The world of soccer is constantly changing; some changes for the worse, and some for the better. Regardless of what people think, one thing stays the same year in and year out — the Champions League. The tournament has been one to remember this season, with the road to Wembley proving more testing than ever. With legacies at stake, familiar faces meeting under different circumstances and intricate narratives being pushed, the Champions League this season has something for every soccer fan worldwide.
“This year’s Champions League has been a real thriller, and everything has just brought me excitement. It’s been some of the best games of soccer I’ve ever watched,” Varsity soccer player Christopher Green said.
Starting with the left side of the bracket, the teams drawn to face off were Paris Saint Germain vs F.C. Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund vs Atlético de Madrid.
The speculation before the first PSG vs Barcelona match was that all eyes would be on Kylian Mbappé, with many fans believing him to be the best player in the world. Smaller stories would also look to be followed with Ousmane Dembélé facing off against his former team, which he left this past summer. Critics around the world are also looking to see if PSG could still be a legitimate contender with Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. having left the club this summer.
In the first leg, Barcelona’s 16-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal would go on to become the youngest player to ever start in a Champions League quarter-final match. The first match at the Parc des Princes in Paris would end with Barcelona winning 3:2.
The other Spanish club on the left side of the bracket would also win their first leg 2:1. Out of all four quarter-final draws, this one had what many would consider the least exciting, but still a Champions League quarter-final. The two clubs seem to always be in the League’s mix, but can never seem to achieve the end goal, with Atlético having made it far in the tournament numerous times but never able to win it all. Dortmund, who also seems to make it far but is not accustomed to winning the tournament, won their one and only Champions League tournament victory in 1997. Both teams were playing for a chance to hopefully reach a goal they did not get to see very often.
The right side of the bracket had more of the public’s attention with the drawn matchups being Real Madrid C.F. vs Manchester City F.C. and F.C. Bayern Munich vs Arsenal F.C.
Madrid vs Man City is a more modern rivalry with this being the twelfth time the two clubs have met in the Champions League since 2012.
Last year, the clubs met in the Champions League, with Man City victorious in an incredible series of matches.
However, the clubs also met in 2022, with City going up 4:3 after the first leg in Manchester. In the next leg in Madrid, City was up 1:0 and looked to advance. Then in the blink of an eye, Brazilian starboy Rodrygo was subbed on and scored in the 90 and 91 minutes giving hope to Madrid that was then brought to reality by a Karim Benzema 95-minute penalty goal which advanced Madrid. This last-second comeback is looked back on as one of the most insane moments in Champions League and soccer history, one in which was scaring for City.
This year, the two clubs had another clash which resulted in spectacular goal after spectacular goal in the first leg at the Bernabéu in Madrid ending in a 3:3 draw.
Bayern against Arsenal would prove to be an interesting draw, as one of the biggest names in soccer, English Striker Harry Kane of Bayern, would return to England to face the Gunners in North London. Kane played for the Tottenham Hotspurs from 2009-2023 and gained his respect from being a consistent scorer and great penalty taker. In the first leg, he would score but the match would end up ultimately in a 2:2 draw with another English star Bukayo Saka scoring a goal of his own.
Going back to the left side of the bracket, the yellow wall in Dortmund would prove to not fail the bees, as Dortmund would go on to win the match 4:2 and advance 5:4 on aggregate off of a Marcel Sabitzer goal that would be one to remember at Signal Iduna Park.
However, the biggest story of the night would occur at Camp Nou in Barcelona. Up 3:2 and playing at home, there was no reason to think Barca was not going to come out victorious, but a nightmare waited just around the corner. The match started in Barca’s favor with an early goal from Raphinha who scored two goals in the first leg. At this point, Barca was up 4:2 on aggregate against PSG, and the chaos would begin with a red card given to Barca center-back Ronald Araújo in the 29 minute. A goal would then be scored in the 40 minutes by Dembélé who going into the game was expected to get violent gestures and actions directed at him due to being a “traitor” in the eyes of Barca fans. Dembélé also scored in the first leg, so this second goal only added to the hatred, especially since it was at Camp Nou, which once was his home turf. A goal in the 54 minute would come from Vitinha, leaving the two clubs 4:4 on aggregate. Tensions peaked at this point, and the Spaniards’ pain would soon ensue, with a penalty goal from Mbappé in the 61 minute, giving PSG the lead. Mbappé would close the door on Barca in the 89 minutes with another goal, leaving PSG to advance to the semi-finals on a 6:4 aggregate against Barca.
The match was a crushing defeat in Barcelona, being given the name of the “Reverse Remontada.” The name proved fitting as for context the “La Remontada” was the name given to the match when in the first leg of the 2017 Champions League round of 16 Barcelona had gone down 4:0 to PSG. In the second leg at Camp Nou, an incredible Barcelona 6:1 victory would go down as one of the most iconic Champions League matches in history. So, the “Reverse Remontada” is a fitting name for the match, with PSG now being the ones to complete the iconic comeback in the Camp Nou.
Returning to the right side of the bracket, in the Bayern versus Arsenal second leg, the game was more uneventful than the first one with a 1:0 win for Bayern because of a Joshua Kimmich header in the 63-minute. This was a disappointing loss for Arsenal, but finding success in Munich has proved difficult for a very long time.
In Manchester, however, their game would not be as high-scoring but equally as intense with Madrid setting the tone early with Rodrygo scoring a goal in the 12 minute. Then, arguably City’s greatest player ever, Kevin De Bruyne scored the equalizer in the 76 minute. The match would then head into penalties with some interesting moments. Julian Alverez for City made his penalty, followed by Luka Modrić of Madrid’s penalty being saved by Ederson. A make and a save put the odds in City’s favor, but then Bernardo Silva would shoot his penalty down the middle and it would be saved by Andriy Lunin, Madrid’s makeup keeper. Then, Madrid’s famous youngster Jude Bellingham calmly scored his penalty, and Mateo Kovačić of City would also get his penalty saved by Lunin. Madrid’s Lucas Vázquez would make his penalty, and so would City’s starboy Phil Foden. Up next was Nacho for Madrid who would make his penalty, then to many surprises, Ederson would take City’s next penalty and would make it. However, the two penalty saves from Lunin meant that all Madrid would have to do to advance to the Champions League semi-final was make this penalty kick. Calmly, German center-back Antonio Rüdiger stepped up to the penalty spot and knocked in his penalty to send Madrid to the semi-finals and leave City in heartbreak at their own home in the Etihad.
“This Champions League ranks definitely in the top two ever. Because you know, Messi is the best Champions League player ever and he wasn’t in it. So it definitely ranks number two because of all the excitement and Phil Foden is really cute,” Green said.
The semi-finals are now set with Dortmund against PSG and Bayern against Real Madrid, with the prize of advancing being a trip to Wembley to compete in the Champions League final on June 1.
