What is the biggest win in Champions League knockout round history?

The Champions League knockout rounds rarely fail to produce drama, and Tuesday’s round of 16 action was no exception. Atlético Madrid raced into a 4-0 lead inside 22 minutes against Tottenham Hotspur, prompting Spurs coach Igor Tudor to ruthlessly pull young goalkeeper Antonín Kinsky after only 17 minutes.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, went 6-0 up away to Atalanta with a quarter of the game still to play. Both matchups had fans wondering about the biggest victories in the history of the Champions League knockout rounds.

Bayern close in on record win

Bayern’s sixth goal, which came in the 67th minute in Bergamo, put them within just one goal of equaling the all-time record since the Champions League was created in 1992-93.

However, the Bavarians didn’t add to their tally in the final quarter and conceded a late goal for a 6-1 victory.

Ironically, the German giants are one of three teams to have previously recorded a 7-0 victory in the knockout rounds, doing so on two occasions, against Basel in 2011-12 and Shakhtar Donetsk in 2014-15.

The Champions League’s 7-0 club

Manchester City have also won by that scoreline twice, beating Schalke in 2018-19 and RB Leipzig in 2022-23 by seven goals. All four of those games took place in the round of 16.

The most recent team to join the 7-0 club is Paris Saint-Germain, who thrashed Brest in the knockout phase playoffs in 2024-25.

Other records

The biggest win in Champions League history came in 2011-12, when HJK of Finland thumped Welsh club Bangor City 10-0 in the second qualifying round.

Prior to the creation of the Champions League, Romanian side Dinamo Bucaresti thumped Crusaders of Northern Ireland 11-0 in the first round of the European Cup, the original iteration of Europe’s elite club competition.

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