The first half of Matchday 7 in UEFA Champions League had plenty of emotions and probably one of the most exciting games of the whole tournament, as well as provisional changes in the top 8, proving there is still time to move things around.
Liverpool 2-1 victory over Lille confirmed the Arne Slot squad as the first team mathematically qualified for round of 16, and the only one with a perfect win record. And so did Barcelona in an incredible 5-4 comeback against Sporting in Lisbon: the Hansi Flick team recovered from a 1-3 and a 2-4 with goals by Lewandowski, Eric García and a last minute goal by Raphinha, in perhaps the most thrilling and unpredictable match of the season so far.
Another remarkable comeback was made by Atlético de Madrid, despite playing with 10 men very early in the first half against Bayer Leverkusen, arguably the better German team so far at Champions League. But even with one man down, Atlético dominated and ended up winning in the last second thanks to Julián Álvarez.
Bologna inflicted Borussia Dortmund a second consecutive defeat against with two goals in two minutes, achieving their first ever Champions League win, and now climbs to 27th spot, dreaming of a very unlikely, but still possible qualification.
Hopes of qualification are also very much alive for Stuttgart, now 21st, condemning Slovan Bratislava to their seventh defeat. Atalanta, however, crushed all hopes for Sturm with a 5-0 thrashing, and the Italian club jumps to 4th place.
Tonight, the rest of the Matchday 7 games will take place, including Paris vs. Manchester City, Feyenoord vs. Bayern and Real Madrid vs. Salzburg.