UEFA Champions League: Messi, Ronaldo Miss First Q-Finals In 16 Years
For the first time in 16 years, since 2004-05 season, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be involved in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The last time neither superstar nor their teams reached the last eight stage of this competition was in 2004-05, when Liverpool won the competition.
The Argentine captain and FC Barcelona were eliminated at the last-16 stage by French champions, PSG, who drew 1-1 against the Spanish side on Wednesday to seal a 5-2 aggregate triumph.
Similarly, the day before, Porto stunned Juventus and Ronaldo, advancing after a thrilling extra-time battle in the second leg in Turin.
What happened in 2004-05?
It was Chelsea that eliminated Messi and Barcelona the last time both superstars missed out at this stage of the competition, while Ronaldo, then with Manchester United, also went down against AC Milan in the round of 16 stage.
Overall, Ronaldo has won the Champions League five times, while Messi has won the competition on four occasions, most recently being in the 2014-15 season.
Barcelona end 13-year quarters streak
In addition to both players ending a long streak of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Barcelona also saw a long stretch of reaching the last eight come to an end on Wednesday.
With their elimination at the hands of PSG, Barcelona failed to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2006-07, when they were eliminated by Liverpool in the last 16.
The Blaugrana were on a run of 13 consecutive quarter-final appearances, the longest such streak in the competition’s history.
End of an era?
With Messi at age 33 and Ronaldo now 36, there has been plenty of speculation that the era of both players dominating the European scene has ended.
This season’s Champions League has seen two players, in particular, emerge as potential successors to the dominating duo.
Kylian Mbappe, whose PSG side defeated Barca, scored four goals over the two-leg tie, breaking Messi’s record as the youngest player to reach 25 Champions League goals in the process.
Erling Haaland also scored four goals in Dortmund’s last-16 tie against FC Sevilla, with the 20-year-old phenomenon becoming the youngest player to reach 20 Champions League goals. – With Goal.com
