UCL 2025/26 play-off round: Second leg previews and predictions

After the play-off first leg matches being played last week, the second leg commences this midweek with the last-ditch effort needed from teams lagging behind. We have seen bigger leads being turned around in the Champions League over its storied history and hope we can see some end-to-end action and upsets in this playoffs second-leg as well. 

Here, we present our previews and predictions for each second-leg encounter of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 play-off round.

Atlético Madrid (3) vs (3) Club Brugge

The first leg in Belgium was an exhilarating affair as Club Brugge came back from a 0-2 deficit to hold Atleti to a 3-3 draw. So, it’s all to play for at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano this midweek. 

Atleti is a very strong outfit at home and have produced some superb results at home in LaLiga as they have defeated both Barcelona and Real Madrid in dominant fashion this season. As a result, it’s a very challenging task for Club Brugge to get a win in that heated stadium. Looking at their most recent form, Club Brugge has a solitary defeat from their last five games while Atlético just lost two games out of their last five with a loss to Rayo Vallecano away and a narrow home defeat to Real Betis recently. Hence, the Blauw-Zwart do have an outside chance. 

As for injuries, the visitors will miss the services of Lynnt Audoor and Dani van den Heuvel while the hosts will be without Nicolás Gonzáles and Pablo Barrios for this second leg fixture. 

While the Colchoneros having home advantage are the strong favourites for this game, Brugge do have the firepower and the fighting mentality to hassle them. This could be a tight game where the team drawing first blood might end up with the advantage but we feel that the hosts will win this one in a feisty battle. 

Score Prediction: Atleti 2–1 Club Brugge 

Bayer Leverkusen (2) vs (0) Olympiacos

Even after a few critical injuries, Leverkusen put up an inspired performance in the first leg, coming away with a two-goal lead. Patrick Schick earned his side an important first-leg win with a second-half brace. 

Leverkusen will go into this second-leg fixture with a comfortable lead with an additional advantage of playing at home. Leverkusen are also unbeaten in their last five with four wins and a draw while their opponents are going through a slight rough patch. Olympiacos had two wins, two draws and a defeat in their last five before this defeat. 

For this game, Leverkusen will be without Mark Flekken, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Nathan Tella due to injury issues while Olympiacos will miss Theofanis Bakoulas. 

Olympiacos has a tough job on their hands, trying to overturn a 2-0 deficit away from home. Leverkusen is also in great goal-scoring form having scored 14 goals in their last five games and would be difficult to stop. We believe it’s a bridge too far for the Greek Champions as Leverkusen will get a win at home and qualify for the Round of 16. 

Score Prediction: Leverkusen 2–1 Olympiacos 

Inter Milan (1) vs (3) Bodø

Inter losing to the Norwegian outfit Bodø/Glimt was an upset no one saw coming. Bodø/Glimt has exceeded all expectations with their performances in their first Champions League campaign. They have been the giant killers so far having defeated Manchester City and Atletico Madrid before this win against Inter. 

Inter had been in superb form coming into this game unbeaten with five wins out of five. As for the Norwegian side, they were also unbeaten going into this game with four wins and a draw. However, the Nerazzurri were completely blown away by Bodø/Glimt and now have a two-goal deficit to recover at home. 

From an injury perspective, Inter will miss their star striker Lautaro Martinez who is out with a calf strain while Glimt has a fully fit squad available for this fixture. 

Without a doubt, the visitors are in the driving seat in this game and a two-goal lead isn’t easy to overcome for the hosts, especially without their main target man. Another noteworthy point is the contrast between Inter’s domestic and Champions League form. Last year’s runners-up have not shown the same dominant form this season and even though they are in a strong position to win the Scudetto, they could very well be knocked out of the Champions League this midweek. 

Though Inter are stronger on paper, Bodø /Glimt have shown that they can compete in Europe’s elite competition and therefore, we believe the Norwegian club has the edge to go through to the Round of 16 even if the game may end in an entertaining draw. 

Score Prediction: Inter 2–2 Bodø

Newcastle United (6) vs (1) Qarabag

This second-leg is a dead rubber already as Qarabag conceded six goals at home and killed the tie. Going to one of the most difficult away stadiums in England down by five goals is criminal. The Azerbaijani outfit had done well to secure the knockout playoffs but it seems that their Champions League campaign is all but over. Anthony Gordon was the star of the show with a first-half hattrick while Qarabag could only manage a consolation goal. 

Newcastle United’s league form has also seen an upsurge but recently lost away to Manchester City. As for Qarabag, before this defeat to Newcastle, they had three wins in the league. However, they have now conceded six goals in their last two UCL fixtures. 

The Magpies are still struggling with injury issues as key players will be out for this second leg. Sven Botman, Emil Krafth, Fabian Sch?r, Tino Livramento, Bruno Guimarães, Lewis Miley and Yoane Wissa are all on the sidelines. As for the visitors, they will miss Shahrudin Mohammadaliyev for this game. 

With a five-goal deficit, the Geordies have the luxury of playing a heavily rotated side as they will want to rest key players for the weekend. Even with a rotated side, Newcastle playing on home turf will be difficult to handle for Qarabag and we can see them winning the second-leg game and moving into the Round of 16 comfortably. 

Score Prediction: Newcastle 3–0 Qarabag