A rollercoaster ride, remarkable comebacks, records were broken, dreams shattered, promises fulfilled, some unlikely heroes and an All – English Finale which would stay in our memory for a long time.
Talking about dreams Fulfilled, who would have thought Ajax and Tottenham Hotspur would come this long in the Champions League defeating Giants like Real Madrid, Juventus, and Manchester City. Although the final of the Champions League was not as great as expected, the knockouts phase was here to stay.
Teams like Ajax, Manchester United and Juventus Famously overturning their deficit, but the surprise turnover was by the Champions League Finalists where Liverpool came back from a 3 goal deficit against the Spanish Giants FC Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur getting that 95th-minute goal against Ajax.
But considering the moment to be cherished during the knockout stage was Ajax ending Real Madrid’s reign as Champions of Europe where they overturned a 2-1 deficit at home and defeated Real at Bernabeu 4-1, therefore, beating them 5-3 on aggregate. The Next day another deficit was overturned by Manchester United against Paris Saint Germain where they lost 2 – 0 against PSG at Old Trafford and they had as less as 5% chances of progressing where they progressed by defeating a Neymar less PSG to progress into Round of 16.
Ajax came out as a dark horse in the league where they created a buzz all around the globe. They reached the Champions League Top 4 for the 1st time since 1997 where they were the youngest squad in the whole of CL 2018 – 19. After knocking out Real Madrid, they haunted the grounds of Turin where they shattered Cristiano Ronaldo’s dream of bringing a Champions League at Juventus. One of the funny fact here is Ajax had to get through 3 qualifying rounds just to make it to the Champions League. As young guns Matthijs de Ligt and Frankie de Jong agreeing to move away from Ajax, let us now see how Ajax plan to rebuild on these losses of youngsters.
Tottenham on the other side was about to be crashed out of the CL for numerous times. Tottenham has just won 1 Trophy in their History and this was their 1st CL final ever. From scoring 2 goals in last 12 minutes in the group stage against PSV to scoring the 95th-minute winner against Ajax, it was a roller coaster ride for them and one to remember for a long time.
Then comes down to unlikely heroes of the competition, where the expected players like Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski leading the scoring charts. But who would have thought players like Divock Origi, Matthijs de Ligt, Dusan Tadic or Lucas Moura would create an impact in the Champions League
Tadic Scored 9 goals in the campaign he became the 3rd top scorer. Now coming down to Origi, he was on the verge of leaving Liverpool in summer of 2018 but managed to stay back. With Salah and Firmino ruled out against the most important clash of the Campaign against FC Barcelona, he had never scored in the Champions League post this game. But, this game changed it all, the wildcard scored two games in the match and helped Liverpool to get pass Barca with some fashion. This also continued in the Final where he came out as substitute and scored a 2nd goal which sealed the trophy for Liverpool.
Talking about Lucas Moura, with Tottenham not signing a single Player since January 2018 and with Harry Kane Injured, it was Moura’s time to shine where he didn’t fail to impress, scoring a remarkable hat trick against Ajax sending them to the Finals at Madrid for the 1st time in their history.
This Campaign was one to remember. It was a roller coaster ride where finally Liverpool get their 6th Champions League Title with a 2 – 0 at Madrid and therefore ending Klop’s losing streak and also getting a hand on the Trophy after 2005 Istanbul Miracle.
Undoubtedly this was one of the Best Champions League Campaign.
