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Contrasting fortunes: Ronaldo is distraught, but Pepe, his teammates from Porto and Haaland celebrate
A red card, a surprise in extra time, a disallowed goal and a penalty awarded in the same 30 seconds by VAR – on Wednesday it served up another dramatic Champions League night.
In Turin, European heavyweights Juventus crashed after extra time, despite playing for over an hour with one more man than Porto, a result that could have huge implications for Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrea Pirlo. .
Meanwhile in Dortmund, Erling Braut Haaland was among the goals again when Dortmund sneaked past Sevilla, but only after video technology had a voice.
With the dust still settled, BBC Sport breaks down the main talking points of an exciting evening at Europe’s premier club competition.
- Action and reaction from Wednesday’s Champions League matches
‘One of the best nights in Porto’
It was in 2004 when José Mourinho raced down the touchline at Old Trafford to celebrate the injury time tie that saw his team beat Manchester United 3-2 on aggregate in the round of 16.
Now, 17 years later, Porto have another round of 16 moment to match after heroically eliminating Italian champions Juve.
They seemed to have spoiled it when Mehdi Taremi was sent off in the 54th minute, a result that seemed certain to be confirmed when Federico Chiesa’s second goal of the night put Juve 3-3 on aggregate.
But impressive rearguard action and Sergio Oliveira’s goal in the 115th minute sent them through, even if Adrien Rabiot’s shot meant it was on away goals.
“What a night for Porto, incredible,” former English midfielder Joe Cole told BT Sport. “Seventeen years ago, Mourinho ran for the touchline, this must be one of his best nights since then.”
What did you say…
Daniel Woodley: Fortunately it is bedtime because I need to lie down after that.
Romain B. Fernandes: Sérgio Conceição- the NEW Mourinho for Porto.
Prince Gyimah: Amazing! What a goal! Porto has been huge.
Andrew Priestley: What performance of this has been Porto.
End of the line for Pirlo?
As good and decorated as a player like Andrea Pirlo was, his appointment as Juventus coach in August last year had an air of experimentation about it.
He is a World Cup winner and owner of multiple major club winners’ medals, but took office without having achieved it sooner.
Could the experiment be ending now?
After Wednesday’s game, Pirlo had this to say to Sky Italia: “I have been called here at Juventus because it is the beginning of a new project, looking to the future and for several years. I am quietly continuing with my work.”
Being third and 10 points behind the leaders of a division they have dominated for the past nine seasons is now clearly in focus after their exit from the Champions League.
“Juventus have been so dominant in Serie A and that has cost them,” former England defender Rio Ferdinand told BT Sport. “They have lost the boat in the last 10 years because they have had the players.
“Was that a success or a failure for Pirlo? They took a risk for him and you think it could be. There may be a manager change in the summer. He has work to do to stay.”
What did you say…
Aleks Yakubssohn: Least of all I want to bring down Pirlo, Juve’s demise had to happen at some point anyway, no matter under what coach. But I think they should have signed Ronaldo 2-3 years earlier, then maybe they would have gotten at least one Champions League title.
Seth Gogo Egoeh: If Juventus were interested in winning the Champions League, they would not have hired a rookie coach in Pirlo in the first place!
End of one era and beginning of another?
Juventus’ departure could well spell the end of Cristiano Ronaldo’s hopes of securing a sixth Champions League champion medal.
The Portuguese forward joined Juve having previously won the top European competition once with Manchester United (2008) and four times with Real Madrid (2014, 2016-18). He is the competition’s all-time top scorer with 134 goals.
Yet despite continuing to score goals at an alarming rate, at the age of 36, his chances of continuing to triumph are diminishing.
Unlike Real, he has somehow become something of a curse for Juve’s hopes in the Champions League. Wednesday marked the third time they have failed to make it past the quarterfinals since signing with Ronaldo, having reached the final twice in four years before he joined.
With Barcelona trailing 4-1 after the first leg of their round of 16 tie with Paris St-Germain, we can also see Lionel Messi’s hopes for another Champions League champion medal fade even further. add to the four you already have in your possession. .
This season is now likely to be the first since 2003-04 in which the competition’s quarterfinals will not feature either of the world’s two best players.
To soften the blow, though, we will likely have his disputed successors in action in the last eight, with Erling Braut Haaland on the pass and Kylian Mbappé not far behind.
A Champions League night doesn’t feel complete without a goal from Haaland and indeed the Borussia Dortmund man delivered, again.
Their 19th and 20th Champions League goals in just 14 appearances helped Dortmund beat Sevilla and build on their ever-growing reputation.
What did you say…
RTT2021: Does anyone think Haaland is like the original Ronaldo? But does it have a lifespan of about five years? Haaland has to be a must buy for any Premier League club! Sell your 50 million pound junk and buy this guy! He is the only player guaranteed to win something for your team.
Paul Leonard: You know what to do @ManCity, get the name of the # ErlingHaaland firm on a #City contract
Somebody: Hopefully, after an exciting night of soccer in the Champions League, tomorrow night’s soccer will be grim, boring, and predictable.
Source: bbc.com
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