LEWANDOWSKI AND YAMAL FIRE BARCA INTO THE UCL KNOCKOUTS AFTER 4-1 COPENHAGEN COMEBACK
Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski inspire a 4-1 comeback win over Copenhagen to send Barcelona into the UCL Last 16.
Barcelona punched their ticket to the Champions League last 16 with a 4-1 win over Copenhagen on Wednesday night. Hansi Flick’s team looked comfortable in the end, racking up second-half goals from Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Marcus Rashford. But honestly, that first half was a real headache—they actually went behind early, thanks to a fourth-minute strike from 17-year-old Viktor Dadason.
Barca controlled possession right from the start, but one sharp Copenhagen counter turned everything upside down. Mohamed Eyenoussi slipped a perfect pass between the centre-backs, and Flick’s high defensive line left Dadason all alone with Joan Garcia. The teenager stayed cool and slotted his shot past the keeper. Simple as that.
After that, Barcelona started to crank up the pressure. Lewandowski almost levelled things after a sloppy back pass handed him an open look, but he wasted it—something you don’t see from him often. Eric Garcia came close to, but Dominik Kotarski in the Copenhagen goal pulled off a sharp save on his deflected shot.
Even though Barcelona ended the half with a whopping 75% possession, they just couldn’t break Copenhagen down. Eric Garcia rattled the crossbar with a rocket, and Yamal fired wide, but that was about it.
Things finally turned right after halftime, and Yamal was at the heart of it. Dani Olmo sliced open the left side of Copenhagen’s defence with a gorgeous pass, sending Yamal racing toward goal. Instead of shooting, the Spanish youngster set up Lewandowski with a clever outside-of-the-boot pass, and the Polish striker did the rest—goal number 106 for him in the Champions League.
That fired up Yamal even more. In a six-minute burst, he basically decided the match on his own. First, he let fly from the edge of the box; the shot took a nasty deflection and looped over Kotarski for the lead. Moments later, Yamal whipped in a cross that Lewandowski chested down, then got clipped by a defender. Raphinha stepped up and buried the penalty.
Rashford, coming off the bench, capped it off with a sneaky free kick that caught Kotarski napping at his near post. Barcelona almost let one in at the end, but Pereira’s header was scratched off for offside interference by Chatzidiakos.
Barca finished the group stage in fifth, locking in a spot in the round of 16. Next up? They could face defending champs Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle, or a few others. The big games are coming.
ARSENAL POCKET INSANE £125.18M FOLLOWING CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL QUALIFICATION
Mikel Arteta's side has added £15.97m to their cash reserves, eclipsing the total earned by current champions PSG last year.
Arsenal have added another £15.97 million to their UEFA prize money haul after securing a spot in the Champions League final with a win against Atletico Madrid. They are set to face either Bayern Munich or the current champions, Paris Saint-Germain, in Budapest on May 30, aiming for their first-ever triumph in this prestigious competition.
Beyond that, there’s an additional £5.61 million up for grabs in Hungary later this month. But up to now, Arsenal have amassed an eye-watering £125.18 million in Champions League prize money this season alone. A place in next season’s European Super Cup also carries a potential reward of around £3.45 million. It’s been a remarkable European run under Mikel Arteta, with the team dominating the group stage by winning all eight matches.
From the very beginning, the club benefited from the initial distribution of TV revenue and the rankings pool, which together amounted to £49.6 million. Even before the knockout rounds kicked off, Arsenal had already secured £85.3 million in prize money.
That total doesn’t even cover the bonuses linked to their on-field success, as each of their eight victories in the group stage brought in roughly £15.8 million altogether.
By finishing first out of 36 group-phase clubs, Arsenal earned an extra £8.6 million, and progressing straight to the round of 16 as one of the top eight teams secured them another £11.3 million.
They continued their strong run by eliminating Bayer Leverkusen after a 1-1 draw away and a 2-0 win at the Emirates, which added £10.8 million more to their earnings.
Overcoming Sporting CP in the quarter-finals also brought a £10.8 million bonus. While Arsenal’s motivation isn’t just financial, this level of income certainly aids in meeting profit and sustainability rules and other financial fair play criteria.
It’s also likely to support their summer transfer budget, as sporting director Andrea Berta looks to build on Arteta’s squad.
Last season, Arsenal took home £98.63 million after reaching the semi-finals before falling to PSG.
PSG, who went on to win the title, collected about £124.62 million last year, so Arsenal have now already surpassed that figure.
Meanwhile, UEFA has set aside a record £2.13 billion in prize money for the 2025-26 Champions League season, highlighting the competition’s growing financial stakes.
JAN OBLAK CONFESSES ATLETICO WERE "AFRAID TO PLAY" AGAINST ARSENAL
Following their Champions League exit, skipper Jan Oblak analysed where Atletico went wrong and paid tribute to Griezmann.
Jan Oblak didn’t hold back after Atletico Madrid crashed out of the Champions League against Arsenal. He said straight up that the team just didn’t do enough to earn a spot in the final. Sure, he’s proud of how far the squad has come recently, but the way they went out still stings.
Oblak was pretty open about where things went wrong, especially after the first leg, when Atletico failed to take an advantage back to London. “I'm disappointed, just like all the fans. Honestly, I can’t find the words. We didn’t do enough to be in the final, and it’s just a tough moment. We had our chances to win, but we didn’t take them. All that’s left is to congratulate Arsenal.”
He didn’t stop there, either. Speaking to CBS Golazo, Oblak was even more direct about the team’s mentality, especially in the first half of both matches. He felt Atletico were hesitant, too respectful of Arsenal, and afraid to play. Both times, they fell behind before halftime and then tried to play catch-up, but it was always a little too late. “This has happened several times this season,” Oblak said, “and while we’ve managed to win those games before, not today when it mattered most.”
On the flip side, Oblak did give some credit to the young players and the growth the team’s shown, especially after a couple of big summers that saw a huge part of the squad change. “The last two seasons, we’ve switched out something like 15 players. A lot of young guys with not much experience came in. They did great in the cup, and they’ve held up in the Champions League too. In the league, we weren’t good enough for the biggest matches, but I’m proud of how the younger ones are growing. Still, when the goal is to win a title, and you don’t, you can’t call it a success. All we can do is look forward and hope we’ll be fighting for trophies next season.”
Saying goodbye to Antoine Griezmann made this exit even sadder for Oblak and the rest of the squad. Griezmann’s heading to Orlando City this summer, bringing the curtain down on his Champions League career with Atletico. “Everyone’s going to miss Griezi; he’s an incredible player and a great guy. The kind of person who’s always smiling, always positive, and does things on the pitch nobody else can. We’ll miss him a lot; the fans will miss him, but he deserves nothing but the best wherever he goes.”
At 33, Oblak is one of Atletico’s true leaders, right behind Koke for the captain’s armband. Alongside Jose Maria Gimenez and Marcos Llorente, he’s been a
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