Real Madrid secured a narrow 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16, while Arsenal and Aston Villa dominated with commanding away wins on Tuesday.

At the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid, sitting third in La Liga, defeated second-placed Atletico in a match featuring three spectacular goals. Real took the lead early in the fourth minute when Rodrygo Goes cut inside and placed a shot past the far post. Atletico responded in the 32nd minute with Julian Alvarez’s curling shot into the top corner, leveling the score.

However, Brahim Diaz put Madrid back in front in the 55th minute with a brilliant finish after a skilful dribble. Despite pressure from Atletico, including a great save by Thibaut Courtois to deny Antoine Griezmann, Real held on to secure the win.

Arsenal, on the other hand, put in a dominant display with a 7-1 thrashing of PSV Eindhoven. Jurrien Timber’s header opened the scoring in the 18th minute, followed by goals from Ethan Nwaneri and Mikel Merino, leaving the hosts reeling at 3-0 by the 31st minute. PSV responded with a penalty from Noa Lang before halftime, but Arsenal ran riot in the second half, with Martin Odegaard scoring a rebound, Leandro Trossard adding another, and Odegaard grabbing a second. Riccardo Calafiori completed the rout in the final stages.

Aston Villa also put themselves in a strong position with a 3-1 win over Club Brugge in Belgium. Leon Bailey gave Villa an early lead, only for Maxim De Cuyper to level for Brugge. Late goals from Brandon Mechele’s own goal and Marco Asensio’s penalty sealed the victory for Villa, though manager Unai Emery remained cautious, emphasizing there was still work to do in the second leg.

In Dortmund, Lille battled to a 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund. Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund the lead with a 22nd-minute half-volley, but Lille responded in the 68th minute with Hakon Haraldsson’s equalizer, making him the second Icelander to score in the competition. Dortmund captain Emre Can admitted his team needed to improve after a disappointing second half.

There are four more first-leg ties scheduled for Wednesday, including Liverpool`s visit to Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich hosting Bayer Leverkusen, and Barcelona facing Benfica.