The round of 16 of the Champions League 20/21 are history and the world of football is already looking at the quarters that will determine who are the four teams that will fight for a place in the final. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Liverpool, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Porto and Chelsea They will have their ball in the draw on Friday at 12:00 in the morning in which they will meet their next rivals.
In such hectic competition, especially this year because of the late start of the season, it is very difficult to look back, but these eighths have seen the farewell of many stars who have been highlighting the top European competition in recent years. Barça, Juve, Athletic, Seville They are some of the great teams that will not be in the next phase of the Champions League, depriving fans of continuing to enjoy the enormous talent of some of their players. These are the main players to be missed in the quarterfinals.
The great absence of Cristiano and Messi
Barça and Juventus are the two great teams that will be missing in the next phase of the Champions League. For the first time from the 04-05 season neither Leo Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The Argentine was a regular in the top eight since 06-07, while the Portuguese already fell last year in the second round against Lyon, the same executioner as in 2010 in the remembered elimination of Pellegrini's Madrid.
A few rooms without Messi or Cristiano will be a little less special, but they are not the only sensible losses caused by the absences of Barça and Vecchia Signora. The Champions run out of names like Piqué, Griezmann, the Dutch De Jong and De Ligt, the magic of the very young Pedri, the explosiveness of Chiesa, the assists of Square (maximum assistant with six) or the goals of Alvaro Morata (second top scorer with six). Great players who will have to wait months to shine again in the maximum European showcase.
Early goodbye to Atlético and Sevilla
Few could hope that with the great campaign being carried out by the Cholo Simeone team this will fall as soon as the competition. His second place in the groups made him have to face Chelsea, who have also improved a lot since the arrival of Tuchel and They could not give the machado in England like they did at Anfield in the last big game before the pandemic. Fans they are left without singing a single goal from the gunman Suárez in Champions, without the tireless Marcos Llorente placeholder image or without Joao Felix, a player called to star in great European nights in the coming years.
Sevilla took a hard hit of reality against Borussia. After sweeping another year in the Europa League they hoped to reach the Champions quarterfinals as in 58 or 2018. The tie against Borussia invited optimism due to the bad course that the Germans are doing, but Haaland was a beast that could not stop. The Champions League will not dance like the 'Papu', it is left without the goals of En-Nesyri (second top scorer with six), the claw of Ocampos, Oscar's direct free kicks, the forcefulness of Koundé and the careers of Jesús Navas.
End of the German and Italian dream
Monchengladbach, Leipzig, Lazio, Atalanta they were probably four of the weakest teams in these round of 16. In view of City, Liverpool, Bayern and Real Madrid respectively they started at a clear disadvantage and the most normal thing was an elimination. This has ended up happening.
Gladbach amazed many a few months ago with a great group stage. His offensive football brushed the victory against Real Madrid and Inter in the first round and thrashed by a total of 10-0 to a combative Shaktar Donestk. Pléa Y Thuram will have to wait to continue threatening defenses, the touch of Nehaus in the center of the field.
His compatriots from Leipzig have also had to pack ahead of time. After being one of the revelations of the year passing sneaking into the semifinals, those of Nagelsmann have not been able to with Liverpool. A farewell with a Spanish flavor with Dani Olmo and Angeliño, who was part of the ideal eleven of several days of the group stage.He will not hear the Champions League anthem again Upamecano, who has already signed for Bayern, with the Leipzig shirt and we will have to see what finally happens with his teammate Konaté.
Spanish flavor also has the goodbye of Lazio by Luis Alberto and Pepe Reina. The Romans could not with the almighty Bayern who neutralized in the first leg a whole Ciro Immobile, golden boot 2020. His voracity, the quality of Luis Alberto and the energy of Milinkovic Savic, they will be painful losses for the competition.
The Champions League also says goodbye to Gasperini's daring football, leaving his Atalanta a bitter taste against Real Madrid. In the return they did not know how to display the colorful football that they had accustomed us to and the Muriel-Zapata coffee duo and the talent of Pessina, Ilicic and company will have to wait a few months to shine again in Europe.