After which there have been eight. With the conclusion of the spherical of 16 of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League, eight groups now stay in competition. The groups are Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Actual Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester Metropolis, and Paris Saint Germain. With every spherical, the stakes enhance as groups know they’re simply three steps away from the final word prize. First, nevertheless, is the matter of the quarter-finals, a stage the place many nice clashes have taken place.
Over time, the Champions League has given us some glorious quarter-final video games which have etched their identify within the golden pages of soccer historical past.
So, with out additional ado, listed below are the highest 5 quarter-final video games in UEFA Champions League historical past..
Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 AC Milan 2003-04
Again in 2004, AC Milan have been the definition of soccer royalty and boasted a squad stacked to the brim with expertise. Within the 2003-04 season, the Rossoneri boasted a workforce that consisted of gamers like Dida, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Cafu, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorfm, Gattuso, Kaka, and Andriy Shevchenko, amongst others. So after they beat Deportivo La Coruna 4-1 within the first leg of the quarter-final, everybody anticipated them to complete the job within the second leg.
Nevertheless, what occurred was the most effective comebacks within the event’s historical past. Walter Pandiani, who scored Deportivo’s solely objective within the first leg, added one other within the return fixture. Nevertheless, panic solely set in after Juan Carlos Valeron scored from a header after a horrendous mistake by Dida in Milan’s objective. And the comeback was full when Albert Luque scored the third within the forty fourth minute.
Deportivo have been forward on the now scraped away targets rule, however they didn’t relaxation on their laurels and went on so as to add a fourth within the 76th minute to cap off a historic night time for Los Blanquiazules. They might be eradicated within the semi-final by eventual winners Porto.
🇪🇸 Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 AC Milan 🇮🇹pic.twitter.com/fgRTIB4IRT
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) April 19, 2023
Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool 2008-09
One of the crucial thrilling quarter-finals clashes in Champions League historical past happened between Chelsea and Liverpool within the 2008-09 Champions League. With a spot within the semi-final at stake, Chelsea performed some sensible soccer and received the primary leg 3-1 away at Anfield, placing themselves in a commanding place for the return leg at Stamford Bridge.
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Nevertheless, Liverpool got here out all weapons blazing and scored two targets from useless ball conditions courtesy of Fabio Aurelio and Xabi Alonso. On mixture, Liverpool have been going by way of, however Chelsea began the second half like Liverpool, scoring two fast targets by way of Didier Drogba and Alex. Frank Lampard added one other, and it appeared the tie was over. Liverpool, although, had different concepts as they scored two targets in two minutes. The Reds wanted only one extra to qualify, however Lampard extinguished their hopes with a neat end that ended the sport at 4-4.
Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool. A #UCL epic 12 years in the past right now! 🍿🍿🍿 pic.twitter.com/ncZynDrCzL
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 14, 2021
Juventus 0-3 Actual Madrid 2017-18
The 2-legged tie between Actual Madrid and Juventus had all of the options of a basic thriller recreation. Nevertheless, the sport is remembered even in any case these years as a consequence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored maybe essentially the most astonishing objective within the event’s historical past. Actual Madrid traveled to Turin within the first leg and took the lead within the third minute by way of Ronaldo. Nevertheless, it was his second objective that caught all of the limelight as he executed an ideal bicycle kick, hitting the ball at an astounding peak of two.38 metres. Barcelona added one other to place the tie to the mattress.
Cristiano Ronaldo INCREDIBLE Bicycle kick vs Juventus. Arguably one of the best objective in UCL historical past pic.twitter.com/U38uVV42KX
— Janty (@CFC_Janty) February 5, 2023
It appeared that Los Blancos had nearly one foot within the semi-finals, however Juventus produced one in all their greatest away performances within the return leg to take a 3-0 lead on the Santiago Bernabeu. Nevertheless, with seconds remaining in regular time, Madrid received a penalty, which Ronaldo duly transformed to assist his workforce qualify for the semi-final.
Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich 2019-20
Barcelona, lately, have suffered a number of setbacks each on and off the sector. Nevertheless, none come near their humiliating defeat by the hands of Bayern Munich within the 2019-20 Champions League season. As a result of COVID-19 pandemic, all of the video games have been scheduled to be performed in Lisbon. And with no residence benefit for any workforce, all video games have been performed as a one-legged tie.
Barcelona have been drawn in opposition to Bayern Munich, a workforce that they had crushed on mixture on the earlier event within the 2014-15 season. Many anticipated one other tight conflict, however what adopted was one of many heaviest one-sided clashes within the competitors’s historical past.
Thomas Muller opened the scoring contained in the third minute, however Barcelona hit straight again after David Alaba turned a cross into his personal objective. After that, Bayern hit three unanswered targets to take a 4-1 result in half-time. Barcelona pulled on again by way of Luis Suarez, however Bayern added 4 of their very own.
Objective Bayern Munich. Philippe Coutinho. 2-8.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 14, 2020
The worst sight of the night time was when Phillipe Coutinho, a participant on mortgage at Bayern from Barcelona, made a substitute look for the Germans and scored two targets. The sport ended at 8-2, Barcelona’s worst defeat within the Champions League.
