Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg fixtures feature four traditional giants of the European Game.
England’s Manchester United square up to Barcelona of Spain, hoping to overturn a 1-0 deficit, while Italian side, Juventus host Ajax Amsterdam, with that tie deadlocked at 1-1.
? Today brings the conclusion of #BarçaMUFC.
? This is what happened last time. pic.twitter.com/IgsHebVw4a— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 16, 2019
These are the cup ties that define European football. United need to repeat their heroics in the last 16 when they overturned a 2-0 first leg deficit to beat Paris St Germain.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants his superstar squad to go beyond their physical ability.
“Belief is massive in a footballer because most of it is. Yeah, everyone’s got talent, everyone’s got a certain ability to play at, but we’ve seen ourselves against PSG that we can get back from being 2-0 down against a fantastic team. Of course, historically, Barcelona is the best in say the last 10 years, so we know it will be a massive effort.”
Barcelona, meanwhile, want to remain the instigators in the quarter-final tie. They carry a 1-0 advantage into the return leg, but know it won’t be enough, unless they continue to exert pressure.
They’ve got United goalkeeper, David De Gea, in their sights. Barcelona goalkeeper, Marc Andre Ter Stegen, says that De Gea is one of the best goalkeepers right now.
“Yeah he is one of the best goalkeepers right now worldwide. I think he is having a good season he is doing great since many, many years which is very important to be successful and I think he is one of the most important players of Man United.”
In the other first class tie, the Grand Old Lady of Italian football is having trouble with the young upstarts from Ajax. The clash is deadlocked at 1-1, with the action moving to Turin.
Ajax Coach, Erik Ten Hag says the team knows they’ve gotten under the skin of Juventus, but it’s still all to play for.
“It is certainly a matter of baldness and bravery. It is true that after 1-1 in Amsterdam, they’re favourites and we know that we have to score here.”
Juventus will lean heavily on their Portuguese talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo. Coach Massimiliano Allegri says that Ronaldo has extraordinary quality.
“Cristiano has an extraordinary quality; when the match starts he becomes another player, you can read it on his face.”
No stopping @Cristiano! ?#GETREADY #JuveAjax #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/OtKm1GxHjl
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 14, 2019
Ajax are unbeaten in the competition on the road. In the last round, they beat Real Madrid 4-1 away from home.
