Champions League: Only Arsenal stunned as favourites go through

Ozren Podnar

Three English clubs, two Italian teams and one club from Spain, Germany and The Netherlands have remained in competition for the most prestigious title in club soccer.

All the English sides have been separated in the quarterfinal draw, which has pitted Chelsea against Valencia, Manchester United against Roma, Liverpool against PSV and Milan against Bayern.

Celtic, Porto and Lille all threatened, but only PSV ended upsetting a favourite, while other ties ended pretty much as had been expected. Milan, Chelsea and Manchester United qualified after giving a hard time to their fans, especially Milan, who broke down a brave Celtic side in extra time, with a phenomenal solo goal by Kaká.

Adiós for the Spanish giants

The more evenly balanced ties like Liverpool vs. Barcelona, Bayern vs. Real Madrid and Valencia vs. Inter were only resolved on the away goals' rule as the lightest of nuances made a difference between triumph and failure.

Of the three eliminated giants, the hardest hit were Real Madrid, out of both cup-competitions and left only with a slim hope of winning the Spanish League title. On the other hand, Inter and Lyon have practically retained their titles, with Barcelona leading the Spanish title race and reaching the domestic cup semifinals.

In Munich, Real suffered their eighth consecutive defeat in as many games away to Bayern, the true bogey-man of the Madrid club. Roy Makaay made history by scoring the opener after ten seconds, but the Royals will also remember the Brazilian Lucio, scorer of two headed goals, one in each leg. Lucio also scored against Real in the 2002 Champions' League finals in Glasgow, while playing for Leverkusen.

Anfield conquered, Liverpool saved

Barcelona fought back bravely against Liverpool, not surrendering after the 1-2 domestic defeat at the Nou Camp. The Reds did not try to hold on to their lead but worked on increasing it, hitting the woodwork twice in the first half. Barca greatly improved after the interval but Ronaldinho missed a chance for a timely first goal, hitting a post in the 57th minute.

Gudjohnsen's goal came with just 15 minutes to go, too late for a complete turnaround, damning Barca to its fourth consecutive elimination when losing the first leg at home by 1-2. Liverpool now meet PSV, who they have already beaten in the group stages.

Inter and Valencia have also created a rivalry of sorts, starting in 1962, when the Spainards went through by 2-0 and 3-3. The next three clashes, over the past five years, went to Inter, but now Valencia scraped through on the away goals rule. The melee at the end of the return leg showed how much emotion was involved in the tie. The Valencia player David Navarro sparked the brawl by sneaking up to Inter's Burdisso, hitting him in the face, breaking his nose and running away as fast as he could.

The biggest loser of the round of sixteen must be Arsenal, who will finish trophy-less their first season at the Emirates Stadium, while all the credits go to PSV and their coach Ronald Koeman, who outwitted Arsene Wenger and his expensive squad.

Round of sixteen (Feb 20 – March 7)

Ties 1st 2nd
Lille – Manchester Utd. 0-1 0-1
Real – Bayern 3-2 1-2
Celtic – Milan 0-0 0-1
PSV Eindhoven – Arsenal 1-0 1-1
Porto – Chelsea 1-1 1-2
Barcelona – Liverpool 1-2 1-0
Roma – Lyon 0-0 2-0
Inter – Valencia 2-2 0-0

Quarterfinalists' path to the finals

Chelsea v Valencia
Barcelona 1-0, 2-2; Roma 2-1, 0-1
Werder 2-0, 0-1; Shakhtar 2-0, 2-2
Levski 3-1, 2-0; Olympiacos 4-2, 2-0
Porto 1-1, 2-1; Inter 2-2, 0.0

Manchester Utd v Roma
Celtic 3-2, 0-1; Valencia 1-2, 1-0
Benfica 1-0, 3-1; Shakhtar 4-0, 0-1
Kobenhavn 3-0, 0-1; Olympiacos 1-0, 1-1
Lille 1-0, 1-0; Lyon 0-0, 2-0

Liverpool v PSV Eindhoven
PSV 0-0, 2-0; Liverpool 0-0, 0-2
Bordeaux 3-0, 1-0; Bordeaux 1-0, 1-3
Galatasaray 3-2, 2-3; Galatasaray 2-0, 2-1
Barcelona 2-1, 0-1; Arsenal 1-0, 1-1

Milan v Bayern
AEK 3-0, 0-1; Inter 2-0, 1-1
Lille 0-0, 0-2; Sporting L. 1-0, 0-0
Anderlecht 1-0, 4-1; Spartak M. 4-0, 2-2
Celtic 0-0, 1-0; Real Madrid 2-3, 2-1

Ozren Podnar

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