After a breathless fortnight of football of the highest level, the final eight clubs left in this season’s Champions League have been decided. The quarter-final line up is a mouth-watering one, too, with Bayern Munich set to face off against Inter, holders Real Madrid taking on Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund tackling free-flowing Barcelona, and Aston Villa standing in the way of a new and improved Paris Saint-Germain.
A host of players stole the spotlight in the round of 16, but managers were not kept completely in the shade as shrewd tactical decisions turned the tide in several games. There were late goals, wonder strikes, and high-profile mistakes aplenty as fans were treated to end-to-end thrillers, fascinating chess matches, and the odd demolition job.
In the end, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Feyenoord, PSV, Club Brugge and Lille were all sent packing. A couple of those teams can point to bad luck as one of the main reasons for their failure, but others were guilty of freezing or underperforming on the biggest stage, and will spend the next few months doing some difficult soul-searching.
With all of that in mind, GOAL brings you the biggest winners and losers from the 2024-25 Champions League last-16…