Champions League: Cristiano, Messi and other cracks who say goodbye

The round of 16 of the Champions League 20/21 is history and the world of football is already looking at the quarters that will determine who are the four teams that will fight for a place in the final. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Liverpool, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Porto and Chelsea will have their ball in the draw on Friday morning in which they will meet their next rivals.

In such a hectic competition, especially this year because of the late start of the season, it is very difficult to look back, but these eighths have seen the farewell of many stars who have been highlighting the top European competition in recent years. Barcelona, Juventus, Atlético Madrid, or Sevilla, are some of the great teams that will not be in the next phase of the Champions League, depriving fans of continuing to enjoy the enormous talent of some of their footballers. These are the main players that will be missed in the quarterfinals.

Barcelona and Juventus are the two great teams that will be missing in the next phase of the Champions League. For the first time since the 04-05 season, neither Leo Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The Argentine was a regular in the top eight since 06-07 while the Portuguese already fell last year in the second round against Lyon, the same executioner as in 2010 in the remembered elimination of Pellegrini's Madrid.

A quarter-final without Messi or Cristiano will be a little less special, but they are not the only sensitive casualties caused by the absences of Barça and Vecchia Signora. The Champions League is left without names such as Piqué, Griezmann, the Dutch De Jong and De Ligt, the magic of the very young Pedri, the explosiveness of Chiesa, the assists of Cuadrado (maximum assistant with six) or the goals of Álvaro Morata (second highest scorer with six). Great players who will have to wait months to shine again in the maximum European showcase. Joao Felix, meanwhile, completes the list of major absences in the next stage.