Top 5 Champions League Quarter Final Clashes

The draw for the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League?quarter finals threw up interesting fixtures with Real Madrid facing Bayern Munich, Barcelona coming up against Juventus, last season?s fairy-tale Leicester City drawing Atletico Madrid and a mouth-watering clash of scintillating attacks between AS Monaco and Borussia Dortmund. In the 2017-18 edition, the Round of 16 is just playing itself out and by May 1st, we will find out who will face who in the quarterfinal.

Here we take a look at the top 5 UEFA Champions League quarter-final matches of all time that include fierce rivalries, upsets and comebacks.

Bayern Munich VS FC Porto, 2014/15

First leg ? FC Porto 3-1?Bayern Munich

A perfectly executed game plan and composed finishing earned Porto a victory which evolved hope in?them eyeing a first semi in more than a decade. Thiago Alc?ntara gave the visitors a foothold with his first UEFA Champions League strike.

Jackson Mart?nez, though, restored Porto’s two-goal cushion to leave Bayern?? shorn of key players including Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Rib?ry through injury?? facing an uphill struggle.

Second leg ? Bayern Munich?6-1?FC Porto

FC Bayern M?nchen eased into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals for the fourth year in a row, making light of both FC Porto and their own history with a dominant attacking display.

The German champions faced a two-goal deficit but were level on aggregate before a quarter of the match had elapsed, Thiago Alc?ntara and J?r?me Boateng heading them into a two-goal cushion on the night.

Robert Lewandowski added two more either side of Thomas M?ller’s deflected effort and, though Jackson Mart?nez scored a consolation for Porto, Bayern cruised through. Xabi Alonso added a late sixth after Porto’s Iv?n Marcano had collected his second yellow card of the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vB6T–ST2o

Chelsea vs Liverpool, 2008/09

First Leg ? Chelsea 3-1?Liverpool

Two headers by Branislav Ivanovi? and a clinical finish by Didier Drogba brought Chelsea FC to the verge of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals as they ended their barren run of European visits to Liverpool FC.

Second Leg ??Liverpool 5-1 Chelsea

Another enthralling encounter between these teams left Chelsea FC celebrating a fifth UEFA Champions League semi-final appearance in the last six seasons. But what a fright Liverpool FC gave them after they first established a 2-0 lead inside the first 30 minutes and then scored twice again late on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ahEBz6lvg

Bayern Munich vs Manchester United?, 2009/10

First?Leg ? Bayern?2-1?Manchester United

Ivica Oli? struck in the dying seconds as FC Bayern M?nchen turned the tables on Manchester United FC to gain the upper hand in their quarter-final tie.

Bayern suffered one of the UEFA Champions League’s most dramatic reversals at the hands of United in the 1999 final, but got a measure of revenge with Oli?’s goal deep into added time. United looked set to maintain their 100% away record in the competition this season after Wayne Rooney fired home with less than two minutes gone. Franck Rib?ry, though, levelled 13 minutes from time when his free-kick ricocheted off Rooney before Oli? seized the initiative for Bayern ahead of second leg at Old Trafford.

Second Leg ? Manchester United?3-2?Bayern Munich

FC Bayern M?nchen fought back from three goals down on the night to oust Manchester United FC from the UEFA Champions League on away goals.

On a pulsating evening, United stormed into a three-goal lead through Darron Gibson and a Nani double. Yet Ivica Oli?’s goal just before the break raised Bayern hopes and after Rafael’s 50th-minute dismissal,?the Bundesliga leaders?capitalised on the extra man thanks to a stunning Arjen Robben volley 16 minutes from time.

Chelsea?vs Manchester United?, 2010/11

First Leg ? Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United

Billed as the Blues’ chance to draw a line under their defeat by United in the 2008 final in Moscow, a cagey first leg was decided by Rooney’s well-taken strike in the 24th minute after great work by the evergreen Ryan Giggs.

Neither side were able to hit their usual stride in the early stages, with time and space on the ball coming at an exorbitant premium and big-match nerves evident in the number of stray passes.

Second?Leg ? Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea

Javier Hern?ndez doubled United’s aggregate advantage on the stroke of half-time and although Chelsea shrugged off Ramires’ sending-off with a 77th-minute?equaliser from substitute Didier Drogba, Park Ji-Sung extinguished the London club’s flickering hopes within 60 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKUg62qCyYQ

AC Milan?vs FC Barcelona?, 2011/12

First?Leg ? AC Milan?0-0?FC Barcelona

There was nothing to separate the former UEFA Champions League winners at the midway stage of their quarter-final tie after a tense draw in Italy.

AC Milan and FC Barcelona would now have to?go to the Camp Nou with a place in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in the balance after an absorbing goalless draw.

Second?Leg ? FC Barcelona?3-1?AC Milan

FC Barcelona produced a performance full of power and intelligence to defeat AC Milan and progress to the semi-finals for the fifth successive season.

Two penalties from Lionel Messi, the first his 50th goal in this competition which set a new scoring mark for a UEFA Champions League season, had Barcelona in front at half-time despite a first-class equaliser from Antonio Nocerino.

Andr?s Iniesta extended the hosts’ advantage early in the second period and the holders held on in some comfort, only Gerard Piqu? limping off in the second half souring their night.