Argentine Atlético de Madrid forward Giuliano Simeone scored the opening goal in a 1-1 draw against Turkish club Galatasaray in the penultimate, seventh round of the UEFA Champions League league phase. According to the Argentine News Agency, Atlético de Madrid visited the RAMS Park in the Turkish capital of Istanbul to face Galatasaray. Both teams occupied positions qualifying for the Round of 16, with 12 and 9 points respectively. In this match, which Argentine coach Diego Pablo Simeone needed a win to advance to the knockout stages, his son Giuliano opened the scoring in the 4th minute with his second goal of the continental tournament and the third of his Champions League career. Following a series of passes, Argentine Thiago Almada played it to the left for Italian Matteo Ruggeri, who delivered a great cross to the far post where Simeone arrived and, with a powerful header, scored 1-0 for Atlético de Madrid. Ultimately, after an own goal by Marcos Llorente in the 20th minute, the match ended 1-1. The Spanish team, which also counted on the presence of Argentines Julián Álvarez and Nicolás González, finished twelfth with 13 points, maintaining its spot in the Round of 32. Thus, Atlético de Madrid will decide its fate in the next matchday, where it must defeat Norway's Bodo Glimt at the Cívitas Metropolitano stadium on Wednesday. For their part, the Turkish team had Argentine striker Mauro Icardi on the bench, who did not get any minutes in this game. With this result, Galatasaray are left with 10 points and have a slim chance of reaching the Round of 16 if a series of results go their way. Concurrent with the draw in Istanbul, England's Chelsea defeated Cypriot Pafos 1-0 in London, with Argentines Alejandro Garnacho and Enzo Fernández both starting in the lineup. In the defeat of Belgium's Royal Union Saint-Gilloise against Germany's Bayern Munich, Argentine defender Kevin Mac Allister played the entire match. Meanwhile, in the Italian city of Turin, Portugal's Benfica fell 2-0 to Juventus and featured Argentines Nicolás Otamendi and Gianluca Prestianni, both from the start. In the second half, midfielder Enzo Barrenechea came on for Ukrainian Georgiy Sudakov. Additionally, in France, Argentine goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli scored an own goal to make it 2-0 for Liverpool of England, who eventually went on to win 3-0 against Olympique de Marseille, which also featured Facundo Medina and Leonardo Balerdi. In the English team, Argentine Alexis Mac Allister was a starter.
