Top 5 players who missed their spot in the UCL Quarter-finals 2021-22; see list

By
Jehan Mucadum
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UCL Quarter-Finals 2021-22: The UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals 2021-22 has been drawn with the 8 teams looking to continue battle.

While the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City succeeded in qualifying to the next round; there were some top sides that missed out.

The likes of PSG, Manchester United, Juventus suffered exits from the competition in the Round of 16 and have to wait another season to compete in Europe’s top club competition.

Some of Europe’s biggest names will be missing out in the rest of the competition and we look at five of these players.

Paul Pogba

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The Manchester United mid-fielder was not part of the Starting 11 in the 2nd leg match of the Round of 16 tie vs Atletico Madrid last week.

Ralf chose to begin with Fred and McTominay in this contest before turning to Pogba in the 2nd half.

The Frenchman could not affect the result after his arrival as United succumbed to a 1-0 loss at home through Lodi’s effort.

Manchester United missed out of a place in the UCL Quarter-finals with a 2-1 aggregate defeat.

Pogba’s UCL season saw him start 4 of the 6 matches but was not able to score or assists a single goal.

Neymar

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Also read: PSG Top Signing: Top 10 signings of PSG from 2011 includes Neymar, Ramos & Messi| Check All Signings

The Brazilian was a part of the PSG side that lost 3-1 in the 2nd leg of the Round of 16 tie vs Real Madrid.

Both of PSG’s goals across the tie were set-up by Neymar as it finished 3-2 to Real Madrid on aggregate.

However, Neymar was not able to influence play better in the 2nd leg as PSG capitulated with Benzema scoring a hat-trick to help his side progress.

Neymar’s obsession of winning the UCL with PSG still remains distant as he is set to complete 5 seasons with the Parisians without the elusive European trophy.

Kylian Mbappé

ImageWith all the talk of Mbappé’s move to Real Madrid in the upcoming summer, his objective remained to get his hands on the UCL trophy.

However; despite giving PSG the lead on both occasions, Mbappé was not able to help the Parisians progress to the next round.

Throughout both legs, Mbappé gave a hard time to the Real Madrid defence but the 13-time champions were able to hold him out enough.

Mbappé is yet to win the UEFA Champions League since his move to Paris and missed out on probably his last chance to do so with PSG.

Lionel Messi

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Also read: Ligue 1 news: Top 3 reasons why Messi failing to dominate with PSG; check out reasons

The Argentine’s summer move to PSG was the talk of the town as he signed a two-year deal with the French side.

In his first interview with the club, he announced his intention to lift the UCL with PSG. However, it is now 6 seasons since Messi last lifted the title.

Lionel Messi missed a crucial spot kick in the first leg which was saved brilliantly by Courtois followed by a poor performance in the second-leg.

Messi was the second highest scorer for PSG in the UCL with 5 goals, but could not bring out his A-game when it mattered the most.

Messi could have equaled Ronaldo with 5 UCL titles had he gone on to win it this season but his hopes remain under-wraps for one more season.

Cristiano Ronaldo

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Also read: Top 5 reasons why Ronaldo could leave Man United after last night’s UCL exit; check out

Mr. Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo continued his brilliant UCL form this season with Manchester United as he scored 6 of the 12 goals.

Manchester United’s performances in the UCL were below-par and if not for Ronaldo, they could not have reached the knockout stages.

Ronaldo, who is known for stepping up when it matters the most could not help Manchester United progress to the next round.

The Portuguese wasn’t at his best in both legs of the tie and remains without this trophy since 2018.

Since his move from Real Madrid to Turin, Ronaldo hasn’t been able to win the Champions League.

A move to United in the summer was probably the indicator that he wanted to help his ex-club get back to the glory days, but it wasn’t to be.

As per reports, Ronaldo will see out his United contract which is till 2023. Hence, he will be looking forward to winning the trophy next season.


       

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