Glimt’s enchanting debut campaign, which had already featured group-stage victories over Manchester City and Atlético Madrid and a playoff upset of last season’s runners-up Inter Milan.

Elsewhere: big guns see out ties Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, both holding 3-0 first-leg leads, never looked like surrendering control against English opposition. Details of their matches were not specified in Tuesday’s briefings, yet the headline outcome confirms the Spanish giants and the French champions safely advanced, keeping intact the three-goal buffers they earned in the opening fixtures.

Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen, deadlocked at 1-1 after the first leg, will contest the remaining quarter-final berth in London, with the victor set to face Sporting CP in the next round.

With the round-of-16 drama now complete, attention turns to Friday’s draw, where Madrid, PSG and the rest of Europe’s elite will learn their paths toward the final at Wembley in June.