The second edition of the League Phase in the 2025-26 Champions League has witnessed some stunning games, packed with goals, late comebacks, and unending drama. Tussle for the position on the table with each game heightening the stakes, where even one negative result could be the decider between knockout qualification or elimination, the encounters have turned into do-or-die situations. It is not only the known names that have sparkled, but the minnows have also pushed above their weight in these thrillers. Defending has gone out of the door in these matches, with attacks shining more than ever, with home advantage coming to great fruition for some. In this article, we look at all those thrilling games played in the League Phase of the Champions League 2025-26 so far that have kept the fans on the edge of their seats.
Juventus 4-4 Dortmund (Matchday 1)
The eye-catching encounter in the opening round of matches of the 2025-26 Champions League stage took place between Juventus and Dortmund at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. This fixture wasn’t predicted to be an entertaining goal fest, yet it turned out to be one in a stunning way. Both teams created chances with the host having the better of it, but they went to the half-time with scores unchanged. The story in the second half completely changed as it became a vicious cycle of end-to-end attack with both defences cracking. The visitors struck first against the run of play early in the second half, with Karim Adeyemi getting on the scoresheet moments after Maximilian Beier hit the post.
Juve’s star boy gave a fitting response by curling in an outrageous equaliser in the 63rd minute, but his side fell back again when Felix Nmecha struck a beauty past Gregor Kobel just 85 seconds later to retake the lead. The home side restored parity for the second time in the game through their Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic, with the Turkish winger turning into the provider this time. It was a stunning four-goal haul inside 15 minutes, but the game still had a lot of drama in store as it entered the final 20 minutes. The Black and Yellows restored their lead once again, just seven minutes after the second leveller from the hosts, with Yan Cuato slamming past Di Gregorio.
Yildiz thought he had scored his second of the night, but Kobel brilliantly tipped his stinging shot onto the post. That gave the guests some confidence as they then found the net again when Ramy Bensabaini converted from the spot in the 86th minute. Almost everyone thought that to be the supposed winner, but this crazy encounter refused to settle down. In the third minute of stoppage time, Vlahovic poked home to complete his brace from fellow substitute Edon Zhegrova. Only minutes later, the Serbian became the provider as his swinging cross was headed in by Lloyd Kelly, marking a redemption arc after his earlier handball gave away the penalty. The 4-4 draw became one of the most entertaining games played recently.
Liverpool 3-2 Atletico Madrid (Matchday 1)
Liverpool took on Atletico Madrid at Anfield to open their League Phase campaign, with the clash reigniting some unforgettable encounters from the past. It didn’t disappoint this time as well, serving a five-goal thriller. It took just two minutes for the hosts to get in front with their Egyptian star Mohamed Salah’s free-kick trickled inside Atletico’s net, taking a deflection off Andrew Robertson. The Pharaoh then became the only player in Champions League history to both score and assist inside the opening six minutes of a match for an English club, finishing elegantly past Oblak after a neat exchange by Ryan Gravenberch. It was also for the first time in the Diego Simeone era and in their Champions League history that Los Rojiblancos conceded twice in the first six minutes of a game. The Reds were in dreamland from the start and hoped to replicate the 2-0 win from their previous meeting. However, a familiar foe turned up for an Atletico Madrid resurgence, reminding the host of the fateful night at Anfield five years ago, where he scored a brace to send them packing. Indeed, it was Marcos Llorente scoring another brace against the Reds, who reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time before his deflected volley beat Alisson for the equaliser in the 81st minute. The home fans dreaded another disappointing night of Simeone’s men's comeback, yet their side had other ideas. Just like they have done at the start of the season, Liverpool managed to find a late winner after squandering the healthy lead with a towering header from captain Virgil van Dijk from a corner, sealing three points and ending another thriller in the fixture.
Leverkusen 2-7 PSG (Matchday 3)
A mind-boggling nine-goal thriller between Bayer Leverkusen and Paris Saint-Germain became the pick of the results in the third round of games in the League Phase this season. The holders went to Germany having trounced Atalanta 4-0 and defeated Barcelona 2-1 in the competition, but failing to win their last two games in the league. Meanwhile, the hosts were carrying a seven-game winning streak since dismissing Erik ten Hag after just three games into the season and appointing former Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand. Both teams were netting full of goals at that moment, with Luis Enrique's side already proving their ruthless attacking prowess on the road to secure the title last season and the 2002 runners-up finding scoring feet under new management. The Parisians started perfectly, taking the lead within seven minutes when Nuno Mendes delivered a delightful cross that was headed in by the centre-back Willian Pacho.
However, PSG’s defence creaked soon, with Leverkusen gaining a penalty after Illia Zabarnyi fouled Claudio Echeverri inside the box. The host, though, could not capitalise on the chance presented as Alex Grimaldo hit the post from his spot-kick. To make matters worse, Hjulmand’s side went down to 10 with Robert Andrich given a straight red for violent conduct, having initially received a yellow card, after a VAR check. Coincidentally, the visitors, too, had a reckless moment just minutes later, with Zabarnyi having already conceded a penalty, giving away another by bringing down Ernest Poku clear on goal and receiving his walking orders. Aleix Garcia stepped up and coolly slotted past Lucas Chevalier to make it 1-1.
The game looked to be finely placed now, with both teams playing with a player disadvantage, but PSG put in a mesmerising attacking show in the final seven minutes of the first half to leave the host stunned. Champions League final hero Desire Doue scored on either side of a Kvicha Kvaretskhelia’s screamer to head into the half-time with an incredible 4-1 lead. Carrying on the frenzy from the first half, Enrique's side continued their rampage with Nuno Mendes getting on the scoresheet just five minutes after the restart. Even though Garcia scored his second with a missile of a shot, PSG was unmoved from their motive to dismantle even the thought of a comeback with the returning Balon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha adding two more before the final whistle put an end to a pulsating encounter.
PSV Eindhoven 6-2 Napoli (Matchday 3)
Another breathtaking goal fest and a shocking result came in the League Phase third round when Napoli visited Eindhoven in the Netherlands to face PSV. The Serie A winners under Antonio Conte were the favourites for the tie and looked to be taking care of business when the team’s talisman, Scott McTominay, put them in front only half an hour into the game. But the Eredivisie holders had other ideas as they went on to decimate the visitors. They already troubled the Partenepoi earlier and managed to equalise five minutes later with Ivan Perisic’s teasing cross, unintentionally headed by Alessandro Buongiorno into his own net. It gave them huge motivation, as moments later, they were in the lead with their Moroccan star Ismael Saibari finishing off a quick counter.
Three goals were scored in seven minutes, but the real mayhem started post-halftime. The solidity accustomed to Conte’s side was nowhere to be seen as PSV tore apart their defence with their sublime attack. Five minutes into the second half and the hosts were 3-1 up with Dennis Man finding the corner. It went from bad to worse for Napoli as their striker, Lorenzo Lucca, was sent off for his descent at the official. Just four minutes after his dismissal, the Italian side got rattled again with a fourth strike from PSV as Man completed his brace with a thunderous strike. Despite McTominay getting his second of the evening, the host did not stop their scoring spree with successive strikes from Ricardo Pepi and Couhaib Driouech putting the visitors out of their misery in one of their special European nights in history.
Club Brugge 3-3 Barcelona (Matchday 4)
A frantic game was played out in the fourth round of the League Phase of the 2025-26 Champions League, from a fixture less expected. The Belgian side Club Brugge welcomed a Barcelona team with a vicious attack and their risky high-line playing style, one that the home side found joy in exploiting. It took just six minutes for them to breach the offside trap froṁ Catalan giants with Carlos Forbs laying the ball to Nicolo Tresoldi to give his side an unexpected lead. However, this was not a new scenario for Flick’s side, as they had repeatedly turned things around with their fearful frontline. So, just two minutes later, the visitors were enjoying the equaliser through Ferran Torres, who finished off a delightful pass from Fermin Lopez. The latter clipped the woodwork minutes later as Barcelona looked to have taken the charge of settling the affair.
But Brugge refused to let down and their devastating counter-attacks allowed them to restore advantage with Carlos Forbs racing towards Wojciech Szczesny and coolly curling past the keeper in the 17th minute. The hosts were 2-1 at half-time and it forced an urgency out of Barcelona as they came out in the second half strong, with Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia both striking the post with long-range drives. The La Liga champions did not have to wait long to get back on the scoresheet, with their wonder boy, Lamine Yamal, opening up Brugge's defence with his tantalising footwork and slotting home a lovely back-heel pass from Fermin. Despite that, Brugge kept threatening and again found the reward for it with Forbs scoring in the same manner as his last to complete his brace and put his side back into ascendancy.
This rollercoaster affair continued to turn heads with Forbs once again causing havoc to Barcelona’s defence and earned a spot-kick by going down under a challenge from Alejandro Balde inside the box. However, the penalty call was overturned by VAR after Forbs was deemed to have hit Balde first, to the visitor’s relief and it won’t be the only time that the officials looking at the monitor will come to their rescue. Flick’s side piled up the pressure and forced an own goal out of Christos Tzolis to make it 3-3 in the 77th minute, but the winner they were seeking did not come. On the flip side, they were thankful to VAR again, who ruled out a Brugge goal in the 91st minute, when Romeo Vermant seemed to have claimed a shock victory over a giant by nicking the ball off Szczesny and sliding into an open net, for a foul.
Bodo Glimt 2-3 Juventus (Matchday 5)
The fifth round of the League Phase produced a handful of thrilling games, including Juventus’ trip to Norway to face Bodo Glimt. The Norwegian champions’ extraordinary rise in Europe has been due to the difficulty in beating them at home, due to the astroturf pitch and the freezing climate, with the ball often colored. The Turin giants got a taste of that with Glimt’s tricky attack, pinning them back early on, with Ole Didrik Blomberg giving the home side a deserved lead inside the 21st minute. The Italian outfit already let go of Igor Tudor after a slow start to the season and hired Luciano Spalletti, who was desperate to maintain his four-game unbeaten start to his tenure. So, Juventus came back roaring into the second half with their starlet Kenan Yildiz inspiring the comeback.
The Turkish winger started a move which eventually fell to him, with his shot getting blocked, but falling kindly to Lois Openda, who slammed in the equaliser from close range just three minutes after the restart. The 20-year-old thought that he had now provided the assist for his side to take the lead when his centre was turned in by Fabio Miretti, but the goal was ruled out for offside. However, Juventus did not have to wait long to get the goal they were looking for, with Yildiz-Miretti making another deadly combination and the latter's cross headed in by Weston McKennie. The visitors kept their sprawling attack on, with Yildiz causing chaos again and Francisco Conceição all tasting the Bodo keeper Nikita Haikin to get the third goal and kill the game off. But Glimt wasn't shaken as they absorbed pressure to hit at the right moment.
In the 87th minute, from a threatening attack, the home side won a penalty after Juan Cabal fouled Sondre Auklend in the box. Fet expertly slotted his spot-kick with the momentum now swinging to the Superlaget, who dreamt of a winner here. However, the beauty of football is its unpredictable nature and just when Bodo looked to be the likelier team to cause an upset here, there was one final twist to the game that changed the calculations again. After an effort on goal by the home side was blocked, the ball eventually fell to Manuel Locatelli, who sprayed a long pass to Yildiz, who went for another scintillating run. While his shot was once again saved by Haikin, who thought that he rescued his side yet again, the rebound fell kindly to the onrushing Jonathan David, who made no mistake in sealing all three points for Juve in this dramatic clash.
Olympiacos 3-4 Real Madrid (Matchday 5)
Real Madrid lost their early-season flow since losing to Liverpool in their fourth League Phase game and were on a three-game winless streak before making the trip to Greece to face local giants Olympiacos. The host wasn’t having the best of a League Phase campaign as they remained among the bottom-placed teams, but what many expected Los Blancos to chuk out a comfortable win here to get back to winning ways turned out to be a mayhem of goals instead. Even though Vinicius Junior stung the gloves of Olympiacos’s keeper Konstantinos Tzolakis early on in the game, it was the home side who got the first bite of the cherry with Chiquinho slamming them into the lead inside just eight minutes with a marvellous one-two football with striker Ayoub El Kaabi. Thrylos even threatened to double the advantage with the same source, Chiquinho, but his first-time volley this time was saved by Andriy Lunin, replacing Thibaut Courtois, who is missing through gastrointestinal discomfort.
However, the player who has been the side’s saviour throughout the campaign with his scoring spree and someone to call up for occasions like this, Kylian Mbappé, made the stage of his own. First, he latched onto Vinicius’s visionary pass, breaking Olympiacos' defence, drifting away from his marker to score the equaliser before placing a brilliant header from Arda Guler’s cross to make it 2-1. Then, as unbelievable as it sounds, the Frenchman pounced on a long pass, breaking the offside trap again and finished accurately to complete a marvellous hat-trick within eight minutes. The 2018 World Cup winner also laid a pass to Vinicius, who finished delightfully, but this time he was offside as Olympiacos seemed to be wilting under the pressure, as Aurelien Tchouameni also smashed the crossbar from 20 yards. Yet, the home side’s star striker, El Kaabi, showed that his team is in the game, testing Lunin with his header, turned away by the Ukrainian shot-stopper on the stroke of half-time.
Olympiacos seemed to have got some hope by that, as after Vinicius fluffed the chance at the other end to extend the lead shortly after the restart, they reduced the deficit with El Kaabi’s strike partner Mehdi Taremi, on as a substitute, headed past a stranded Lunin this time from a superb cross by another substitute, Santiago Hezze. Yet, Alonso's side refused to back down with their star man again bailing out from a tough situation, combining again with his Brazilian mate on the hour mark, who danced past his marker to square for the 26-year-old to complete a staggering four-goal haul. Despite Mbappé’s fireworks, the game was far from done and Olympiacos upped the ante with El Kaabi managing to beat Lunin to make it 4-3 with nine minutes plus stoppage time to play. But then the Moroccan spurned a glitched chance to equalise the matter as Los Blancos held on to secure a hard-fought win in an entertaining game.
PSG 5-3 Tottenham (Matchday 5)
However, there was one game that bettered all League Phase games in the fifth round in terms of drama, stunning goals and another terrific hat-trick in an eight-goal thriller. Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain welcomed Tottenham Hotspur in the French capital for a heavyweight clash and it delivered every inch. Luis Enrique’s men started with their trademark pressing game, putting the visitors, coming off a damaging North London derby loss against Arsenal, under tremendous pressure with Fabian Ruiz firing just wide in one of the early chances created. Yet, it was Thomas Frank’s side that took the lead after some expert play from Lucas Bergvall, playing in youngster Archie Gray whose cross was headed back by Randal Kolo Muani to be converted by lurking Richarlison. But Spurs would onto the lead only at the stroke of halftime when Vitinha would thump in the equaliser to head into the dressing room 1-1.
The picture would change in the second half again when Tottenham would retake the lead. Richarlison again got away from his marker, headed back the ball from a corner, which Gray reached in front of PSG keeper Lucas Chevalier to poke it onto the bar, but Muani was there to slam home the rebound. However, the Europa League holders failed to hold on to their lead again. The Parisians responded with the same source scoring the equaliser for the second time in a stunning way before Ruiz put the home side in front for the first time just minutes later. The holders seemed to kill the tie when William Pacho added a fourth with a striker finish from a corner, but there was more drama left. Already destined to grab the headlines, Vitinha then found himself on the wrong end, giving a pass away to Muani, who reduced the deficit to 4-3.
The Frenchman hadn’t scored for Tottenham since joining them in the summer, but marked this encounter against his parent club to score his first goals for the team he is loaned to. Just when the English side thought they would get something from the game, the Portuguese midfielder made amends for his earlier mistake by winning a penalty after his goal-bound effort struck Christian Romero’s arm inside the box. The former Wolves player then coolly slotted his spot-kick to complete a mesmerising hat-trick and confirmed that PSG are ending with the three points to go second on the League Phase table. However, there was one bit of drama that happened in stoppage time when Lucas Hernández was sent off after a VAR check for elbowing Xavi Simons, but Spurs could not muster any hope of a comeback regardless.
