In today’s post, we’ve decided to take a look at some of the best matches 2020 has brought us so far. These are great fixtures that we’ve all watched and which have thrilled not only the fans of the teams involved, but also all football lovers. We’ll be reviewing several Champions League matches – that very special competition we miss so much and are looking forward to enjoying once again.
We’ll be looking at three matches, all from the Champions League: a spectacular Chelsea v Ajax, a Liverpool v Atlético Madrid and, finally, an unforgettable Juventus v Atlético Madrid.
We begin with Frank Lampard’s Chelsea, the former captain of the London side and its current manager. Everything pointed to a thrilling match, with top-class players in both teams.
The fixture was particularly important, as it carried significant weight in the battle for a place in the round of 16. However, things got off to a rocky start for Lampard’s players, who were wearing the Chelsea jersey. The English side went 0–1 down, but managed to equalise thanks to a penalty from Jorginho, a former Napoli player. Shortly afterwards, the Dutch side regained the lead and extended their advantage to 1–3, which was the score at half-time.
It was in the second half that the match turned into a real spectacle. Just a few minutes after the restart, the Ajax players scored their fourth goal and it looked as though the match was all but over. However, Chelsea responded with pride and pulled one back thanks to another penalty converted by Jorginho. Furthermore, Ajax were reduced to nine men following two red cards, which made things even more difficult for the away side. The Londoners capitalised on the situation to equalise, sending their fans into raptures. In the closing minutes, they even managed to make it 5–4, but the goal was ruled out by VAR and the match ended in a spectacular 4–4 draw.
The second fixture saw last season’s champions, Liverpool, take on the team managed by Cholo Simeone, whose players wore the Atlético de Madrid jersey. It was the second leg of the round of 16. In the first leg, the Colchoneros had won 1–0 thanks to a superb tactical and technical performance.
There was a special atmosphere for the return leg and everything pointed to a thrilling match. And so it proved. For much of the match, Liverpool were the better side, but Jan Oblak, one of the world’s finest goalkeepers, wearing his Puma goalkeeper gloves, managed to save virtually every attempt by Jürgen Klopp’s players, who were wearing Liverpool jersey. All but one.
The match went into extra time, where Firmino scored the goal that gave Liverpool a temporary lead. However, Simeone made some shrewd substitutions, bringing on Marcos Llorente and Álvaro Morata. Llorente became the star of the show by scoring two goals, whilst Morata sealed the victory, completing a spectacular comeback that saw Atlético Madrid progress to the quarter-finals.
The last match we’re going to talk about is Juventus v Atlético Madrid, the second leg of the round of 16. In the first leg, Atlético had won 2–0 with two goals from their centre-backs. What the Rojiblancos hadn’t expected was to face a Cristiano Ronaldo in top form at the Juventus Stadium, determined to turn the tie around.
And turn it around they certainly did. Juventus won 3–0 thanks to a hat-trick from the magnificent Cristiano Ronaldo, who once again demonstrated his greatness and his ability to make the difference in big matches. The Portuguese scored one goal from the penalty spot and two more with his head, putting in a memorable performance that allowed Juventus to overturn the tie and qualify for the quarter-finals.
