Barcelona went crashing out of the UEFA Champions League Round-of-16 last night after a 1-1 draw with PSG not being enough to save them from the 4-1 loss they suffered 3 weeks ago.
An early Kylian Mbappe penalty after 30 minutes all but sealed the tie before a Lionel Messi screamer from 25 yards out gave the Catalonian side some hope.
With the score 5-2 on aggregate, both teams came close to scoring again but it was not to be with the Parisian side through to the quarter-final stage, having been runners-up last year.
In Budapest, the Puskás Arena saw Liverpool beat RB Leipzig 2-0 for the second time in a month to see themselves through 4-0 on aggregate on their attempt to try and win their second Champions League trophy in three years.
The game was stalemated for a majority of play but two quick goals in four minutes from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, after 70 and 74 minutes respectively, meant Leipzig had no chance to get back into the game.
The results mean both Liverpool and PSG will find out their respective opponents when the quarter-final draw is made on Friday, 19 March.
The passing of the torch?
The results over the past two days means that this is the first time since 2005 that either Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo will not be in the Champions League quarter-final stage.
Many have made comparisons between the pair and Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, but they’ll have big shoes to fill if they’re to take over from two of the greatest players football has ever seen.
Of course, now that Haaland and Mbappe have secured themselves quarter-final ties and Messi and Ronaldo have not, the arguments for that reaction will be fuelled even further, especially since Haaland now has 20 UCL goals in 14 games, with Mbappe having 42 goal contributions in 42 games.
Of course only time will tell if Mbappe and Haaland can lace the boots of two of the GOATs but the stats say that they’re well on their way to doing so.
There’s no place like… Budapest
The decline of Liverpool over the past few weeks has been a shock to see, but a win against Leipzig will hopefully mean some confidence for them going forward.
Having lost six home games in a row, something which is unprecedented in the club’s history, and falling down to eighth in the Premier League table, it’s starting to look like the only way they’ll be getting Champions League football next season is by winning it this year.
The Reds still looked weak going forward – and they were perhaps saved by Salah and Mane for their poor performance in front of goal for the first 70 minutes of the game, squandering multiple chances including two from Salah himself, one a horrendous misfire over the crossbar.
Despite Salah being just two goals shy of his Premier League tally of 19 from last season, last season’s Premier League winners find themselves sat seven places lower than they were at this point last season. However, they’re back into the UCL quarter-finals which will be some sort of relief to the fans.
