A golden era of Champions League football looks to have come to an end. For the first time in 16 years, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will take part in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Barcelona and Juventus both fell out of the competition this week, with the Catalans falling short against Paris Saint-Germain and you losing to Porto.
Back in the 2004/2005 campaign, when neither were in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition, the Portuguese was still at Manchester United while Messi was still starting out as a professional.
Curiously, they met in this season’s group stage, and both celebrated 3-0 wins for their respective teams.
Messi was impressive as Barcelona won 3-0 in Turin, though Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t on the pitch as he had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the game.
They did share the pitch at the Camp Nou, though, where Cristiano enjoyed a 3-0 win for the Italian champions.
Now it’s time for the batons to be passed on to Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. It seems as though European football is ready for a new era with these two at the forefront.
Futures up in the air
Messi‘s contract at Barcelona expires this summer and it remains to be seen if he’ll extend his current deal now that Joan Laporta has returned as president.
Cristiano, meanwhile, has a contract until 2022 in Turin but might be moved on this summer to avoid him leaving on a free in another year’s time.
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