From Istanbul to Seville, with stops in Madrid, Villarreal and Rome, Spain’s Champions League travellers produced an unusually complete continental week. Across Tuesday and Wednesday, all five Spanish clubs in the competition collected victories in the second round of the league phase — a first when the country has had five representatives in action.
Barcelona began the run in Turkey, recovering from an early setback before leaving Galatasaray with a 4-1 win. Atlético de Madrid followed with a controlled 2-0 success over Manchester United, while Villarreal made their own statement by defeating Napoli 3-1. By the end of Tuesday, three Spanish sides had played and three had won.
Wednesday demanded different qualities. Real Madrid went to the Olimpico and found themselves two goals behind against Roma, with familiar questions beginning to gather around them. Yet their European resilience surfaced again, carrying them to a remarkable 4-3 comeback. In Seville, Real Betis also overturned a deficit, beating Porto 3-2 at La Cartuja in a result of considerable standing for the Andalusian club.
A five-club Spanish clean sweep
The final count was Barcelona, Atlético, Villarreal, Real Madrid and Betis: five matches, five victories and 15 points. The routes were far from identical. There were emphatic scorelines, difficult recoveries and matches settled only after the pressure had built, but each Spanish side reached the same destination.
- Barcelona: 4-1 away to Galatasaray
- Atlético de Madrid: 2-0 against Manchester United
- Villarreal: 3-1 against Napoli
- Real Madrid: 4-3 away to Roma
- Real Betis: 3-2 against Porto
Spanish clubs had previously managed a full winning round in December 2019, when Barcelona, Valencia, Atlético and Real Madrid defeated Inter, Ajax, Lokomotiv Moscow and Club Brugge respectively. That occasion involved four teams; this one has extended the achievement to five.
The contrast with Italy made the week still sharper. Serie A’s four participants — Inter, Napoli, Roma and Como — all lost in this round of league-phase fixtures. For Spanish football, it was not merely a good set of results but a rare shared journey across Europe, one that brought every one of its clubs home with three points.
