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It's official, the draws for the 2019/2019 Champions League quarterfinals have been made and we have been served some pretty enthralling fixtures.
Judging by what panned out in the last round, the drama seems set to continue, as the teams prepare to continue their quest to be crowned European champions come May in Madrid.
The quarterfinal draws in full :
Ajax vs Juventus
Liverpool vs Porto
Tottenham vs Manchester City
Barcelona vs Manchester United
However, it was not just the draws for the last eight that was made, as teams can also look forward to the future if they qualify, with the semifinal draws also being made.
The semifinal draws
SF 1 Tottenham / Manchester City vs Ajax / Juventus
SF 2 Barcelona / Manchester United vs Liverpool/Porto
As can be seen, there are also some potentially exciting semifinal clashes, with the question on everybody's mind being if this is the season where we finally see the dream UCL final between Ronaldo and Messi (as the draws have kept them apart until potentially the final)
However, we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves by thinking that far, as there are still some very tricky fixtures to navigate before reaching that thrilling climax.
The first leg of the UCL quarterfinals would be played between April 9th and 10th with the return fixtures holding just a week later between the 16th and 17th. In this piece, we shall be giving an in-depth preview of each of the quarterfinal fixtures.
Ajax vs Juventus
Head to Head record - Matches Played (12)
Juventus wins (6) Ajax wins (2) Draws (4)
Players to watch - Juventus (Cristiano Ronaldo), Ajax (Hakim Ziyech)
A clash between two former winners of this tournament. Ajax have been the surprise package of the season so far, holding their own over two legs against Bayern Munich in the group stage before impressively eliminating Real Madrid in the last round.
On their part, Juventus completed one of the most memorable comebacks in Champions League history as they came from a 2-0 first leg deficit to eliminate Atletico Madrid with a Ronaldo inspired hat-trick doing the magic.
Ajax would be counting on the pace and unpredictability offered by their extremely talented young squad while Juventus can count on their experienced squad and of course the services of 'Mr. Champions League'.
Both teams have met in the UCL final before, with Ajax triumphing in the 1973 European Cup showpiece with a 1-0 victory during the glory days of Johan Cruyff, while Juventus exacted their revenge 23 years later when they triumphed 4-2 on penalties to lift the 1996 UCL (which remains their last triumph till date).
Though it might be easy to dismiss this fixture as easy pickings for Juventus owing to their vastly superior firepower, the youth and excitement offered by Ajax as well as their vivacious displays in eliminating Real Madrid means that the Dutch giants would be no pushovers.
However, Juve would be buoyed by their impressive comeback from the dead against Atleti and would use this as extra motivation to go all the way, while Cristiano Ronaldo is bound to continue his impressive record against Ajax against whom he has scored seven goals and assisted two from just five matches.
Verdict - Juventus to go through
Liverpool vs Porto
H2H record - Matches Played (6)
Liverpool wins (3), Porto wins (0), Draws (3)
Players to watch - Liverpool (Sadio Mane), Porto (Moussa Marega)
The Reds have clashed with The Dragons on a total of six occasions, with the most recent being in the round-of-16 last season where Liverpool triumphed 5-0 on aggregate.
Interestingly, the Portuguese side are yet to taste victory against Liverpool, but the Merseysiders would do well to approach this fixture with caution.
The Estadio Dragao is known to be a notoriously difficult stadium to visit hence, Porto would be hoping to get a favourable result away at Anfield in the first leg and finish up the job at home in the second (just like they did against Roma in the last round).
To get to this stage, Jurgen Klopp's men pulled off a wonderful 3-1 away win at the home of German giants Bayern Munich while FC Porto needed extra time to see of Roma.
As ever, Liverpool can bank on their exhilarating attack line to do the job, while Porto would be depending on the red hot Moussa Marega to breach the resolute defense marshalled by the ever impressive Virgil van Dijk.
Verdict - Liverpool to go through
Tottenham vs Manchester City
H2H record - Matches played (156)
Man City wins (61), Draws (35), Tottenham wins (60)
Players to watch - Man City (Sergio Aguero), Tottenham (Harry Kane)
The first UCL all-English clash since 2011 pits Manchester City against Tottenham and both clubs would slug it out over two legs for a spot in the last four.
Spurs and City are very much new entrants into the upper echelons of European club football, having only recently started to make a name for themselves as opposed to more traditional heavyweights like Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid among others.
However, their paths to the top could not have been more vastly different, as whereas City's climb has been backed by a stupendously wealthy owner who embarked on a spending spree to being in the world's best players and managers, Tottenham's has been more frugal, identifying unheralded cheap talented players and molding them into game changers.
Manchester City are unarguably the most dominant team in the Premier League at the moment, decimating all before them en route the PL triumph last season, but it would be pertinent to note that they have not quite translated their domestic form onto the continent.
This is only the third UCL quarterfinal appearances in their history, while they have made it past this stage just once.
Tottenham for their part are appearing in this stage for the second time having reached the last eight in their debut campaign back in the 2010/2011 season and have impressed up till this point significantly but come up against arguably their biggest test to this point.
Both teams also posted very impressive victories in the last round, with Tottenham posting a 4-0 aggregate victory over Borussia Dortmund, while City saw off Schalke 04 9-2 over both legs, with the second leg ending by the rather embarrassing scoreline of 6-0.
Manchester City have the biggest squad depth in Europe, possessing at least two top-class players in every position and as such it might be tempting to think that Tottenham cannot match their firepower.
However, it is important to note that for all of City's brilliance in the league, they have always struggled in the UCL while the fact that they have lost all four of their previous European fixtures against English opposition is sure to be sweet music to the ears of the Tottenham faithful.
The likes of Aguero, David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane would be expected to see City through, but Spurs can count on the lethal services of Harry Kane upfront ably supported by a cast of Dele Alli, Heung-min Son and Christian Eriksen and though Guardiola might have proved himself to be the most tactically astute coach over the last decade, Mauricio Pochetino is no tactical slouch either.
Verdict - Manchester City to go through
Barcelona vs Manchester United
H2H record - Matches played (10)
Barcelona wins (4), Draws (3), Manchester United wins (3)
Players to watch - Barcelona (Lionel Messi), Manchester United (Paul Pogba)
You successfully pull off a last gasp improbable comeback victory against PSG to book a spot among the UCL last eight and what do you get as your reward? A quarterfinal clash with none other than Barcelona.
This was one draw which many Manchester United fans dreaded, as despite their resurgence since Solskjaer's appointment, they are not quite the finished product yet (as the defeat to Arsenal over the weekend showed us).
United have been very impressive in recent months - that's a given, but Barcelona is on an entirely different level to all the tests faced by Solksjaer in his Old Trafford reign so far.
This would be a rematch of the 2009 and 2011 UCL finals where Barcelona triumphed on both, with Lionel Messi (who else) scoring in the two fixtures despite Sir Alex Ferguson's best efforts to contain him.
Both clubs have come a long way from those years with United undoubtedly being the worse of the two and the Red Devils would come up against a wounded Barcelona led by the ever-impressive Lionel Messi who is desperate to get his hands on the UCL trophy once more.
Even though the odds look stacked against them, United fans can take solace in the fact that the Blaugrana have faltered massively at this stage recently, being eliminated at the quarterfinals in each of the last three seasons with the capitulation at Roma the last term being the nadir.
While their impressive elimination of PSG as well as the fact that the greatest hour In the club's history came at Nou Camp in 1999 when they came from behind to win Bayern Munich in the dying embers of the match and become the first English team to win a treble (with none other than Solskjaer scoring the winning goal).
Verdict - Barcelona to go through
