Season 2004/05, Liverpool beat AC Milan to win the most prestigious tournament in club football in Europe for the fifth time. And this was the last season so far when neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo could play in the Champions League’s quarter-finals. And how many matches have these two legends played since then, but the team has also won the Champions League. And 16 years later, the same thing happened again in the 2020/21 season.
In the 2004/05 season, Cristiano Ronaldo lost 2-0 to AC Milan in the Manchester United Round of 16. On the other hand, Messi’s team, which was not regular in Barcelona’s main XI, lost 5-4 to Chelsea in two legs and left the last 16. 18 years have passed since the turn of the calendar.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the UEFA Champions League five times for Manchester United and Real Madrid during this time. He also scored 100 goals as the first player in the history of the Champions League. On the other hand, Lionel Messi has won a total of four Champions Leagues for Barcelona. He also reached the milestone of 100 goals as the second player. And this time, Moyot has played at least one of the two quarter-finals in 16 seasons.
However, after 16 years, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be seen in the UEFA Champions League’s quarter-finals.
On Tuesday night (March 9), Porto lost 3-2 at home to the Allianz Stadium, 4-4 in two legs, but lost to Juventus in the away goal to advance to the quarter-finals. For the first time in their history, Juventus has left the last 16 of the two consecutive seasons of the Champions League.
On the other hand, Barcelona lost 4-1 at home to PSG in the first leg. In the return leg, Barcelona drew 1-1 at PSG. Lionel Messi also missed a penalty. And this time, Barcelona’s Remontada was not written. Barcelona beat Barcelona 5-2 in two legs and made it to the quarter-finals. For the first time in 14 years, Barcelona has been knocked out of the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Earlier, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo met in the group stage of the Champions League. Juventus beat Barcelona 3-0 in Turin, and Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Barcelona. However, the path of these two legends of the 2020/21 season of the Champions League has ended here.