A tale of two stars: Spanish and Italian papers react to Lionel Messi’s brilliance and Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit from the Champions League, as Juve’s elimination is branded an ‘apocalypse’
- It was another Lionel Messi masterclass as Barcelona beat Manchester United
- Messi’s heroics at the Nou Camp were hailed by newspapers at here and abroad
- There was also some focus, particularly in Madrid, on Cristiano Ronaldo
- Ronaldo was left disappointed after Ajax dumped Juventus out of Europe
Lionel Messi’s masterclass inside the Nou Camp didn’t go unnoticed at home or aborad, with the foreign newspapers hailing the 31-year-old’s greatness.
Messi scored twice on Tuesday night against Manchester United before Philippe Coutinho sealed a 4-0 aggregate Champions League quarter-final win with a beautiful curler from range.
On the front page of Spanish football newspaper, Marca, the headline read: ‘Messi flies towards Wanda’, making reference to the final in Atletico Madrid’s stadium on June 1.
Lionel Messi celebrates with Philippe Coutinho during Barcelona’s win on Tuesday night
Spanish football newspaper, Marca, wrote: ‘Messi flies towards Wanda’ on its front page
Mundo Deportivo chose to highlight the brilliance of Messi, stating: ‘To the Messi-finals’
Mundo Deportivo also chose to highlight the brilliance of Barcelona’s No 10, stating: ‘To the Messi-finals’.
Unsurprisingly, AS, the Madrid-based paper, chose to focus on Cristiano Ronaldo, who went out of the competition in the last eight after defeat in Turin by Ajax.
‘Ajax eliminate Cristiano,’ the headline read.
Madrid-based AS led on Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit from the Champions League with Juventus
Ronaldo holds his head in his hands after Juventus were eliminated from the competition
In Italy, the focus was purely on Juventus. This was meant to be the year they won the crown with Ronaldo the final piece in the jigsaw and the Italian papers fittingly record their demise.
‘End of the road,’ read La Gazzetta dello Sport. Corriere dello Sport was stronger in its criticism, writing: ‘Apocalypse – Juve out of the Champions League: infinite obsession.’
Tutto Sport chose to highlight how well Ajax’s young team had done to reach the semi-finals without the riches of their opponents.
‘Great Ajax,’ it read. ‘The right team won,’ before quoting Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri, who said after the game that he will be staying in his role.
Tutto Sport decided to lead on Ajax’s triumph rather than Ronaldo’s demise with Juventus
