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The quarter-finals of the 2023/24 Champions League are in the history books and boy did we enjoy a feast of unbelievable football.
Four teams are left standing after eight enthralling games of football, highlighted by Paris Saint-Germain’s tremendous comeback against Barcelona and Real Madrid’s dethroning of reigning champions Manchester City.
Borussia Dortmund are also in the mix after dispatching Diego Simeone’s dogged Atletico Madrid, joining Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich – the conquerors of Arsenal, who were made to pay for their inability to capitalise on home advantage in the first leg.
There were a number of outstanding individual displays, as you might expect, with the following ten players the ones to really stand out on the biggest stage in European football.
Valverde’s sensational volley ensured Real Madrid took away a share of the spoils with Manchester City at the Bernabeu – the sixth goal of a truly absorbing contest.
The Uruguayan then reinforced his ability to do absolutely everything by providing Dani Carvajal with a superb shield during the return leg, and genuinely did not stop running.
Bayern Munich may have surrendered their Bundesliga crown to Bayer Leverkusen, but did people really think they were going to roll over against Arsenal?
The consensus was that Mikel Arteta’s side would prove to be far too strong over two legs, but Joshua Kimmich had other ideas as Arsenal attempted to win away at Bayern for only the second time in their history.
He scored the winning goal in the second half, sending the Bavarian giants through to a mouthwatering semi against Real Madrid.
With Thibaut Courtois out injured and Kepa, well, Kepa, it was down to Andriy Lunin to deliver the goods between the sticks for Real Madrid.
The 25-year-old clearly understood the brief, making a number of smart saves across the 120 minutes of action before denying Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic in the penalty shootout. Unsurprisingly, Lunin was Madrid’s player of the match.
Most people associate Leon Goretzka with one of the greatest physical transformations of modern times.
Now they’ll be associating the German with a superbly efficient performance in Bayern’s midfield – one that dominated Arsenal’s tiring midfield to end their European adventure. Still, a Champions League journey to be proud of, right?
Barcelona may have succumbed to Paris Saint-Germain to complete La Remontada 2.0, but it wasn’t for the want of trying on Raphinha’s part.
The Brazilian winger dazzled in the first leg in Paris, scoring a brace, and it was his goal that extended Barcelona’s aggregate advantage to 4-2. Sadly, teammate Ronald Araujo hadn’t read the script on how to defend one-on-one – much to Ilkay Gundogan’s dismay – and his red card led to Barca’s unfortunate, but also funny, collapse.
Kylian Mbappe’s going to win the Champions League in his final season with Paris Saint-Germain, isn’t he?
He’s then going to pack his bags to Real Madrid, making everybody involved a winner. Happy days.
If anybody tells you they had Borussia Dortmund down to make the last four of the Champions League, they’re lying.
It’s not a lie, however, to say that Julian Brandt was absolutely brilliant against Atletico Madrid – the 27-year-old’s goal getting the party started in a six-goal thriller at Signal Iduna Park.
9,144 injuries plagued Ousmane Dembele’s six-year tenure at Barcelona, leading many to conclude that the Frenchman’s stay made him one of the worst transfers of all time.
The 26-year-old sought a fresh start in the summer, returning to France to join PSG, and decided the hilarious thing to do would be to haunt his former club by scoring in both legs of their quarter-final tie.
Dembele’s all-around play was outstanding too, reminding many of his undeniable talent.
Stopping the Erling Haaland goal juggernaut isn’t a job many defenders have completed successfully, particularly in the Champions League.
But Antonio Rudiger isn’t any old central defender, rather it appears he’s one of the world’s very best. Sure, his mistake led to Kevin De Bruyne’s equalising goal at the Etihad, but his complete nullification of Haaland in both legs was a sight to behold.
The undisputed player of the round was Paris Saint-Germain’s Vitinha, whose menacing, penetrating runs were far too much for Barcelona, even when they had 11 players on the field, to handle.
The Portuguese maestro rocketed a tremendous low drive into Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s bottom right corner to hand PSG the advantage on aggregate, and his relentless energy and drive was key to Luis Enrique’s side ensuring they retained the upper hand.
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