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The past two days have produced some of the most scintillating footballing action ever witnessed in the Champions League. All the four quarterfinal clashes had goals, drama, and despair in equal measure. It is safe to say that this round of European matches was the best in a long, long time.
After two gruelling legs, we finally have our four semifinalists. Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AS Roma have proved their mettle on the biggest of stages and deserve to be in contention to become the champions of Europe.
In this segment, we look at the best possible XI from the quarterfinal stage and find out the XI players that were crucial for their respective sides and ultimately proved to be the best in their position:
(We have gone with a traditional 4-4-2 system to accommodate all the top-performing players)
Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker (AS Roma)
When a team wants to topple a European giant like Barcelona, they need their goalkeeper to be at his best. AS Roma had exactly that as Alisson Becker proved his worth in both the legs and passed his big audition, with Real Madrid and Liverpool lurking.
Over the two legs, Alisson made 10 saves - 7 of those coming in the first leg. If it weren't for him, the deficit from the first leg would have been too great for Roma to reduce. He was quick off his line, showed tremendous reflexes and also impressed with his distribution.
Defence
Right back: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Before the first leg, Arnold was considered Liverpool's weakest link going into their clash against Manchester City. A duel against Leroy Sane beckoned the young fullback who had not been in the best of form in the past month or so.
But what followed was truly amazing. Arnold not only dominated Sane in both the legs, but he was arguably Liverpool's best player. He never gave Sane the chance to go past him and stood strong in both the legs.
Arnold made 13 interceptions and 7 tackles, the highest for any Liverpool player. Despite getting a booking in the first half of the second leg, Jurgen Klopp trusted the fullback to continue. TAA has well and truly arrived!
Centre-back: Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich)
Without Manuel Neuer, the onus on building the play from the back fell on Mats Hummels. He is a brilliant ball-playing defender and that was on show in both the legs against Sevilla. Bayern Munich used diagonal balls to switch flanks against Sevilla and Hummels was an integral part of this strategy.
In the first leg, Hummels had a passing accuracy of 84% which included 3 accurate long balls. In the second leg, it was 83% with 5 accurate cross-field balls. The German defender was also solid in the air, made crucial interceptions against Sevilla's strikers and marshalled his troops successfully into the final four.
Centre back: Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool)
The Dutchman has become an important cog in Liverpool's defence and has made them a dependable and resilient unit. Van Dijk was effective in both the legs against Manchester City and was a big reason why City could attempt just 3 shots on target in 180 minutes.
He dominated in the air, won 7/7 duels in the first leg and also helped in recycling the ball with conviction. When the going got tough in the second leg, it was Van Dijk who helped calm the nerves for Liverpool as he made 11 clearances and also won 6 aerial duels.
Left-back: Marcelo (Real Madrid)
The Brazilian fullback once again displayed his attacking abilities in the first leg against Juventus. He scored the crucial third goal for Real Madrid in Turin and was a constant threat to the Bianconeri on the left flank.
Yesterday, Marcelo was not at his best defensively in the first half, giving far too much space for the Juventus players to cross from his wing. But he improved as the game went on and proved to be useful going forward in the second interval.
Midfield
Defensive midfield: Daniele De Rossi
Yes, he scored an own goal in the first leg. But that aside, De Rossi played some of his best football in these two legs against FC Barcelona. He completely bossed the midfield in the second leg which is no mean feat when the opposition featured the likes of Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta.
It was his passing that helped Roma create chances in the second leg. His long ball to Eden Dzeko created the first goal. De Rossi then scored from the spot to make it 2-0. Over the two legs, De Rossi played a staggering 18 accurate long balls. He also did the dirty work and helped his defenders out when needed.
Centre midfield: Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
The midfield maestro was at it again in both the legs against Juventus. Last night, despite Juventus dominating Real Madrid, it was Kroos who was the most influential midfielder on the field. He made 100 passes, completing 97 of those.
He completed 94 passes in the first leg and kept the play ticking from the centre of the park. In both the ties, Kroos' set-piece deliveries were threatening and troubled Juventus to great lengths. The German also worked hard for the team without the ball and tried his best to regain possession.
Left wing: Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
The Bavarians made their way into the semis without any fuss. They put on two professional displays against Sevilla and the star man for the Bundesliga champions was Franck Ribery. The veteran winger was the difference maker in the first leg as he provided the cross for both the goals that Bayern scored.
Ribery also was a useful outlet on the left in the second leg where he stretched Sevilla's defenders but sadly could not muster any credible end product. He still managed to complete all 3 of his dribbles in the second leg and impressed in what could be his final European campaign with Bayern Munich.
Right-wing: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Can any combined XI or best XI this season be complete without Mohamed Salah? The Egyptian continued his freakishly good season with two goals in two legs against Manchester City. He also delivered an assist in the first leg which took his tally to 50 contributions in the season (39 goals, 11 assists).
In the first leg, Salah gave Liverpool the lead and then put in a perfect cross for Sadio Mane to make it three. He was substituted with a groin injury in the second half but his job was done by then. In the second leg, Salah chased shadows in the first half as City dominated.
But all it took was one chance for the signing of the season to score a stunning dink which was ultimately the crucial away goal that Liverpool needed. He now has 8 Champions League goals to his name this season.
Strikers
Centre forward: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Forget his other two goals and the assist, just his bicycle kick is enough to guarantee him a place in this elite list! The knockout rounds bring the best out of Cristiano Ronaldo and against Juventus, it was the vintage Portuguese that came to the fore.
He scored two in the first leg, the bicycle kick surely being one of the greatest European goals of all time. He then followed it up with one of the most crucial spot-kicks of his life, scoring in the 98th minute to guide Real Madrid into the semis.
Ronaldo now has 15 goals to his name in the Champions League this season. He has scored 10 against Juventus with his quarter-finals goal tally being higher than what Juventus have managed in their entire history.
Centre forward: Edin Dzeko (AS Roma)
Dzeko must be thanking his lucky stars that he rejected Chelsea's advances to join Roma in January. The Bosnian striker has been the focal point for Roma and has scored for fun in the Serie A this time around. He continued his great run against Barcelona where he scored in both the legs, but his influence was much more than just his goals.
In the second leg, Dzeko made great use of the high line that Barcelona's defence adopted. He ran the channels, used his strength well and gave nightmares to Pique and Umtiti. He scored the first goal and then won the penalty for the second goal through his sheer strength.
Dzeko also scored in the first leg which turned out to be the difference between the two sides as it was his away goal that enabled Roma to enter the semis in fine fashion.
Bench: Loris Karius (Liverpool), Kostas Manolas (AS Roma), Andrew Robertson (Liverpool), Isco (Real Madrid), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
