BBC News School Report @ LCS

The last 16 of the Champions League this season saw a record 62 goals, a new record in the competition. Manchester City left the Champions League with their head in their hands as they are the first team Pep Guardiola has managed that have gone out in the last 16 stage of the tournament.

Manchester City were ahead 5-3 to Monaco in late February, giving fans an incredible night of football to watch. You’d be forgiven for thinking that City would go through after that match, but the South east French side had other ideas in the Second leg. Kylian Mbappe and Fabinho got the score equal on aggregate, but in the 77th minute, Tiemoue Bakayoko put City’s dreams to bed. Leroy Sané’s strike put the score to 6-6 on aggregate but Monaco went to the last 8 based on away goals. In an interview, Guardiola said, "I tried to convince them in all the meetings we had to come here, try to attack and score," He added, "My mistake was being not able to convince them to do that." City now have to concentrate on an FA Cup semi-final tie with Arsenal and trying to stay in the top 4 of the Premier league.

I tried to convince them in all the meetings we had to come here, try to attack and score, My mistake was being not able to convince them to do that.

Pep Guardiola

Moving to the north of France, Paris Saint-Germain hammered Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of the last 16, this raised serious questions surrounding the Catalans fitness and training, leaving Luis Enrique under fire. However when Les Parisiens visited the Camp Nou, Barca pulled of a miracle in Champions League football, which is unlikely to ever happen again. Luis Suárez, Lionel Messi, and Neymar scored twice to shock the world of football when, from 4-0 down, the team managed to get to 5-5 on aggregate. Suddenly in the 95th minute, Sergi Roberto fired it into the bottom-corner to propel Barca into the last 8. The PSG players couldn’t believe it, the Catalans went crazy, celebrations caused a mini earthquake and this was caught on the Richter scale 500 metres away from the stadium. Barcelona will now play in the last 8 alongside the league where they are focusing on overtaking Real Madrid, just scraping the top of the table only 2 points ahead of Barca.

A team who are having less success at the moment are Arsenal. In the team there are problems with the man ager, the board, the player’s mentality and the physicality of the team. In a Champions League last 16 tie with Bayern Munich in February, Gunners fans were not expecting a win, but the supporters still went along to the seemingly pointless match. In the first leg, a 5-1 hammering saw the Gooners raging, but 3 weeks later a second loss to the same scoreline was the final straw. In a post-match interview, Wenger said, "I still must say my team has produced a huge effort tonight and played very well." Arsenal fans deserve at least some glory after these poor games and they need to improve quickly. However, Bayern Munich have no such problems with their club. They continue to be one of the strongest fighting forces in European football.

It is a totally different story on the other side of the premier league, as once again Leicester City defy expectations, and are the only premier league side left in the Champions league. Sevilla were left distraught as they were knocked out of the league by Leicester, (15th in the Premier league). When asked if the team could win the Champions League, new Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare said, "Why not? We're in it and we have to go out and give it our best shot.” The question is, can the Foxes now make it through the last 8 and get to the semi-finals? Could the team at risk of relegation be European Champions? Only time will tell the answers to these questions. By what we have seen in the Champions League so far, anything could happen in the coming weeks.