UEFA Champions League 2017/18: Best XI of the quarter-finals

Strikers

Cristiano Ronaldo displayed his vintage form against Juventus

Centre forward: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Forget his other two goals and the assist, just his bicycle kick is enough to guarantee him a place in this elite list! The knockout rounds bring the best out of Cristiano Ronaldo and against Juventus, it was the vintage Portuguese that came to the fore.

He scored two in the first leg, the bicycle kick surely being one of the greatest European goals of all time. He then followed it up with one of the most crucial spot-kicks of his life, scoring in the 98th minute to guide Real Madrid into the semis.

Ronaldo now has 15 goals to his name in the Champions League this season. He has scored 10 against Juventus with his quarter-finals goal tally being higher than what Juventus have managed in their entire history.

Centre forward: Edin Dzeko (AS Roma)

Edin Dzeko scored in both the legs against FC Barcelona

Dzeko must be thanking his lucky stars that he rejected Chelsea's advances to join Roma in January. The Bosnian striker has been the focal point for Roma and has scored for fun in the Serie A this time around. He continued his great run against Barcelona where he scored in both the legs, but his influence was much more than just his goals.

In the second leg, Dzeko made great use of the high line that Barcelona's defence adopted. He ran the channels, used his strength well and gave nightmares to Pique and Umtiti. He scored the first goal and then won the penalty for the second goal through his sheer strength.

Dzeko also scored in the first leg which turned out to be the difference between the two sides as it was his away goal that enabled Roma to enter the semis in fine fashion.

Bench: Loris Karius (Liverpool), Kostas Manolas (AS Roma), Andrew Robertson (Liverpool), Isco (Real Madrid), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

Champions League best XI