Mbappe, Ronaldo & five players who joined the clubs they knocked out
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 8 Mar 2022 05:24 CST
- 4 min read
On Wednesday evening in the Champions League, Kylian Mbappe has the chance to eliminate the team he is almost certain to join next season.
Real Madrid host PSG in the Champions League last-16, with the Ligue 1 side 1-0 up from the first leg.
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We look at five instances where players have made transfers to the clubs they played a big part in knocking out of Europe’s biggest club competition.
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)
This one is still hypothetical but Mbappe will have played a massive role in eliminating his next club Real Madrid from the Champions League if PSG complete the job on Wednesday.
Mbappe scored a brilliant injury-time winner in the 2021-22 Champions League last-16 first leg match in Paris, clinching a 1-0 victory in Paris.
PSG are favourites to finish off the job in Madrid, the city where Mbappe will almost certainly be playing his football next season.
The attacker’s contract at PSG expires at the end of the season and it has been well-known for many months now that he has an agreement to move to Madrid on a Bosman at the end of the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Cristiano Ronaldo completed one of the biggest shock transfers of all time when he moved to Juventus from Real Madrid in the summer of 2018.
Ronaldo admitted himself that one of the reasons he made the move was because he had been so moved by the standing ovation he received from Juventus fans after he had scored arguably the greatest goal of his career in Turin.
#OnThisDay in 2018, Cristiano Ronaldo had Real Madrid and Juventus fans on their feet after his stunning bicycle kick pic.twitter.com/gTF1gr9Xgn
— David Kappel (@kappilinho) April 3, 2020
It was in a Champions League quarter-final first leg match in which Ronaldo executed a sensational bicycle kick to score his second goal in a 3-0 win. He also would then fire home the last minute penalty in the return leg that eliminated Juventus.
Ronaldo then joined Juventus that summer in a €110 million deal.
Matthijs De Ligt (Juventus)
The second player on this list to join Juventus after scoring the goal to eliminate them from the Champions League.
In 2018-19, Juventus went all out for the Champions League and signed the aforementioned Cristiano Ronaldo for a huge fee.
They were expected to beat Ajax in the quarter-finals but the young Dutch side grabbed a deserved win with their young star De Ligt heading home the winner in the return leg in Turin.
Juventus were impressed enough to sign him that summer for €75m plus €10.5m in bonuses.
Neymar (PSG)
Neymar played a starring role in the greatest comeback in Champions League history during the 2016-17 season for Barcelona.
PSG thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the last-16 first leg in Paris and the tie seemed almost certainly over. However, Neymar masterminded an incredible comeback at Camp Nou.
🗣️ "The night after the goal, I couldn't sleep."
🔵🔴 When the 'remontada' dream became the reality - substitute Sergi Roberto makes history...@FCBarcelona | #UCL https://t.co/x4kpjIrxjj pic.twitter.com/DilM9kQPk8— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 9, 2020
He scored one and made two – including the dramatic injury-time winner by Sergi Roberto – as Barca won 6-1 in the return to go through.
That summer he then made a world record transfer to PSG for €222m.
Fernando Morientes (Real Madrid)
Fernando Morientes was one of the best strikers in Europe during his heyday, playing an important role in Real Madrid winning three Champions League titles.
But by 2003 Madrid thought he was past his best and allowed him to move to Monaco for a season-long loan.
This proved to be a big mistake as Morientes scored twice against Madrid to eliminate them from the Champions League in the quarter-finals.
This convinced Madrid to bring him back permanently to the club the following season where he lasted only one season before being sold on to Liverpool.
