Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern and Atletico reach Champions League quarter-finals

PARIS: Barcelona delivered a stunning performance against Newcastle United, scoring seven goals to secure their place in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Liverpool overcame a first-leg deficit to eliminate Galatasaray, and both Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid also advanced to the next round.

Barcelona demolish Newcastle 7-2

Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski each netted twice as La Liga leaders Barcelona dismantled Newcastle at the Camp Nou, winning 7-2 in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie to progress 8-3 on aggregate.

The match proved to be a thrilling affair, with Newcastle's Anthony Elanga scoring twice within the opening half-hour to cancel out goals from Raphinha and Marc Bernal. However, Barcelona regained the lead when Lamine Yamal converted a penalty deep into first-half stoppage time, making it 3-2 on the night, and the hosts never looked back from that point.

Fermin Lopez extended Barcelona's advantage early in the second half, running through to score and make it 4-2. The Catalans continued to pile on the pressure, with Raphinha and Lewandowski adding further goals to complete a comprehensive victory that sealed their passage into the last eight of Europe's premier club competition.

Liverpool overturn first-leg deficit against Galatasaray

At Anfield, Liverpool produced a determined display to overcome the deficit from the first leg and knock out Galatasaray. Hugo Ekitike was among the scorers for Liverpool, finding the net past Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir as the English side turned the tie around on home soil to book their spot in the quarter-finals.

Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid advance

Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid also confirmed their places in the Champions League quarter-finals on a busy night of European football action. Both clubs successfully navigated their respective round-of-16 ties to join Barcelona and Liverpool in the draw for the next stage of the tournament.

The quartet of Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid will now await the quarter-final draw to learn their opponents as the competition progresses towards its latter stages. Barcelona's emphatic 8-3 aggregate victory over Newcastle was the standout result of the round, with the Spanish giants putting on a clinical attacking display across the two legs.

Wednesday's results brought the Champions League round-of-16 stage to a close, with the four advancing teams joining the other qualifiers in the quarter-final lineup. The results underlined the quality of Europe's top clubs as the race for continental glory intensifies heading into the business end of the season.