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UEFA Champions League returned from its winter hibernation and both North London sides took massive strides into the quarter-finals. Last week, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur produced outstanding performances at the Emirates and the San Siro respectively to slay two of the ultimate giants in European football, Barcelona and AC Milan.
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| CELEBRATION: Villa got Barca off to a dream start, but Arsenal fought back |
Last season, a Lionel Messi inspired Barcelona were simply too strong for Arsenal in the last eight. This time around, Arsene Wenger’s young guns proved that they could match the Catalans at their own game and created a historical night that their fans will never forget. Although Barcelona might still have a narrow advantage for the second leg, the 2-1 win gives Arsenal every chance of knocking out the best attacking side in the world. Barca played some beautiful football in the first half and fully deserved a half-time lead, when Messi thread through David Villa; the Spaniard scoring with impeccable ease. Messi missed two golden opportunities in the match and for this, the La Liga leaders were punished by two quick fire strikes in the last fifteen minutes. Robin Van Persie continued his scoring streak by scoring from an almost impossible angle against a very uncertain Victor Valdes. With eight minutes to go, the Gunners broke away in the style that Barcelona do to most teams. Cesc Fabregas found Samir Nasri, who cleverly cut the ball back for substitute Andrei Arshavin to finish off a rasping move. For Arshavin, who had been massively out of form since Christmas, this will be a real tonic and would have got him back in the good books of most supporters. The ultimate winner was football; this should be the perfect example for all kids to watch and be educated on.
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| SHOWDOWN: Gennaro Gattuso v Joe Jordan, seconds out! |
Back in October, Tottenham came mighty close to upsetting defending champions Inter Milan at the San Siro, narrowly losing 4-3. Four months later, they returned to Milan and continued their epic European tale with a 1-0 victory against AC Milan, leaving them in pole position for a place in the quarter-finals. Like Arsenal, their winning goal came from a counter-attacking move, with Peter Crouch converting Aaron Lennon’s pass as the Milan defence was caught square-on by their fast-forwarding opponents. Despite missing Gareth Bale through injury, Spurs were rarely under threat from a Milan side, that despite leading the Serie A title race, look a pale shadow of legendary sides that used to spend tingles down opponent’s backs. The match will sadly remember an act of lurid behaviour from Milan captain Gennaro Gattuso. After an early caution, Gattuso had a bust-up with Tottenham first team coach Joe Jordan during the game. At full-time, Gattuso completely lost the plot and head butted Jordan. The Italian seemed up for a fight, had it not been for the quick reaction of the Milan substitutes. UEFA has since banned him for four matches, so hopefully we’ve seen the last of Gattuso in Europe this season.
Chelsea may be having domestic troubles, but there were no problems in Europe this week, as they coasted to a 2-0 away win in Denmark against FC Copenhagen. Once again, Didier Drogba was left on the bench by Carlo Ancelotti, but this time, both Fernando Torres and Nicholas Anelka looked very threatening against a defence that looked terrified to tackle their opponents. Anelka scored both goals, one in each half and Torres was desperately unlucky not to break his Chelsea account either. The Blues will have no problems in going through from the return, and have to still be considered as a major threat in this season’s competition, despite their lack of form and confidence in the Premiership.
When both managers afterwards admit that the game was poor, then it doesn’t take a genius to work out that a diabolical game was witnessed. Marseille and Manchester United played out a tame and lethargic 0-0 draw in the Stade Velodrome on Wednesday night, which will have to go down as one of the most boring games in the history of the European Cup. Didier Deschamps team seemed happy to not concede an away goal, which was disappointing as they were the home side. Sir Alex Ferguson was content to keep things tight and not face a disadvantage for the second leg at Old Trafford. Neither goalkeeper was significantly troubled, as this knockout tie turned more into a Sunday League kick-a-bout. The way United’s players looked afterwards in the post-match interviews, they’d realised that an opportunity to finish the tie had been badly missed.
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| FORWARD: Bayern took a giant step, after Gomez's late winner |
In the other four games, Italian hopes in the competition are hanging by a thread. Despite dominating their match against Bayern Munich, Inter Milan were beaten 1-0 at home by the plucky Germans, in a repeat of last season’s final. Mario Gomez, who previously couldn’t hit a barndoor, let alone the net in his career, can’t stop scoring at the moment. The German international struck again in injury time to leave Louis van Gaal’s side in complete control of the tie. Claudio Ranieri resigned as AS Roma coach at the weekend, after letting a 3-0 lead slip to lose 4-3 to Genoa in Serie A. In the Champions League, Roma have it all to do too, after tripping up 3-2 at home to Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk. On his first return to Spain since leaving Real Madrid, Raul scored a priceless goal to earn Schalke 04 a creditable 1-1 draw in the Mestalla against Valencia. Raul’s old club stumbled to a 1-1 draw themselves, in France against Lyon. Jose Mourinho’s side are favourites now to finish the job, but need to be wary against Lyon, who knocked them out at this stage last season.
Some games delivered in quality, others didn’t, but the battle to reach Wembley in May is now well and truly on.
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