UEFA Champions League 2018-19 Draw: Two possible mouthwatering quarterfinals that would be great for the tournament
The stage is ready for the draw of the Champions League quarterfinal round of fixtures. Last night's winners Liverpool and Barcelona completed the line-up for the quarterfinals.
Champions League round of 16 gave us some shocking results - Manchester United beating PSG, Ajax beating three-time defending champions Real Madrid and a masterclass from Cristiano Ronaldo to inspire Juventus to win 3-2 on aggregate against Atletico Madrid.
Tottenham and Porto did amazingly well as well considering they weren't exactly favourites for their respective fixtures against Dortmund and Roma.
For the first time after ten years, four English teams have qualified for the top 8 in Europe's prestigious competition.
Top 8 teams of UEFA Champions League 2018-19 are: Manchester City (ENG), Manchester United (ENG), Liverpool (ENG), Tottenham Hotspur(ENG), Barcelona (ESP), Ajax (NED), Porto (POR), Juventus (ITA)
Draw for the quarterfinals will be made on Friday and we can expect some mouth-watering fixtures. Although, two quarterfinal fixtures that should happen are:
Barcelona vs Juventus
We have witnessed some great El Clasicos in recent years between Messi's Barcelona and Ronaldo's Real Madrid, but after Ronaldo's summer switch to Juventus, we won't get the chance to see these two greatest players of this generation on the same field twice every season. But this is where Champions League will come to rescue, Messi and Ronaldo both gave top performances against Lyon and Atletico Madrid respectively to ensure their team's qualification on to the next stage of Champions League.
Now, it's time we witness another great rivalry unfold with the usual suspects on each side, Messi and Ronaldo. For the sake of football fans across the globe, Juventus and Barcelona should happen in the next round of Champions League. These two teams last collided against each other in the group stages last year with one game ending in a draw and the other won by Barcelona. Juventus also lost to Barcelona in the 2014-15 Champions League final. But there's one player that Juventus now have, who can prove to be a massive difference between the two teams, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Juventus vs Barcelona is a game that must happen in the quarterfinals. Let's have another round of Messi vs Ronaldo.
Liverpool vs Manchester City
Liverpool and Manchester City is probably the latest rivalry emerging in the Premier League. Both the clubs are managed by two charismatic coaches and consists of some big stars in their squads. Since 2015-16 season these two clubs have faced each other 11 times. Manchester City won 3 times and Liverpool 6 times while two ending up as a draw. Last year's quarterfinal games between these two teams were probably last year's best knockout games.
Ever since Guardiola and Klopp have joined Manchester City and Liverpool respectively, this rivalry has been blooming. Guardiola probably has his worst head-to-head record against Klopp. They both have been against each other 16 times. Klopp won 8 of those, Guardiola 6 times and 2 ended in a draw.
If you remember it was Klopp's Liverpool that broke Man City's unbeaten record in the league last season and Man City returned the favour this season by being the only team that has beaten Liverpool in Premier League this season.
January's fixture between the two teams was probably the best match of the season so far. Both of these clubs are also vying for the Premier League titles, and it will be another bow to their ever-growing rivalry.
Though we also have a plausibility of historical fixtures like Manchester Derby and Liverpool-Manchester United. But the fixtures mentioned above surely stands out in the current scenario.