Three superstars missing in Champions League quarter-finals

We are at one of the key moments of the season and the big players are in the spotlight. At the end of the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, we must highlight three players who did not offer the level expected of them.

We are talking about Haaland, Bellingham and Mbappe. These players performed rather poorly given what they have shown so far this season. In relation to the Norwegian, Antonio Rudiger was his nemesis and got a master's degree after completely cancelling him out . For his part, Jude was very erratic against City and was seen more protesting to the referee than creating danger. In the case of the Frenchman, the PSG star did not link up with his team-mates and Kounde stopped him, as did Araujo, who was very good in helping him.

Rudiger, Haaland's bogeyman

The whole football planet was watching Madrid-City, a thrilling match that ended in a spectacular 3-3 draw. The thing is, if we look at the scorers, there was no sign of Haaland. The Norwegian, who has 30 goals in 2023-24, was left empty-handed at the Santiago Bernabuu. The 'Cyborg' knew it was a date he could not miss, but he didn't even show up because he was not allowed to.

Ancelotti entrusted Rüdiger with the mission of stopping the Nordic giant, who did not sniff a single ball near the box defended by Lunin. The German defender, who had already beaten the striker in the first leg of last season's semi-final, once again passed with flying colours.

The German once again repeated the same formula and left great defensive actions: putting his body in, anticipating, preventing him from jumping comfortably... An all-out fight that ended with a 0 for Erling, who had no chance of getting into the game and who will have to come back to fix his qualification.

Disappointing Bellingham

If Haaland was not up to the task in the Bernabeu battle, neither was Bellingham. The Englishman was another of the players who underperformed and hardly had enough chances to score. The playmaker was more concerned with protesting to the referee than creating dangerous chances for his team.

It was a disconcerting start from Jude, as he appeared to be unsettled by the referee's failure to signal a series of fouls. He even made a number of fouls in a confrontation with Gvardiol and also had his ups and downs with Rúben Dias, in a duel that almost ended with the Briton receiving a yellow card that would have left him without a second leg.

It seems that Bellingham has changed since Mestalla, from that moment when he was sent off for protesting after scoring the hypothetical comeback goal seconds after the referee signalled the end of the game. The Englishman has already accumulated several bad games and against Guardiola's team he left images of misplaced passes or shots that went nowhere.

Mbappe, missing

The player from Bondy said before the PSG-Barça match that he was ready to face the 'Cules' and that he was not going to hide, but it turns out that the Frenchman fooled everyone. The Parisian player showed a clear lack of ambition during the match and was unhinged throughout. It is worth mentioning the work of his compatriot Kounde, who took it upon himself to stop him.

Everyone assumed that Mbappe was going to have a good time against the 'Cules', but it was the Barcelona defence who had the better of him. Jules, who didn't leave him a millimetre to think, and also Araujo, who was immeasurable in helping him when he had to deal with the most dangerous chances. What can we say about Cubarsí, who even prevented the No 7 from shooting at goal in one action.

Kylian was criticised in France for looking like he was in his own world, without any link-up with his team-mates. The PSG striker didn't even try to make a difference, as he didn't even attempt a single dribble, nor did he bring his pace to the fore.