Chelsea, Liverpool, and Barcelona all faced contrasting fortunes in a busy round of Champions League action, with late goals, injury woes and shifting positions in the league phase shaping the headlines.
Chelsea’s push for automatic qualification took a hit after a 2–1 defeat to Atalanta in Bergamo. Joao Pedro had given the Blues a first-half lead from a Reece James cross, but Atalanta responded with sustained pressure.
Gianluca Scamacca headed in the equaliser before Charles de Ketelaere punished hesitant defending with a late winner. A superb stop from Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro at the death, leaving Chelsea 11th in the standings with two games to play, while Atalanta jumped to third.
Liverpool, meanwhile, secured a dramatic 1–0 win away at Inter Milan thanks to an 88th-minute penalty from Dominik Szoboszlai. The match came amid off-pitch tension following Mohamed Salah’s exclusion from the squad, but Szoboszlai stepped up after a VAR review judged Alessandro Bastoni to have pulled Florian Wirtz’s shirt.
The win lifts Liverpool into the top eight and hands Inter their first home Champions League defeat since 2022.
At the Nou Camp, Barcelona fought back from a goal down to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2–1, inspired by defender Jules Kounde. Ansgar Knauff gave Frankfurt the lead, but Marcus Rashford’s introduction at half-time changed the tempo. His cross set up Kounde for the equaliser, and three minutes later the Frenchman headed in a second from a Lamine Yamal delivery.
The result keeps Barcelona in contention for a top-eight finish, while Frankfurt remain in danger with just four points from six games.
Arsenal, who preparing to face Club Brugge next, meanwhile continue to grapple with an escalating injury crisis. Declan Rice, William Saliba and Leandro Trossard have all been ruled out, with Kai Havertz, Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera also sidelined.
Manager Mikel Arteta dismissed suggestions of overtraining as the cause of the injuries, explaining that the congested fixture schedule leaves little time for sessions.
Viktor Gyokeres is only just returning, while Gabriel Jesus has been added to the Champions League squad to replace injured teenager Max Dowman. Arteta described the situation as a “dangerous circle” as remaining players absorb more minutes.
Arsenal will travel to Belgium looking to bounce back from their weekend Premier League loss to Aston Villa.
