The month of February brought us a lot of snow and cold weather, but it also brought us some incredible games in the Champions League playoffs. Let’s take a look back at some of the best moments of the month:
The first leg of the Champions League playoffs took place on February 17 and 18, with many shocking results occurring. Despite a Koopmeiners brace for Juventus, Galatasaray came away with a win after putting five past the Italian side and won 5-2. 2025 UCL winners PSG beat their French rivals Monaco 3-2, and Dortmund beat Atalanta 2-0 at home. Newcastle traveled to Azerbaijan and beat Qarabag 6-1, with Anthony Gordon scoring four goals. Leverkusen beat Olympiacos 2-0, and Atletico Madrid could only salvage a draw against Club Brugge. The final two matches were more chaotic.
Benfica faced Real Madrid in the last game of the league phase, where their goalkeeper Trubin scored a 98th-minute header to send them into the playoffs. This much-anticipated rematch caused a great deal of commotion in the soccer world. After Vini Jr. put Madrid up 1-0 and celebrated in front of the Portuguese fans, Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni covered his mouth with his shirt and allegedly called Vini a racial slur. After a 10-minute stoppage, play resumed, but this incident was far from over. After the match, Prestianni claimed that he called Vini an anti-gay slur, not a racial slur, according to ESPN. Prestianni was banned for the second leg of the tie, but the investigation is still ongoing. This incident has also led to a new rule: players will be banned from covering their mouths when talking to opponents and referees, reports ESPN.
The final playoff game between Bodø/Glimt and Inter Milan produced what may end up being the biggest upset of the season. Bodø/Glimt is located inside the Arctic Circle in Bodø, Norway, a city with a population of just 50,000 people, which is less than the capacity of Inter Milan’s stadium. After beating Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the league phase to advance to the playoffs, Bodø/Glimt, who had never won a Champions League game before 2026, were up against last year’s finalists, Inter.
After pulling off the upset and winning 3-1, Bodø/Glimt then travelled to Milan in the second leg and beat the Italian side 2-1, securing their spot in the Round of 16. Juventus went up 3-0 against Galatasaray, leveling the aggregate score to 5-5 and almost completing a sensational comeback, but the Turkish side scored twice in extra time to seal the game. Madrid beat Benfica again, Leverkusen drew against Olympiacos, Newcastle beat Qarabag, and Atlético Madrid beat Club Brugge thanks to a Sørloth hat-trick. The final game, Atalanta vs. Dortmund, had more drama in store for us. Despite going into the second leg down 2-0, Atalanta came back and went up 3-0 at home. Minutes later, Adeyemi scored for Dortmund, making the aggregate score 3-3. After two Dortmund red cards in stoppage time, Samardžić scored a penalty in the 98th minute to complete Atalanta’s comeback and send them to the Round of 16. A notable matchup from the Round of 16 features Real Madrid vs. Manchester City, where the two European giants will face off for the fifth consecutive season in the Champions League knockout rounds.
As we near the end of the season, the title races across Europe’s top leagues begin to heat up. In England, Arsenal is five points clear of Manchester City, having played an extra game, while Manchester United, unbeaten in 2026, is eight more points behind. In Spain, Real Madrid is four points behind Barcelona but with a game in hand, as both teams suffered losses in February. Bayern is comfortably 11 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga after beating second-place Dortmund last weekend, and Inter is 10 points clear in Italy after picking up its eighth league win in a row, reaching a 15-game unbeaten streak. Finally, PSG climbs back to first place in Ligue 1 ahead of Lens.
With under three months left in the season, this is where the pressure starts to get real for the teams and players. But for the fans, there is still a lot of soccer to be played and many more big moments to enjoy.
