Barcelona midfielder Pedri conceded Lionel Messi's saved penalty was a "big blow" in their Champions League last-16 exit, but blamed wasting numerous chances.

The Catalans prematurely exited the Champions League 5-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain after a second-leg 1-1 draw in the French capital.

Pedri admitted Barca's 4-1 first-leg defeat left them with plenty to do in Paris but argued they had the better chances.

Messi cancelled out Kylian Mbappe's penalty opener before the Argentinian had a spot-kick saved by Keylor Navas on the stroke of half-time which could have given Barca the momentum to kick on in the second half.

Messi's miss was his first failed penalty attempt in the Champions League since February 2015, having scored his previous eight spot-kicks.

"We knew it'd be vital to take our chances," Pedri said post-game. "We produced a really good game but we missed big chances.

"We believed we could produce another big fightback and qualify but the penalty just before half-time was a big blow to miss.

"We kept on fighting and you can't define a result or a game looking just at a missed penalty. We had many chances and didn't take them."

Barcelona had 21 shots compared to PSG's seven, including 10 on target, while they had 73 per cent possession.

Forward Antoine Griezmann agreed that profligacy in front of goal cost the Catalans.

"It's a real shame, I'd say there were four clear-cut opportunities plus the penalty," Griezmann said.

"If you don't put them away, it's harder later in the game. Nevertheless, it was a completely different contest to the first leg."

Barca's failure to reach the Champions League quarter-finals was their first since 2006-07; having been on the longest-run in the competition's history of 13 consecutive last-eight appearances.

France international Griezmann vowed they would return in 2021-22 to challenge for the European crown.

"It's time to keep our heads up and feel confidence because of how we played," he said.

"We need to keep improving for the season to come. We are hacked off because we were desperate to go through. I don't think we deserved to go out this early but next year we'll try to win this competition."

Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Keylor Navas has dedicated his penalty save from Lionel Messi's spot-kick to absent team-mate Sergio Rico.

Navas denied Messi from the penalty spot in first-half additional time and helped PSG complete a 5-2 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the Champions League last-16 on Wednesday.

The match finished 1-1 with Kylian Mbappe opening the scoring on the half-hour mark before Messi levelled with a long-range rifle in the 37th minute.

Navas made his penalty save on the stroke of half-time, dedicating it to Rico post-game with his team-mate absent due to personal reasons.

"It's always difficult, especially against Messi who shoots very well," Navas told RMC Sport post-game.

"It gives a lot of joy to everyone. This penalty is for Sergio Rico who is going through difficult times with his family, it is for him."

Navas and Messi are long-time adversaries from the Costa Rican's time at Real Madrid, with his low save with his knee representing a major win.

The save, one of several from Navas, played a major part in PSG thwarting any potential Barcelona response as they rallied following their 4-1 first-leg defeat in Spain.

"It was a very great match for Barca, they pushed to the maximum," Navas said.

"We are very motivated to continue in this competition, with this state of mind. We must be united for this competition.

"The group has clear objectives in mind. This is what helps us to progress to go far in this competition."

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has played down his side's Champions League title hopes, insisting he is not "silly" about their form troubles.

The Reds may be wavering domestically but they secured their spot in the Champions League quarter-finals with Wednesday's 2-0 win over RB Leipzig in Budapest completing a 4-0 aggregate victory.

Liverpool had lost six of their past eight games in all competitions prior to Wednesday's Leipzig win.

They have also lost six of their past seven Premier League games, ending their title hopes and stalling their top-four ambitions, prompting talk they would target the Champions League instead.

"The only reason you play in this competition is because you want to win it," Klopp told reporters post-game.

"I am not silly, we know so far this is not a season which it will look like we will win the Champions League in the end, but that doesn't mean we don't want to go as far as possible and then we will see what is possible for us.

"Now we have to wait for the draw; it will be extremely tough games whoever we get… then we will know, we will prepare for that and then we will see how far we go."

The German was further questioned about Liverpool's continental ambitions, admitting the 2018-19 European champions will be a threat but declining to elaborate more.

"We could be that [dangerous]," he said. "I don't want to sit here now and want to create headlines about our Champions League performance.

"In the Champions League, we had kind of momentum during the season and in the Premier League not yet.

"But we have still enough games to try and get that back and win football games in the Premier League as well – and that would be helpful for the Champions League as well definitely."

Klopp added that Wednesday's win would only be positive for his side as they strive to regain momentum after their poor recent run.

"The performance was very important, the level we played tonight was really good and was necessary as well because Leipzig is a tough opponent," he said.

"It will help, that's how it is. It will help but we know that Monday at Wolves [in the Premier League] is a different kind of game. But if we play as good as we played tonight then it will be tough for Wolves, that's clear."

If Lionel Messi is to leave Barcelona at the end of the season it will not be due to doubts over the club's direction, according to boss Ronald Koeman. 

The Catalan giants were knocked out of the Champions League in the last-16 stage on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes. 

That followed the Ligue 1 side's thumping 4-1 win in the first leg at Camp Nou last month and means Barca have failed to reach the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Their run of 13 consecutive last-eight appearances was the longest in Champions League history. 

Messi, who cancelled out Kylian Mbappe's opener with a stunning strike before missing a penalty, has been tipped to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season, with PSG and Premier League leaders Manchester City the reported frontrunners for the 33-year-old.

However, new Barca president Joan Laporta is desperate for the six-time Ballon d'Or winner to sign a new deal, while Koeman believes any decision the Argentina international makes about his future will be influenced by the club's commitment to giving young players a chance. 

"Leo has seen for quite some time that the team is improving thanks to all the changes we've made," he told reporters.

"Particularly, we have young players of great quality. We've got a great future ahead. Leo can't have any doubts about what the future holds for this team."

Barca started on the front foot against Mauricio Pochettino's side and only a combination of wayward finishing and smart goalkeeping from Keylor Navas ensured they did not go in at the interval ahead. 

Indeed, they took 16 shots during the opening 45 minutes – the most they have had in the first half of any game since January 2019.

Messi alone had six shots before half-time, which is the joint-highest in this season's Champions League alongside Borussia Monchengladbach's Breel Embolo. 

Despite exiting the competition, Koeman was pleased with his side's display and believes it laid down a marker for next season. 

"Okay, we are out, which is what counts in this sport," he added. "But we leave with good sensations. We had opportunities to make things very complicated for our rival. 

"We were the superior team in the first half, taking big risks at the back with man-to-man marking. Really, we deserved more for that effort. 

"It should at least have been 2-1 to us at half-time. If we'd led at the break, the second half would have been a whole different affair.

"In the first leg they were ultra-effective in front of goal and in this match we weren't. They scored four, here we scored once. That comparison is the big difference across this tie. 

"But no criticism of the lack of cutting edge. We put in a huge effort and merited more; maybe just a hint of luck. Their keeper was the player of the match. We had our chances but couldn't take them.

"We are departing this Champions League in a very different manner from the way we did last season. 

"In this game, we hit our level and that's the road we have to follow. Clearly we are sad but the impression we leave behind after this match is important."

Mauricio Pochettino described Keylor Navas as one of the world's best goalkeepers after he helped Paris Saint-Germain past Barcelona in the Champions League.

A 1-1 draw in Paris on Wednesday sealed PSG's progress to the quarter-finals with a 5-2 aggregate victory over the Catalans.

Barca were much improved compared to their first-leg display and were the dominant force in the first half in particular, firing in 16 shots, the most PSG have faced at home in the first 45 minutes of a game all season.

Lionel Messi's stunning goal cancelled out a Kylian Mbappe penalty and the Argentina star had the chance to make it 2-1 before half-time only for Navas to keep out his spot-kick.

That was one of nine saves made by the former Real Madrid keeper, whose efforts ensured Barca's threat of a comeback had largely dissipated by the final quarter of the match.

Navas' display was a timely reminder of his qualities following a report in England suggesting Pochettino is interested in signing Manchester United's David de Gea for next season.

The PSG boss appears to be perfectly happy with the number one he has at his disposal.

"Keylor had a huge game," he told RMC Sport. "We can say his actions show his quality. He just proves that he's at the highest level in the world.

"I think we all saw him tonight."

Defender Marquinhos was also full of praise for Navas for largely keeping Barca at bay in the first half, in which the visitors had 73 per cent of the ball.

"It was a tough match. We knew the context was going to be different compared to the first leg," he said.

"Since that defeat, Barca put together better matches. They had the courage to press very high and put us in difficulty to get the ball out.

"There are good and bad times in football. In a match, you have to know how to hold on. We were able to do that, with the help of our great goalkeeper, who made the difference.

"We were better in the second half and we deserved to go through."

Mohamed Salah knows Liverpool are "not in the best shape" but says they must show fight for the remainder of the season after reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.

Salah scored his 25th goal of the season and Sadio Mane added a second four minutes later in the second half as the Reds beat RB Leipzig 2-0 to seal a 4-0 aggregate victory.

The Premier League champions travelled to Budapest for the second leg on Wednesday smarting from a club-record sixth consecutive home defeat in the league at the hands of Fulham.

Jurgen Klopp's men face a battle to secure a top-four finish after dropping to eighth spot and may yet have to win the Champions League in order to play in the competition next season.

Liverpool posed much more of an attacking threat at the Puskas Arena, where Salah and Mane also scored in the first leg, hitting the target with seven of their 12 shots and certainly not resembling a side devoid of confidence.

Leading scorer Salah says the six-time champions of Europe must not put too much pressure on themselves as they attempt to turn the tide.

He told BT Sport: "It is a big result for us. We came here after losing a few games in the Premier League. The team is not in the best shape but we want to fight in the Champions League and also fight in the Premier League and see what can happen.

"I would love to score more. I am happy I scored today and the team won, that is the most important thing.

"We have had a few injuries this season, we have been unlucky but the most important thing is we have to keep fighting. We just have to take each game at a time and not look to the big picture because if you look to the big picture there can be too much pressure.

"It has been tough in the Premier League, we don't want it to be tough. It is part of the game. The last couple of years we were winning and flying, this year we have had injuries, it is hard. Hopefully, now we have two or three or four centre-backs we can keep winning."

Another year, another early Champions League exit for Barcelona.

Despite Lionel Messi's sparkling intransigence, there was to be no second 'remontada' against Paris Saint-Germain. After Roma, Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the past three years, 2021 saw Barca dance their last tango in Paris, a sixth season in a row of knockout failure. The opponents change, but the story stays the same.

Or does it?

This was not Rome, nor Anfield, nor Lisbon, the scene of last year's 8-2 annihilation by Bayern. This was not Barca collapsing under pressure, wilting before foreign crowds or just plain giving up. Their 5-2 aggregate loss to PSG was born of a wretched first-leg performance, but they are not the team they were just three weeks ago. At Parc des Princes, they showed that. Messi showed that.

Since that 4-1 loss at Camp Nou, Barca have won four games and drawn two, conceding just two goals, a penalty here and against Cadiz. They have closed back to within six points of LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid, breathing life into a title challenge that had looked over in the autumn.

In a Copa del Rey comeback against Sevilla, they played with verve and passion seldom seen in the recent years of squad mismanagement and boardroom chaos. And while they didn't beat PSG, they were the dominant side and thwarted mostly by man-of-the-match Keylor Navas, their performance in a different stratosphere to that sad clown act against Bayern a year ago.

We're into a new era now, of course. Joan Laporta, the man who appointed Pep Guardiola, who oversaw Messi's introduction to the world stage and counts the club captain as a friend, was voted in as president again on Sunday. He assured members he was their best chance of seeing Messi sign a new contract; what he saw on Wednesday as he watched from the stands will not have dissolved that belief.

What Messi wants, what he has always wanted, is a winning project. His protracted and ultimately futile efforts to leave last year were fuelled not just by the ugliness of Josep Maria Bartomeu's final months as president, but by the fear that winning the biggest trophies on offer – this trophy, to be precise – had slipped away. He wants a coach with a plan, a team with panache, and a collective drive to knit it together.

If he had none of that in the first leg, he certainly did in Paris.

Without first-choice centre-backs in Gerard Pique and Ronald Araujo, Ronald Koeman dropped Frenkie de Jong into a back three with Clement Lenglet and Oscar Mingueza. It meant attacking full-backs, Pedri and Sergio Busquets could all be accommodated behind Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele. At an average age of 26 years and 166 days old, it was also Barcelona's youngest starting XI in a Champions League knockout tie since they beat Stuttgart 4-0 in March 2010 under Guardiola.

It was a bold set-up, and the players embraced it. They had 73 per cent of the ball in the first half, attempting 10 shots in the first 26 minutes, just two short of their total from the first leg. Dembele could have scored twice but for Navas; Mingueza narrowly missed contact with a clear header. Barca ended the half with 16 attempts, the most in the first 45 minutes of a game since January 2019 against Levante, and the most by far faced by PSG in a first half at home all season.

Kylian Mbappe perhaps thought the tie was dead when he swept home from the spot against the run of play, Lenglet punished by VAR for an entirely accidental trip on Mauro Icardi, but Messi had other ideas. His equaliser was a sensational, swerving strike that had Navas grasping at thin air. He should have made it 2-1 before the break, but Navas' leg and the underside of the crossbar combined to keep out his penalty. An inch or two either way, and they really would have believed.

That was the key difference to those awful European nights experienced by Messi since he last won this trophy six years ago. Where before came embarrassment, anger and inquests, here there was disappointment – but reason to hope. They outplayed last season's beaten finalists on their own patch in a way that looked impossible a month ago.

Barca are not where they want to be – far from it – and this season will still be remembered for failure in Europe. But they are, as a club, at last moving in the right direction. Whether Messi chooses to be part of that progress next season is, even now, difficult to predict. And if this was the last time we saw him in this tournament in a Barca shirt, at least it was a more fitting farewell.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane struck in the space of four second-half minutes as Liverpool beat RB Leipzig 2-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Jurgen Klopp’s side travelled to the Puskas Arena smarting from suffering a sixth consecutive home defeat in the Premier League at the hands of Fulham, but there was a sense of deja vu as they moved into the last right.

At the same venue where Salah and Mane gave the Reds a 2-0 first-leg advantage in what was Leipzig's home leg, the Reds forwards were on target once again to seal a 4-0 aggregate win.

Liverpool wasted a host of chances, but Alexander Sorloth hitting the crossbar was the closest Leipzig came as last season's semi-finalists bowed out.

Mane volleyed over amid a bright start for the Premier League champions, who had Fabinho back in midfield, before Dani Olmo was denied by the alert Alisson at the other end.

Liverpool did not resemble a side devoid of confidence and Peter Gulacsi showed sharp reactions to palm Diogo Jota's powerful header from a corner beyond the crossbar.

Salah wasted a great opportunity to open the scoring when Thiago's sublime pass sent him clear, but the forward shot straight at Gulacsi before he and Mane were unable to finish following up.

Emil Forsberg dragged a shot tamely wide and Jota spurned a golden chance when he broke through the middle but failed to beat Gulacsi, with the Portugal international then only finding the side-netting when he should have scored following an Dayot Upamecano error on the stroke of half-time.

Jota allowed Gulacsi to save all too easily yet again 10 minutes into the second half and Salah blazed the rebound over the bar as the breakthrough remained elusive. 

Sorloth, introduced as a half-time substitute, headed Hee-Chan Hwang's inviting cross against the bar midway through the second half, with Leipzig battling to stay in the competition.

Liverpool had one foot in the last eight 20 minutes from time, though - Jota setting up Salah in a rapid attack and the Egypt international cutting into the penalty area before finding the bottom corner with his left foot.

Divock Origi then whipped in a brilliant cross for Mane to tuck home a second as Klopp's men breezed through. 

Kylian Mbappe made history as Paris Saint-Germain booked their place in the Champions League last eight with a 1-1 draw against Barcelona at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday. 

Mbappe plundered a stunning hat-trick to help Mauricio Pochettino's side to a 4-1 first-leg win at Camp Nou last month and the World Cup winner opened the scoring in Paris, whipping home from the penalty spot shortly after the half-hour mark. 

That goal saw him overtake Lionel Messi as the youngest player to reach 25 goals in the competition, aged 22 years and 80 days, but the Barca talisman had his say soon after, thundering home a glorious equaliser from outside the area. 

Barca's hopes of becoming the first side in Champions League history to progress from a knockout tie after losing the first leg at home by a margin of three goals evaporated before the interval when Navas kept out Messi's penalty, PSG seeing out the second half with the minimum of fuss to seal a 5-2 aggregate triumph. 

Ousmane Dembele was guilty of squandering a number of fine opportunities inside the opening 20 minutes as Barca started on the front foot. 

Keylor Navas tipped Sergino Dest's powerful drive onto the crossbar before Mbappe gave the hosts an undeserved lead after 31 minutes, the France international powering home from the spot after Clement Lenglet had tripped Mauro Icardi. 

However, Messi pulled Barca level soon after with a stunning 25-yard strike into Navas' top-right corner – only Cristiano Ronaldo (20) has scored more Champions League goals from outside the area than the Argentinian's 19.

Messi should have added a second before half-time after Layvin Kurzawa had fouled Antoine Griezmann in the area, but Navas repelled his spot-kick – his first miss from 12 yards since February 2015. 

A superb tackle from Marquinhos prevented Messi scoring from close range shortly after the hour mark, while Navas kept out Sergio Busquets' header at his near post. 

Mbappe blazed over after a surging run in the closing stages, but it mattered little in the end as last year's beaten finalists booked their place in the quarter-finals in style.
 

Diego Simeone has overtaken Luis Aragones for the most wins ever as head coach of Atletico Madrid.

The Argentine coach picked up his 309th victory in charge in Wednesday's 2-1 comeback win against Athletic Bilbao - a result that moves Atleti six points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Iker Munian had given Athletic the lead at the Wanda Metropolitano, but Marcos Llorente equalised late in the first half and Luis Suarez converted a penalty early in the second.

Simeone's latest win came in his 514th match in charge. Aragones, the only other man to have taken charge of more games, reached 308 wins in 612 matches.

Atleti have drawn 121 times and lost 84 games under Simeone, who took over in December 2011 and has gone on to be their most successful manager of all time.

#OnThisDay in 2011, @Simeone took over.

499 games
300 wins
LaLiga
Europa League
UEFA Super Cup
Copa del Rey
Spanish Super Cup

#AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/6U8bdMUwX2

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) December 23, 2020 TROPHIES

Aragones, a star for Atletico as a player, won six trophies as head coach. Simeone, with seven, is the only man with more.

In a little over nine years in charge, the former Argentina midfielder has led Atletico to two UEFA Super Cups, two Europa Leagues, one Supercopa de Espana, one Copa del Rey and, most famously, their only LaLiga title in the past 25 years back in 2013-14.

Simeone has helped to tip the balance of power somewhat in Spain's capital. He is the only coach to have won three finals against Real Madrid in three different competitions: the Copa del Rey (2013), the Supercopa de Espana (2014) and the UEFA Super Cup (2018).

He has twice faced them in the Champions League final, too, losing after extra time in 2014 and on penalties two years later.


TRAILBLAZING

Among South American coaches, only Helenio Herrera (359) has taken charge of more LaLiga matches than Simeone (353).

All of those have been with Atletico, of course. There are just two coaches to oversee more LaLiga games at a single club: Aragones at Atletico (407) and Miguel Munoz at Real Madrid (424).

Munoz won 357 of his 605 games in charge of Los Blancos in all competitions, so Simeone has a little way to go to surpass that tally. Still, he has already won more games than Barcelona record-holder Johan Cruyff, who won 244 times out of 421 matches.

TITANS

Antoine Griezmann is the player to score the most goals under Simeone at Atletico, with 133 in all competitions.

The rest of the top five includes Diego Costa (75), Radamel Falcao (58), Koke (44) and Saul Niguez (43).

Koke leads the way for assists, with 95, comfortably clear of Griezmann (46), Gabi (44), Angel Correa (43) and Juanfran (32).

Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe made Champions League history on Wednesday with his penalty against Barcelona. 

The France international powered home from the spot after 31 minutes to claim Lionel Messi's record as the youngest player to reach 25 goals in the competition, aged 22 years and 80 days. 

After a hat-trick in the first leg last month, Mbappe has now scored four goals against Barca this term - the most a player has ever scored against the Catalan club in a single season in the competition.

Messi cancelled out Mbappe's goal soon after with a stunning effort from distance, taking his tally of Champions League goals from outside the area to 19.

Since his debut in the competition in December 2004, only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more from range in the tournament (20).

Messi then blotted his copybook by missing a penalty before half-time – the first time he has failed to score from the spot in the Champions League since February 2015 against Manchester City.

Cristiano Ronaldo should never have been signed by Juventus and the club must try to sell the superstar forward at the end of the campaign, according to former president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli.

Portugal international Ronaldo joined the Italian giants from Real Madrid in a high-profile €100million transfer ahead of the 2018-19 campaign on a lucrative four-year contract.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner guided Juve to back-to-back Serie A titles in his first two seasons at the Allianz Stadium, but the nine-in-a-row Italian champions trail Inter by 10 points this time around with a game in hand to play.

Juventus crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage to Porto on Tuesday, having previously been knocked out by Ajax and Lyon in the quarter-finals and last-16 respectively during Ronaldo's time in Turin.

Sporting director Fabio Paratici revealed ahead of Juve's 4-4 away goals defeat that a new deal for Ronaldo, who failed to score in either leg against Porto, "is not on the agenda".

And Gigli, Juve president between 2006 and 2009, has hit out at Paratici for sanctioning the signing.

Asked if bringing in Ronaldo was the wrong choice, Gigli told Radio Punto Nuovo: "Absolutely, yes! I said that on his very first day at Juventus. He is a great champion but is too expensive.

"Now it's up to Juventus. They've been paying him €1m per goal. [Juve president Andrea] Agnelli must be self-critical, but he doesn't have great collaborators.

He added: "The club should free Ronaldo at the end of the season and the same goes for Paratici. Maybe Agnelli had promoted him to remove him from his position afterwards. This could be the scenario."

Gigli also questioned Pavel Nedved's position as vice-president on the back of Juve's latest disappointing Champions League elimination.

"I've known him as a great champion, but he is not capable of being the Juventus vice-president," he said. "They should think again about his role within the club.

"He didn't attend [Massimiliano] Allegri's last press conference and I didn't like that. I know they were not on good terms. He claimed he was abroad, but it's true, he was in Italy. He doesn't have the Juventus style."

Juventus won the Supercoppa Italiana in January with victory over Napoli and will take on Atalanta in May's Coppa Italia final, but Andrea Pirlo's first campaign as head coach looks set to go down as a disappointment.

"Juventus need a rebuild now," Gigli added. "I don't blame Pirlo. I hired [Ciro] Ferrara and it was not a positive experience. 

"Agnelli took a risk. He didn't want [Maurizio] Sarri but he accepted him because Paratici and Nedved pushed to hire him."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is running out of superlatives to describe Erling Haaland after the Borussia Dortmund striker sent Champions League records tumbling.

Haaland scored twice in Tuesday's last-16 second leg against Sevilla at Signal Iduna Park to help Dortmund through 5-4 on aggregate in a thrilling tie.

In doing so, Haaland became the first player to score twice in four successive matches in the Champions League as he took his tally in the tournament to 20 goals in 14 games.

That is the quickest time a player has reached 20 goals and, at 20 years and 231 days, he is the youngest player to net in six straight games in UEFA's flagship competition.

Another record was also broken as the former Salzburg star ousted Solskjaer as Norway's all-time leading scorer in the competition.

And Solskjaer, who is now in charge of Manchester United, is not surprised the player he formerly managed at Molde is continuing to reach new levels.

"It was just a matter of time before he scored more goals than me in the Champions League," he said at a news conference on Wednesday previewing United's Europa League tie with Milan.

"There are not many more superlatives to use. Whatever I want to say I will say in Norwegian directly to him."

Asked about his own scoring accolades as a player, Solskjaer said: "Unfortunately I can't play football anymore and Erling can only work on improving and keep on scoring.

"My focus is only on improving Man United so I'll gladly give away all my records to improve what I'm doing now.

"Now it’s you're the first manager to do this to win this and my focus is always on improving and getting better." 

Of Haaland's 20 Champions League goals, 15 have been scored with his stronger left foot, four with his right and one via his head, coming from 45 shots in total.

No player has found the net more times than the Norwegian since he made his debut in the competition for Salzburg in September 2019, with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (19) next on the list and Kylian Mbappe third with 10 goals.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been criticised by Fabio Capello for an "unforgivable mistake" as Juventus were eliminated from the Champions League by Porto.

The Old Lady were dumped out of Europe's elite competition on Tuesday as their 3-2 victory after extra-time in Turin saw Porto qualify for the quarter-finals on away goals with the tie level at 4-4 on aggregate.

On a rollercoaster night at Allianz Stadium, Juve were left with an uphill battle after Sergio Oliveira's 19th-minute penalty had Porto 3-1 up in the tie, before a brace from Federico Chiesa early in the second half initially spared the hosts.

That was enough to take the game to extra-time – Mehdi Taremi's sending off in the 54th minute seemingly giving Andrea Pirlo's men the edge – but an Oliveira free-kick made it 2-2 on the day and gave Juve too much to do despite Adrien Rabiot's header two minutes later.

Oliveira's decisive strike went straight through the Juve wall, with the ball going between Ronaldo's legs as he sheepishly turned his back on the effort, and former Bianconeri boss Capello was infuriated.

"Cristiano Ronaldo then cannot go in the wall like this," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"Whoever is in the wall should not be afraid of the ball, but they must be aware that they can be hit by it.

"He turned around and this is an unforgivable mistake that has no excuses. It was a very serious mistake."

Capello then castigated the so-called leaders in the Juve dressing room, pointing the finger at them for not coming out to face the media and explain themselves, with Chiesa and Matthijs de Ligt the individuals who took part in post-match duties.

"At certain moments the captain and the elders have to show their faces," he said. "Instead they sent Chiesa. They [the "elders"] showed up when they won the games."

Elimination left Andrea Pirlo's tenure with a poor outlook only worsened by their fortunes in Serie A, with the defending champions 10 points adrift of leaders Inter – even if they win their game in hand, the Old Lady will have a significant gap to claw back.

Capello now suspects the Juve hierarchy regret ushering Massimiliano Allegri out the door in 2019.

"The much-maligned Allegri won championships and made two Champions League finals and what he did was never highlighted," Capello continued.

"It was said that there was a need for a different brand of football, but when you try to do different things you often go towards things that are not always pleasant and positive."

Manchester City will play Borussia Monchengladbach in Budapest when their Champions League last-16 tie concludes.

The second leg on March 16 was due to take place in England but a change in coronavirus regulations in Germany means Gladbach will be unable to travel there.

Budapest also hosted the first leg of the tie, which was designated as the Gladbach home game, due to COVID-19 complications. 

City won 2-0 at the Puskas Arena courtesy of goals from Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus, making them strong favourites to reach the quarter-finals next week.

"UEFA is able to officially confirm that the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach will now be played at the Puskas Arena in Budapest," read a statement from UEFA on Wednesday.

"The date of the match (March 16, 2021) and the kick-off time (21:00CET) will remain the same.
 
"UEFA would like to thank Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach for their support and close cooperation, as well as the Hungarian Football Federation for its assistance and agreeing to stage the match."

City added: "Changes to the German COVID-19 regulations mean that the visitors are unable to travel to the UK to play the return leg in Manchester as originally planned."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.