Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener was cancelled out by Donny van de Beek, as Juventus and Ajax are level on the night and on aggregate in their Champions League quarter-final.

Emre Can charged down the Andre Onana clearance and it ricocheted wide of the open goal, but Mazraoui – who was only playing on the left because of Tagliafico’s ban – turned his ankle badly and was replaced by Daley Sinkgraven.

Van de Beek prodded over under pressure from close range, while Dybala’s strike on the volley was plucked out of the air.

Juve broke through on a corner with Ronaldo’s header, although there was a VAR check for a push, but replays showed it was Matthijs de Ligt who had shoved his own teammate.

Ronaldo blasted over from a tight angle, but Ajax equalised both on the night and on aggregate when Hakim Ziyech’s wayward strike turned into an assist for Donny van de Beek to redirect in front of Wojciech Szczesny. The offside trap failed, as Federico Bernardeschi had been lagging back near the corner flag.

Cristiano Ronaldo blasted a free kick into the wall in first half stoppages.

Photo Credit: ajax.nl

A masterclass from Lionel Messi has put Barcelona on the verge of the Champions League quarter final at home to Manchester United.

The Argentinian opened the scoring on 16 minutes, seizing on a loose ball in the United defence, jinking past Fred and Phil Jones, before curling home into the bottom corner.

He doubled the lead four minutes later, again picking up from some poor United defending, driving at Jones and firing goal wards – but a poor attempted save from De Gea allowed the ball to squeeze home.

Barcelona could have made it three on the stroke of half time, but De Gea saved brilliantly at the far post from Sergi Roberto.

Photo Credit: fcbarcelona.com

An opportunistic early goal by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang clinched victory for Arsenal against 10-man Watford and sent them up to fourth place in the Premier League table.

The Gunners striker seized on hesitation by Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster to deflect his attempted clearance into the net on 10 minutes for his 18th PL goal of the season.

A minute later, Hornets forward Troy Deeney was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Lucas Torreira.

After the break, Foster saved at point-blank range from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, before Adam Masina crashed a long-range shot against the crossbar for Watford.

Aubameyang flicked a shot just over with 15 minutes left, while Andre Gray and Will Hughes had chances to level for the spirited hosts.

But Arsenal held on for their first away clean sheet of the campaign to retake fourth spot, level on 66 points with Chelsea with a match in hand.

The end to Watford’s three-match winning sequence at home keeps them in 10th, on 46 points.

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has dismissed the possiblity of finding Cristiano Ronaldo’s replacement at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Portuguese star joined the Bianconeri in a €100m deal last summer and Los Blancos have subsequently struggled in front of goal, being linked to a plethora of attacking stars.

According to the Frenchman, it is practically impossible for Real Madrid to sign a player to fill the void left by Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus.

“It is impossible to replace Cristiano, it does not matter who you sign,” Zidane told his press conference.

“He has left the club and you can sign quality players but they will not achieve what he did at this club, but that is football.

“Karim Benzema? He is instrumental and he can play alongside anyone, he brings good players together and makes them even better.

“Karim is not a typical number nine, he can link-up play and play in wider areas, he can score goals and he can help others.

Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw away at Leganes on Monday night, and they remain in third place in La Liga, with six games to play in 2018-19.

In a low key first half, neither side were able to create many clear cut chances, with Marco Asensio’s seventh minute strike the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock.

However, it was Mauricio Pellegrino’s side tha edged in front, right on the stroke of half time, as defender Jonathan Silva slotted him from 20 yards following Martin Braithwaite’s lay off.

Zinedine Zidane’s side reacted quickly after the restart, with Karim Benzema firing home from six yards – after his initial shot was saved by Ivan Cuellar in the Leganes goal.

Los Blancos did have chances to win the game, with Asensio and Marcelo both testing Cuellar as the game wore on – however the home side were good value for their hard earned draw.

Photo Credit: realmadrid.com