Barcelona had done it multiple times – most recently against a nervous Paris St Germain – and their was belief in the Camp Nou that the Spanish champions could once again beat the odds by overturning a 3-0 first leg quarter final defeat at the hands of their Italian counterparts Juventus on Wednesday night. But the Old Lady back three proved to be too good for the Catalans in a goalless draw that saw them crash out of the tournament’s QF stages for a second consecutive season.

Barca’s ouster also coincides tantalisingly with domestic rival Real Madrid’s 4-2 (6-3 agg.) win over German powerhouse Bayern Munich. However, the game was marred by raging controversy over refereeing decisions, including a red card for midfielder Arturo Vidal after collecting his second booking of the night. Nonetheless, the win also witnessed a perfect hattrick by one of the game’s modern-day greats Cristiano Ronaldo, who in the course became the first player to reach 100 goals in the history of the competition.    

In other results, Ligue 1 leaders AS Monaco resisted a Borussia Dortmund comeback to secure a semi-final berth by beating them 3-1. Elsewhere, Premier League champions Leicester City, who were also the only English team left in the competition, saw their dream run ended by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, but on a truly positive note. The Foxes failed to come back from a goal down in the first leg as Diego Simeone’s men played out a 1-1 draw on their latest trip to the British island.