FOR the first time in 16 years, there will be no Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Ronaldo’s Juventus were dumped out on away goals by Porto on Tuesday night.
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And his long-term rival Messi followed just 24 hours later as Barcelona could not mastermind another spectacular comeback against Paris Saint-Germain.
It could have been very different had his missed penalty been retaken on the stroke of half-time with replays showing Marco Verratti WAS encroaching.
But as Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe light up European football, Messi and Ronaldo are left to lick their wounds.
One or both players have been involved in the last eight of the competition in each of the previous 15 seasons – going on to win it nine times between them in that period.
But their premature exits could be good news for Liverpool fans – it was in that 2004-05 campaign they famously lifted old Big Ears in Istanbul in unforgettable fashion.
At the time, Ronaldo was making a name for himself at Manchester United and a 17-year-old Messi scored his first senior Barca goal in the May of the campaign.
United crashed out to eventual finalists AC Milan while Barca squandered a first-leg lead to get stunned by Chelsea.
So, what was going in the world in 2005?
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YOUTUBE LAUNCHED
That’s right, the world’s biggest online video platform launched in February 2005, a week before the first legs of the last-16 ties.
Set up by three PayPal employees originally to get attractive women to share videos, they quickly changed tact to allow all kinds of clips.
It was revealed in May 2019 500 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube each minute with one billion hours being watched every single day.
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GOOGLE MAPS
YouTube is now owned by Google, who released Google Maps on February 8 of that same year.
It was designed by Danish brother Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen and now features developments such as ‘my location’ and speed cameras.
How did we ever navigate our way around without it, eh?
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ROYAL WEDDING
With Messi and Ronaldo crashing out in 2021, there is plenty of talk about the royals… or ex-royals.
And 2005 was no different as the nation celebrated Charles and Camilla’s wedding in April.
The civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall was described as a ‘fairy tale for grown-ups’.
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DOCTOR WHO
The beloved BBC series Doctor Who returned to our TV screens in the March.
Christopher Eccleston was the ninth doctor and had Billie Piper – Rose Tyler in the show – as his sidekick.
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X FACTOR
Shayne Ward secured his status in British folklore by winning the second series of The X Factor and then securing the Christmas No1 with debut single That’s My Goal.
He pipped Andy Abraham and Journey South in the final while Chico burst on to the scene – what a time to be alive.
Also on the musical scene, Carrie Underwood won American Idol, Destiny’s Child announced their split and Guitar Hero came out.
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YEAR IN FILM
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was 2005’s highest-grossing film as we thought that was the end of the franchise before its return a decade later.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, King Kong, Batman Begins and Madagascar also hit the big screens in a blockbuster year.
But it was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that came in second in the box office charts.
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BRANGELINA
The year got off to a sad start as Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston confirmed their breakup and by March the latter had filed for divorce.
Pitt soon started dating Angelina Jolie and the pair were snapped together throughout the year.
It was not until January 2006 that they confirmed their relationship as Jolie revealed she was pregnant with Pitt’s child, daughter Shiloh Nouvel.
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JACKSON NOT GUILTY
Pop superstar Michael Jackson faced a four-month trial into seven charges of child molestation and two of intoxicating a minor with alcoholic drinks.
On June 13, the American was acquitted on all counts and subsequently moved to Bahrain as a guest of Sheikh Abdullah.
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POLITICAL POWERS
Tony Blair won his third General Election on May 5 to remain as British Prime Minister and two months later had to lead the country through the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings in London.
George W Bush began his second term as President in the United States, where in August Hurricane Katrina hit and caused widespread devastation – particularly in New Orleans – with 1,836 deaths and more than $125billion in damages.
Angela Merkel assumed office as Chancellor of Germany in the November.
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SPORTING STARDOM
In sport, Rafael Nadal won his first Grand Slam at Roland Garros – he now has a record-equalling 20 majors, including 13 French Opens and has lost on the Parisian clay just twice in 102 matches.
Lance Armstrong secured a seventh Tour de France title in a row before the drugs cheat had them all stripped away.
England won the Ashes for the first time since 1987 with a dramatic 2-1 series win over Australia – cue mass celebrations, led in style by man-of-the-series Freddie Flintoff.
London won the rights to stage the 2012 Olympics, Ronaldinho was crowned Ballon d’Or winner, Arsenal beat Manchester United on penalties to win the FA Cup and Jose Mourinho led Chelsea to the Premier League in his debut season in England.
The New England Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 to win Super Bowl XXXIX, Tiger Woods won the Masters and British Open majors and Wales completed the Six Nations Grand Slam.
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