Mixed emotions for Messi and Ronaldo in Champions League

Lionel Messi ran on the ground with his arms wide open while Cristiano Ronaldo sank to the ground covering his face with his hands. The two greatest rivals in the world of football encountered completely different results at the end of the day.

FC Barcelona on Wednesday (KST) beat Manchester United 3-0 at Camp Nou in the quarter-finals second leg of the UEFA Champions League to advance to the semi-finals with a 4-0 aggregate win. Messi scored an opener after a fantastic dribble in the 16th minute and added another goal four minutes later, leading his club’s victory. It has been six years since he last scored in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2013.

Meanwhile, Juventus lost to Ajax 1-2 in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League at Allianz Stadium in Torino. Ronaldo scored a header in the 28th minute but his club conceded two goals in the 34th and 77th minute to lose the game. Ajax advanced to the semi-finals in 22 years with 3-2 on aggregate. It has been 14 years for a Dutch club to reach semi-finals in the UEFA Champions League. Ajax beat Ronaldo’s former club Real Madrid and his current club Juventus in the Champions League.

After Ronaldo moved to the La Liga, where Messi was playing, from the Premier League in the 2009-2010 season, fans have been excited about a potential showdown between the two football stars. The UEFA Champions League was the only chance where the two could play against each other this season.

“I miss Cristiano in Spain,” Messi said in an interview with the media last month. “It was lovely having him here.” The Argentine footballer also expressed his hope to meet Ronaldo in the UEFA Champions League final. Now that Juventus got eliminated, fans would not be seeing a showdown between Messi and Ronaldo.


Seung-Kun Lee why@donga.com