This week’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 ties provided an abundance of goals and tension, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats right until the very last whistle.
The four games this week saw the final four sides earn their place in this year’s Champions League quarter-finals where any side will now believe they can go on to win the tournament.
With so many goals from these games to talk about, we’ve picked out our best goals from this week’s fixtures:
Robert Lewandowski – 12 March 2024
Barcelona 3 – 1 Napoli
The last of three goals from Barcelona in this one saw them put the game to bed as they extended their aggregate lead to two goals with the match closing in on the final whistle. Robert Lewandowski was the scorer of this one, but the goal’s excellence comes from the brilliant build-up play that the Spanish giants demonstrated in the making of this goal.
The ball started wide-left with Sergi Roberto who drove in towards the middle of the pitch and laid it off to Ilkay Gundogan, who expertly threaded the ball back through to Roberto who was now inside the penalty area.
Despite having just the keeper to beat, Roberto squared the ball to Lewandowski who fired into an open net and finished off a quick tiki-taka move which put Barcelona into the quarter-finals.
Federico Dimarco – 13 March 2024
Atletico Madrid 2 – 1 Inter
Federico Dimarco opened the scoring in the second leg between Atletico Madrid and Inter which put his side two goals to the good. Although Inter would eventually go on to lose on penalties, this first goal was a joy to watch.
The ball was driven forward from the defence to Lautaro Martinez who had dropped deeper to receive the ball and laid it off first-time to Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The Armenian midfielder played a first-touch pass of his own down the line to Alessandro Bastoni, who passed to Nicolo Barella who found himself running into the Atletico box with plenty of space around him.
Barella took one touch before cutting the ball back to Dimarco who was completely open in the centre of the box, and his right-footed effort caught out Jan Oblak who dove past the ball as Inter went 1-0 up.
Antoine Griezmann – 13 March 2024
Atletico Madrid 2 – 1 Inter
Antoine Griezmann’s equaliser came just minutes after Inter’s goal as he put Atletico straight back into the tie.
A cross from the right channel was cleared by Stefan de Vrij, but only as far as Atletico Madrid captain Koke. The midfielder tried to loop the ball back into the box but the effort looked to be rather poor when it landed with Benjamin Pavard.
However, the defender made a mess of his clearance as he failed to connect with his volleyed effort and sent the ball spinning backwards and off the arm of Bastoni. The resulting deflection put the ball in the path of Griezmann who brilliantly swivelled and smashed into the far corner, putting Atletico back in the tie in an instant.
Memphis Depay – 13 March 2024
Atletico Madrid 2 – 1 Inter
Memphis Depay’s late goal saw Atletico’s comeback completed as it levelled the game up on aggregate and sent it to extra-time and eventually penalties.
Depay, who came on in the 79th minute, looked threatening as soon as he stepped foot on the pitch and had already taken multiple shots which could have gone in the back of the net. His goal eventually came in the 87th minute with a fantastic show of individual skill.
Koke drove the ball into the box and just ahead of the forward. Depay got the pass under control with one touch, turned and struck with a low-driven effort into Yann Sommer’s bottom right corner, all without even looking up to see where the goal was.
Jadon Sancho – 13 March 2024
Borussia Dortmund 2 – 0 PSV
Jadon Sancho’s return to Borussia Dortmund hasn’t been quite as fruitful as many thought it would have been when the move was initially announced, but two goals in his last two games suggest he may be starting to perform.
His second came in the form of a third-minute opener for Dortmund to put them 2-1 up on aggregate in their tie against PSV.
Ian Maatsen’s cross was poorly controlled by Niclas Fullkrug, but the PSV defence made a meal of clearing it with Julian Brandt eventually gaining control of the ball just inside the Dutch side’s box. Brandt laid off a first-touch pass to Sancho, who found himself in a bit of space just outside the area.
Sancho took a touch and quickly shifted the ball to his right foot before unleashing a wonderful, low strike that flew past Walter Benitez, off the post and into the back of the net.
Comment below with your favourite!
