Zaidu Sanusi (PHOTO CREDIT: Goal.com)
The first set of quarter-final tickets for this season’s UEFA Champions League were secured on Tuesday night by FC Porto and Borussia Dortmund.
Both ties were nail-biting affairs until the last second but Juventus with Cristiano Ronaldo, for the second straight season crashed out in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Porto came to Turin with a slim 2-1 advantage and they had a dream start on Tuesday’s second leg as Sergio Oliveira put them in front from the penalty spot after 19 minutes.
Juve’s already tough task was thus made more difficult, as they now needed at least two goals to force the tie into extra time or three goals for an outright win.
The Italian giants could only meet the minimum target after Bjorn Kuipers showed Mehdi Taremi two yellow cards in two minutes. Franco Chiesa scored the two goals that ensured the round of 16 encounter had to be decided in extra time.
Oliveira was on target again, in the second half of extra time from a free-kick that crept past a flailing Wojciech Szczesny to make it 2-2 on the night and 4-3 to the Portuguese team.
This meant Juve needed two goals to avoid exiting the UCL and Adrien Rabiot’s goal gave the Italian giants hope, but Porto held on with 10 men to win the tie 4-4 on aggregate.
Juventus have now been eliminated from six of their last seven UEFA Champions League knockout ties when losing the first leg, with the exception being the 2018/19 last 16 match against Atletico Madrid (0-2 first leg, 3-0 second leg).
Other game
In the other game also decided on Tuesday night, Borussia Dortmund completed a double over Sevilla. They held out against Sevilla as the second leg ended 2-2 but Dortmund won through to the quarter-final 5-4 on aggregate.
Erling Haaland scored the two goals for the German club as the striker continued not just his amazing run but also his record-making and breaking feats.
Haaland has now scored 20 goals in 14 UEFA Champions League appearances; the quickest a player has ever reached 20 goals in the competition, and in 10 fewer appearances than the previous record holder-Harry Kane with 24.
Having won the first leg 3-2, Dortmund progressed into the quarter-final on 5-4 on aggregate.
With this latest result, Dortmund are now unbeaten in eight home games in the Champions League (W6 D2) and have only lost one of their previous 11 on home soil in the competition.
This is also the first time since 2016/17 season that Dortmund have reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
