The UEFA Champions’ League group stages finished in December last year. 16 teams qualified from 8 groups which consisted of four teams each. The teams which finished first faced off against second placed teams from other groups. For this stage, teams from the same country could not compete with each other.
Allsportspk continues its new series where we will be recapping the results of UEFA Champions League matches after they take place. The UEFA Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in the football world and is held every season. The reigning champions are Real Madrid who have won the tournament back to back in the last two years. The current tournament started on the 12th of September 2017 and will finish on the 26th of May 2018.
This is a recap of the fifth round of matches of the last 16 stage in the UEFA Champions League:
Paris Saint Germain versus Real Madrid
Score: 1-2 (Real win 5-2 on aggregate.)
Venue: Parc des Princes
Recap:
Real Madrid knocked Paris Saint Germain out of the Champions League with a professional, controlled performance.
The French side had a mountain to climb because of their defeat in Spain in the first leg. The Neymar-less PSG had to score twice and concede none if they were to progress to the next round. After a first half where goal scoring opportunities were few and far between, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a fine headed goal. Things went from bad to worse for Unai Emery’s side though, as star midfielder Verrati was sent off for dissent to the referee. Paris, fortuitously, grabbed an equalizer through Cavani but still ended up on the losing side courtesy of a deflected goal from Casemiro ten minutes from time.
Real Madrid as well as the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo continue to be absolutely phenomenal in the UEFA Champions League. PSG’s hunt for European success, on the other hand, will remain unfulfilled for at least another year.
Squads:
Starting XI of Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Casemiro, Vazquez, Asensio, Kovacic, Ronaldo, Benzema.
Substitutions: Casilla, Nacho, Kroos, Modric, Bale, Hernandez, Isco.
Starting XI of Paris Saint Germain: Areola, Silva, Marquinhos, Berchiche, Alves, Verratti, Motta, Rabiot, Cavani, Di Maria, Mbappe.
Substitutions: Trapp, Kimpembe, Meunier, Lo Celso, Diarra, Draxler, Pastore.
Liverpool versus FC Porto
Score: 0-0 (Liverpool progress 5-0 on aggregate)
Venue: Anfield
Recap:
Liverpool played out a drab scoreless draw versus there Portuguese opponents. With the tie already done and dusted inside the first leg, Liverpool never had to get out of second gear.
The brilliant Mohammad Salah was rested by Jurgen Klopp, most likely to have him raring to go for Liverpool’s match with fierce rivals Manchester United on the weekend. Still, Liverpool fielded a pretty strong side. In the end, they could have maybe given a few more fringe players a chance as Porto posed little to no threat in attack and were only looking to be solid in defense. The English side had a few chances in the game and could have got a win had Iker Casillas not saved brilliantly from Danny Ings right at the end of the match.
Liverpool have successfully reached the last eight of the competition for the first time since 2009.
Squads:
Starting XI of Liverpool: Karius, Gomez, Lovren, Matip, Moreno, Henderson, Milner, Can, Lallana, Mane, Firmino.
Substitutions: Mignolet, Van Dijk, Klavan, Alexander-Arnold, Ox, Salah, Ings
Starting XI of FC Porto: Casillas, Maxi Pereira, Felipe, Reyes, Diogo Dalot, Oliver, Andre Andre, Bruno Costa, Corona, Waris, Aboubakar.
Substitutions: Jose Sa, Ricardo Pereira, Luis Mata, Otavio, Sergio Oliveira, Brahimi, Goncalo Paciencia.
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