5 Memorable moments of the Champions League this season

The UEFA Champions League has finally ended with Liverpool becoming victorious after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Final. It was a poor final, pretty much an underwhelming end to a fantastic season in the competition which has produced some fantastic moments which will be talked about. Here are the top five moments of the Champions League this season.

That Messi Freekick (Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool, semifinal 1st leg) 

When Barcelona faced Liverpool in the semifinals, many saw the game as Lionel Messi against the top performing defender in Virgil van Dijk. The 3-0 victory for Barcelona didn't reflect the entire game with Liverpool pressurizing the Catalans for the majority of the game with Valverde forced to make a defensive change but then again, Barcelona were already two goals up, thanks to Luis Suárez and Messi, who scored from a rebound. However, the third goal was something of pure beauty. Barcelona get a free kick from 35 yards with Messi taking it. There's no way he's scoring from that distance and he did, shocking everyone and killed any kind of hope Liverpool had from that game. That was Messi's 600th goal for Barcelona and my dear lord, was that a peach of a free kick, that it was done, Barcelona are going through, no way Liverpool are coming back this. Or could they? 

Ajax taking over the Bernabéu (Real Madrid 1-4 Ajax, Round of 16 2nd leg) 

Ajax have been the surprise package of the Champions League this season as they went all the way to the semifinals for the first time since their great team of the late 1990s.

They have gotten some big results against Bayern Munich and Juventus but their 4-1 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu was the most memorable for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was Real Madrid who were the defending champions at the own backyard and secondly, the manner of the victory. Very few teams have Real Madrid at the Bernabéu but Ajax beat them with conviction and no fear. From Frenkie de Jong making Ballon D'or winner Luka Modrić fall on his backside to Dušan Tadić's performance, who got a ten out of ten from L'Equipe. A great win and performance for Ajax which marked an end of an era for Real Madrid which forced a lot of changes with Zinedine Zidane back at the dugout. 

Last minute Moura hat-trick (Ajax 2-3 Tottenham, semifinal 2nd leg)

Despite losing in the Champions League Final, Tottenham should be proud of their efforts in the Champions League this season and they have had some moments where they were dead and buried, and this was one of them. After losing in the first leg against Ajax, Ajax continued where they left off and were hammering Spurs winning the game 2-0. Spurs needed three to advance and the way they were playing, that looked impossible. However, Lucas Moura stepped up to give the best game of his Spurs career so far, scoring twice to put Spurs back in the tie but they were still getting eliminated then at the very, and I mean literally, the very last minute Lucas Moura scored his third to silence the Johan Cryuff ArenA and sunk the Ajax players to the ground as Spurs went through to their first ever Champions League final in the history with Mauricio Pochettino in tears after the game. 

That Anfield Comeback (Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona, semifinal 2nd leg) 

After what happened in the first leg, plus still being in an intense title race, many would have thought that Liverpool's spirit will be down given the task in hand of overcoming a three goal deficit and doing it without Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. However, Anfield was rocking and the Barcelona players felt it. Liverpool started quick and got the early goal from Divock Origi but in the second half, Georginio Wijnaldum scored two goals off the bench to level the tie on aggregate. Then, the fourth goal from Origi after some smart improvisation from Trent Alexander-Arnold to take a quick corner kick to find Origi after seeing the Barça players in the penalty box not prepared for the set piece. The image you see of Messi below the scoreboard is one to remember showing how powerless he was to change the situation for Barça and for Liverpool to produce the greatest European night at Anfield ever. 

VAR (Manchester City 4-3 Tottenham, quarterfinal 2nd leg) 

Perhaps the most memorable and most shocking moment of the Champions League this season was the influence of VAR in the game between Manchester City and Tottenham. After losing in the first leg, City started quick and got the early lead but then the game went into complete madness with the game 3-2 in the first twenty minutes. City later had the advantage with Agüero scoring the fourth goal but then Fernando Llorente scored Spurs' third in controversy circumstances, forcing City to score one more goal to go through. City pressed and pressed then late into injury time, Raheem Sterling scored what was the supposed winner with Pep Guardiola celebrating from the sidelines and all the Spurs players looking dejected and then the referee signals VAR and the goal was disallowed shocking everyone from both set of supporters to the neutrals watching the game itself. From a set of emotions from both teams only to be reversed because of one decision from VAR. Seems like VAR has already made its impact in the Champions League this season.

Honourable mentions goes to Rashford's late penalty against PSG in the Round of 16, Ronaldo's hat-trick against Atlético Madrid in the Round of 16 and Alisson's save against Napoli in the group stage.