For the first time since the 2004/05 season, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will feature in the Champions League semi-finals.All football fans should be pretty saddened by that stat.The pair have been the best players the Champions League - and football - has ever seen and have smashed pretty much every competition record between them.But Messi and Ronaldo won’t be adding to their 114 and 129 competition goals respectively this season.Ronaldo’s Juventus were humbled by Lyon over two legs in their last-16 clash.Meanwhile, Messi’s Barcelona were humiliated by Bayern Munich, losing 8-2 in their quarter-final.
For more than a decade, fans of the two superstars have constantly argued over who is the best.While Messi edges it on terms of Ballon d’Or wins by 6-5, you simply can’t argue that Ronaldo is the king of the Champions League.The Portuguese has won the competition on five occasions with Manchester United and Real Madrid.
But if you thought his fan club didn’t have much to celebrate following Juve's exit from the Champions League, you’d be very wrong.That’s because they thoroughly enjoyed seeing Messi captain his Barcelona side to an 8-2 thrashing against Bayern Munich in the quarter-final.And it took about five seconds for them to remember what happened when a 32-year-old Ronaldo faced Bayern in a Champions League quarter-final just three years ago.Ronaldo scored a hat-trick that night as Real beat Bayern 6-3 on aggregate after extra-time. He also scored twice in the first leg.
Following Messi’s nightmare evening against the same club, Ronaldo fans were quick to remind everyone of what happened three years ago.
Incidentally, Ronaldo went on to score a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in the semi-final before a further two goals in the final against Juventus.
What an incredible Champions League campaign he had that year.