Change of guard? 1st Champions League semi-final without Messi or Ronaldo in 15 years

 The last time neither of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi reached the final four was in 2004-05, when Liverpool lifted the trophy in Istanbul.

The year 2020 is going to be remembered for several reasons. One among them would be because of what happened at Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Lisbon on Friday night.

Lionel Messi’s Barcelona side were eliminated from the Champions League in a humiliating fashion, falling to Bayern Munich 8-2 in the quarter-final.

That result followed another disappointing Champions League exit for Ronaldo and Juventus, who were beaten by Lyon last week in the round of 16.

With that, for the first time in 15 years, both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will miss out on the Champions League semi-final.

The last time neither of the two reached the final four was in 2004-05, when Liverpool lifted the trophy in famous encounter in Istanbul, by beating AC Milan.

This also means that for the first time since the 2006-07 Champions League, we will not have a Spanish sides in the semi-finals. Ronaldo, that year, was playing for the Manchester United, who fell to eventual champions AC Milan in the semi-final.

END OF AN ERA?

The question that many football experts around the world are asking is whether this year is just a blip, or is it the beginning of the end of an era that the two superstars have dominated for a decade and a half.

This can be highlighted by looking at their domination of the prestigious Ballons d'Or, given to the best individual player of the year. Messi has taken six of them, and Ronaldo is just one behind, with five.

In fact, the Croatian Luka Modric, who won it in 2018, is the only player to have won it outside of the two superstars since 2008.

The two superstars have also won 9 Champions League titles between them. Messi has won it on four occasions with Barcelona, but he has not been able to lay his hands on the trophy since the 2014-15 season.

Cristiano Ronaldo has managed to trump Messi in the category, and gone on to win the title five times, four of those with Real Madrid, and once with Manchester United.