DBasia.news – The 2018-19 Champions League has passed the big 16 phase. Four representatives from England were in the quarter-finals phase, followed by each club from Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.
The presence of four UK representatives in the eighth phase for the first time since the last occurred in the 2008-09 season. At that time, the four representatives were: Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool.
This time, there are no Arsenal and Chelsea, but Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. In addition to the four English clubs who qualified for the last eight, the other teams that qualified were: Juventus, Porto, Ajax Amsterdam, and Barcelona.
In the big eight phase, there are no more rules that teams from the same country cannot meet. That is, there is a great potential for two teams from England meeting in the quarter-finals later. Whether it’s Man United against Liverpool, Man City against Man United, Tottenham against Man City, or other possibilities.
The Champions League quarter-final draw will take place on Friday (3/15) at 19.00 Western Indonesian Time. There are no live broadcasts, but lottery results can be watched via Twitter @ChampionsLeague.
The eight teams that qualified for the last eight made it through their opponents with great strength. Ajax, Man United, Porto and Juventus for example. They made a brilliant comeback in the second leg of the last 16 of the Champions League after falling behind on aggregate in the first leg.
Ajax eliminated the defending champions three times in a row, Real Madrid, on aggregate goals 5-3. Losing 1-2 at Johan Cruyff Arena, Matthijs de Ligt et al won convincingly at the Santiago Bernabeu with a score of 4-1.
Man United also turned something almost impossible into reality against PSG (Paris Saint-Germain). Losing 0-2 from the first leg at Old Trafford and in Champions League history, no team was able to reverse aggregate goals if they lost 0-2 in the first leg held at home.
The Red Devils dramatically won 3-1 in the second leg which took place in Paris via Romelu Lukaku’s two goals and Marcus Rashford’s penalty. Man United qualify with the aggressiveness of away goals 3-3.
While Porto, who lost 1-2 to AS Roma in the first leg, turned 3-1 win in the second leg which took place at the Estadio Do Dragao. Porto, which is reinforced by Iker Casillas and Pepe, qualified 4-3 on aggregate.
Finally, Juventus showed the reason why they recruited a Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid. The hat-trick of the 34-year-old at Atletico Madrid in the second leg helped Juventus win 3-0 in Turin, having previously lost 0-2 in Spain.
While Liverpool beat Bayern Munich 3-1 on aggregate, Tottenham ejected another German team, Borussia Dortmund, with a 4-0 aggregate goal, Barcelona won 5-1 on aggregate against Olympique Lyonnais, and Man City who won a landslide win over Schalke on a 10-2 aggregate.