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There was joy for Lionel Messi and anguish for Cristiano Ronaldo as Barcelona qualified for the Champions League semifinals at the expense of Manchester United while Juventus was eliminated by the United States. Ajax.
Messi ensured that there would be no memorable return in the Champions League for Manchester United at Camp Nou on Tuesday, scoring two goals early in the game to allow Barcelona to beat United 3-0. reach the last quarter for the first time in four seasons with a total of 4-0 goal.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo shook his head as he left the field, while Ajax players and staff celebrated with their supporters well after the final whistle after Turin's 2-1 victory on the first goal of the Dutch team. appearance in semifinal since 1997.
This is also the first time since 2010 that Ronaldo has failed to qualify for the last four, having won the competition in the last three consecutive years against Real Madrid.
United had arrived at Camp Nou in the hope of being inspired by his victory in the Champions League final 20 years ago. His current coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, made his comeback against Bayern Munich by scoring the winner in injury time.
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| Manchester United were unable to score either of their two quarterfinal matches against Barcelona [Carl Recine/Reuters] |
But Messi has shown that the glories of the past do not make much sense when he plays at his best.
His first goal was full of Messi's familiar magic, as he pbaded in front of a defender and bent the ball just inside the amount.
The second was largely due to a blunder by David de Gea. Messi only managed a sneaky shot at goal, but the Spanish goalkeeper let him slip under him and into the goal.
The goals put an end to Messi's bizarre drought in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, which had reached 12 matches since 2013.
"Messi and Cristiano [Ronaldo] have been the best players in the world over the last decade, "said Solskjaer.
"And he showed why we think that and why he has won so many titles, and if you give him some leeway and close to the goal, he'll create opportunities and score goals."
In Turin, Donny van de Beek canceled the opening of Ronaldo's score before Matthijs de Ligt won out the winner to allow Dutch visitors to advance 3-2 overall.
"It is [Ronaldo] disappointed as we all are, but we can not let ourselves be carried away by this disappointment, "said Juventus coach Mbadimiliano Allegri.
"Cristiano has increased our chances of winning the Champions League, but football is not mathematical," Allegri added. "This is not a plus one equal two, but one plus one can be equal to three, four, zero."
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