The coveted title of “Champions of Europe” is still up for grabs as the European soccer’s Champions League nears the end of its Round of 16. Nine countries were represented in the Round of 16, but some of the match-ups saw the demise of certain countries including Scotland and Ukraine.
Italian giants Juventus faced a strong side in Scotland’s Celtic on March 6, but their previous encounter which ended 3-0 to the Italians proved too much for the green and white striped team. After goals from Alessandro Matri and Fabio Quagliarella, Celtic collapsed and were unable to crawl back from the losing position. Juventus will move on to the Quarter-Finals and may or may not see their fellow Italian side AC Milan there as they face Spanish side FC Barcelona on March 12.
After an impressive 2-2 draw in Donetsk, Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk fell short of the Quarter Finals to German side Borussia Dortmund on March 5. With two goals before the 40 minute mark, Dortmund killed the game and left Shakhtar Donetsk fighting for a comeback. A third goal in the 59 minute by Polish winger Jakub Błaszczykowski stopped any hope for the Ukrainian team, as they would need a miracle to score the three goals they needed. The game ended 3-0.
In one of the biggest games of the tournament, Spanish side Real Madrid faced English’s Manchester United, two teams regarded as some of the world’s best. After their first game in February ended 1-1, it was more or less an open game and either side could have won. Manchester United seemed in control after a fluke goal early in the second half, but a controversial sending off for the English side’s Luis Nani and the substitution that brought on Real Madrid’s Luka Modrić changed the entire flow of the game. With only 10 players on the field, Manchester United were unable to stop Modrić’s goal in the 66 minute, and then three minutes later the world class player and former Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo made the score 2-1 in favor of Real Madrid. After an impressive 20 minutes of soccer, the game ended, pushing Spanish side Real Madrid into the quarter finals.
