Eight decided groups attempting their hardest to take the subsequent step of their journey to continental glory, the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals is the place it begins to get severe. Because the Champions League received a refresh a few many years again, we now have seen our fair proportion of mouth-watering quarter-final matches. We have now seen world-class gamers ship once-in-lifetime performances to deal with followers to objectives galore.
As we put together to soak in eight extremely anticipated UEFA Champions League quarter-final matches over the subsequent 10 days, allow us to try a number of the most explosive tussles the spherical has witnessed. Listed here are the 5 largest wins within the historical past of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals:
#5 Barcelona 5-1 Chelsea: April 18, 2000
Premier League outfit Chelsea took an encouraging step towards the UEFA Champions League semi-finals within the 1999-2000 season, beating the mighty Barcelona 3-1 within the quarter-final first leg. Sadly for the Pensioners, their hopes got here undone within the return leg at Camp Nou on April 18, 2000, because the hosts secured a 5-1 (6-4 on combination) victory in added further time.
Rivaldo landed the primary blow for Barcelona within the twenty fourth minute earlier than Luis Figo put the hosts 2-0 up. Tore Andre Flo introduced Chelsea again into the competition by pulling one again within the sixtieth minute. With simply seven minutes left to play, Dani Garcia popped up with Barca’s third purpose of the night time, pushing the sport into further time. The Catalans ran circles across the Londoners in further time, with Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert including one purpose every within the first half to safe a 5-1 victory.
#4 Barcelona 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk: April 6, 2011
Barcelona claimed their fourth UEFA Champions League trophy within the 2010-11 season, beating Manchester United within the closing. En route, they bested Ukrainian facet Shakhtar Donetsk within the quarter-finals, beating them 6-1 on combination. The Blaugrana did terminal harm within the first leg itself, bagging an enormous 5-1 win on April 6, 2011.
Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta received on the scoresheet within the second minute, setting the tone for the sport at Camp Nou. Dani Alves scored within the thirty fourth minute, to provide Barca a wholesome lead heading into halftime. Gerard Pique scored the third of the night time within the 53rd minute earlier than Seydou Keita and Xavi Hernandez accomplished the routing. Yaroslav Rakitskyy scored Shakhtar’s solely purpose at Camp Nou.
#3 Bayern Munich 6-1 FC Porto: April 21, 2015
Bundesliga holders Bayern Munich discovered themselves in a pickle within the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. After struggling a harrowing 3-1 defeat to FC Porto within the first leg, the Bavarians had been left with a mountain to climb within the return on the Allianz Area. In the end, they made gentle work of it, recording an enormous 6-1 win and cruising to the final 4 with a 7-4 combination rating.
Thiago Alcantara was the primary man on the scoresheet on April 22, 2015, with the midfielder discovering the again of the Porto internet within the 14th minute. Jerome Boateng made it 2-0 for Bayern earlier than Thomas Muller (36′) and Robert Lewandowski (brace: 27′, 40′) put the hosts 5-0 up. Jackson Martinez pulled one again for the guests, however Xabi Alonso scored a fantastic free-kick within the 88th minute to cancel it out.
#2 Manchester United 7-1 AS Roma: April 10, 2007
Premier League giants Manchester United suffered a 2-1 defeat to AS Roma of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final conflict within the 2006-07 season. They wanted a powerful exhibiting at Previous Trafford to show it round within the return leg, however even essentially the most optimistic Manchester United fan would have anticipated such a commanding show. The Purple Devils claimed an emphatic 7-1 over the Serie A outfit on April 11, 2007, progressing to the semi-finals with an 8-3 combination scoreline.
Michael Carrick landed the primary blow for Manchester United within the eleventh minute earlier than Alan Smith doubled their cash six minutes later. Wayne Rooney joined the social gathering within the nineteenth minute whereas Cristiano Ronaldo added the fourth within the forty fourth minute. The Portuguese famous person struck once more within the forty ninth minute earlier than Carrick accomplished his brace on the hour mark. Patrice Evra scored the seventh for United within the 81st minute, whereas Daniele De Rossi bagged Roma’s comfort purpose within the 69th minute.
#1 Bayern Munich 8-2 Barcelona: August 14, 2020
Bayern Munich maintain the document for clinching the biggest-ever win in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match. They clinched the document on August 15, 2020, beating Barcelona 8-2 in a COVID-enforced one-legged quarter-final on the Estadio do SL Benfica.
The Bavarians opened the scoring within the fourth minute, with Thomas Muller discovering the again of the web. David Alaba scored an personal purpose to revive parity for Barca, however it was not lengthy earlier than Bayern resumed management. Ivan Perisic (22′), Serge Gnabry (27′), and Muller (31′) discovered the again of the web to ship Bayern 4-1 up at halftime. Luis Suarez decreased the deficit for the Blaugrana within the 57th minute, however a purpose every from Joshua Kimmich (63′) and Robert Lewandowski (82′) took the wind out of their sails. Phillip Coutinho, who was on mortgage at Bayern from Barcelona, added a late brace (85′,89′) to seal the historic win for the German powerhouse.
