UEFA Champions League Predictions: Matchday 3/10

If the knockout playoff round was anything to go by, the 2025–26 Champions League knockout stages could be pretty special.

Each of the remaining 16 teams have had their respective paths to Budapest mapped out, with potential fixtures during the latter stages of the competition already triggering the salivary glands of stakeholders.

Before we get into the speculative stuff, there’s a barnstorming round of 16 to get through. A potential frontrunner is out to assert their superiority in Bergamo, while two English clubs are embarking on league phase revenge missions. Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, are just happy to escape the misery of domestic life.

There’s plenty to get stuck into, and here’s how Sports Illustrated predicts the first set of first legs will play out.

Galatasaray vs. Liverpool

Liverpool must stop Victor Osimhen. | Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu/Getty Images

Kick-off time: 5:45 p.m. GMT / 1:45 p.m. ET / 10:45 a.m. PT

As was the case with the playoffs, each round of 16 matchday will have an early kick-off. The first takes us to Istanbul, where Turkish champions Galatasaray reconvene with the soon-to-be-dethroned Liverpool.

The Reds visited RAMS Park in September off the back of their first defeat of the 2025–26 campaign, and a Victor Osimhen penalty ensured Arne Slot’s side went back-to-back. While early-season performances such as those Liverpool produced in Türkiye failed to compromise their European exploits, they did set the stage for a woeful Premier League title defense.

Now, they’re returning a stadium where they’ve never won, with plenty of supporters bored with what Slot’s Reds have been able to produce despite an uptick in form since Christmas. This is far from an exhilarating outfit, and Galatasaray, who scraped past Juventus in the playoffs despite a 5–2 victory on home soil in the first leg, should be licking their lips.

The Turkish side are appearing in the round of 16 for the first time since 2013–14, while Liverpool are aiming to avoid elimination at this stage of the competition in successive seasons.

Prediction: Galatasaray 1–1 Liverpool

Atalanta vs. Bayern Munich

Harry Kane has scored eight Champions League goals this season. | Wart Brinkerhof/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi/Getty Images

Kick-off time: 8 p.m. GMT / 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT

We looked set for a potential first Champions League Klassiker since the 2013 final, but Borussia Dortmund went full Borussia Dortmund in Italy.

Atalanta overturned a 2–0 first leg deficit at the last, with Lazar Samardžić’s emphatic penalty completing a 4–1 victory that sent La Dea into the last 16.

While Bundesliga teams have failed to cover themselves in glory during this season’s competition, Bayern Munich have proved that they aren’t like the others. Atalanta will find that Vincent Kompany’s side represent a significant step-up in quality (and mental toughness) from BVB in what is their first-ever meeting with the Rekordmeister.

Bayern were close to perfect in the league phase, and are cantering to the league title domestically. They look like potential European champions—ones keen to lay out their credentials once more.

Prediction: Atalanta 1–3 Bayern Munich

Atlético Madrid vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Kick-off time: 8 p.m. GMT / 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT

Tottenham Hotspur are staring down the barrel of a stunning Premier League relegation, with interim manager Igor Tudor not yet having the desired impact.

However, under predecessor Thomas Frank, Spurs found a way to lift themselves on European nights. As a result, they finished fourth in the league phase table and were ’rewarded’ by drawing two-time finalists Atlético Madrid in the last 16.

It’s certainly not ideal for the Lilywhites, who have struggled against pretty much everyone since the turn of the year. It’d be ever so easy to write them off against an Atléti team that has lost its stubbornness but has already blown Barcelona and Real Madrid this season, but Tudor’s side are likely to at least make this tie competitive.

Tuesday will be their first trip to the Metropolitano since the 2019 Champions League final.

Prediction: Atlético Madrid 2–1 Tottenham

Newcastle United vs. Barcelona

Marcus Rashford — Barcelona beat Newcastle at the start of the league phase. | Lee Parker/CameraSport/Getty Images

Kick-off time: 8 p.m. GMT / 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT

Another league phase rematch, and some have labelled this the tie of the round.

Both are imperfect and Newcastle United are far from European juggernauts. But styles make fights, and the high-octane nature of Hansi Flick’s Barça should coalesce with the Magpies’ rugged aggression, buoyed by the Toon Army, to create a wonderful occasion.

The pair certainly delivered back in September, when Marcus Rashford inspired the La Liga champions to a hard-fought 2–1 victory.

The visitors arguably have the world’s best two players right now in Lamine Yamal and Pedri, but Newcastle, when you catch them on their day, can be irresistible on home soil. This is a difficult tie for Flick’s side, who’ll need to have their midfield controllers in majestic form.

Prediction: Newcastle 1–2 Barcelona

Matchday 3/10 Predictions

Kick-Off Time	Fixture	Prediction
5:45 p.m. GMT / 1:45 p.m. ET	Galatasaray vs. Liverpool	1–1
8 p.m. GMT / 4 p.m. ET	Atalanta vs. Bayern Munich	1–3
8 p.m. GMT / 4 p.m. ET	Atlético Madrid vs. Tottenham	3–1
8 p.m. GMT / 4 p.m. ET	Newcastle vs. Barcelona	1–2