THE second legs of the last 16 took place in the UEFA Champions League in the last fortnight. Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea all booked places in the final eight, but England was denied a full quota by an inspirational Lionel Messi and a scandalous referee decision.
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| ORDERS: Van Persie receives a shock red card as Arsenal crash out |
It was heartache for Arsenal last Tuesday, as the Gunners lost their 2-1 first leg advantage over competition favourites Barcelona. Barcelona overturned the deficit in Spain to win 3-1, with Lionel Messi the destroyer again, scoring twice. When you consider that Arsenal didn’t have a single shot on target in the 90 minutes, there can be no complaints that the better side won and deserved to go through. However, Arsene Wenger’s side were given a cruel twist of fate in the second half. The game was tied at 1-1, through a Messi goal and an own goal from Barcelona shielding player Sergio Busquets. Robin van Persie, only just back from a short injury lay-off was flagged offside, and kicked the ball away about half a second later. The Dutchman claimed that he couldn’t hear the whistles, which is understandable, considering there were 90,000 spectators in the Nou Camp. However, experienced Swiss official Massimo Busacca wasn’t interested and gave Van Persie his marching orders. Wenger and Samir Nasri have since been charged and banned for one match each by UEFA following post-match comments. With only ten men, Arsenal had little hope and a beautifully executed goal by Xavi, followed shortly afterwards by a Messi penalty had Wenger’s men down and out.
One side who would have enjoyed Barcelona’s victory were Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal’s insult was completed by Tottenham’s progression to the quarter-finals, at the expense of AC Milan. The Serie A leaders dominated the match at White Hart Lane, but failed to create many clear-cut chances and consequently, failed to overturn Peter Crouch’s sole winner at the San Siro three weeks earlier. The 0-0 draw was good enough to see Spurs through 1-0 on aggregate. After all the heroics and entertainment of Tottenham’s inaugural Champions League campaign, this game was a damp squib in all sense of the words. However, Tottenham’s defending display was fantastic, and by limiting Milan to a single desperate goal-line clearance from a scuffed Robinho shot, they managed to comfortably nullify the Italian threat.
Despite an increasing injury crisis in defence, Manchester United made it through into the quarter-finals for the seventh successive season, seeing off Marseille 2-1 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. After a goalless draw in France, it was always going to be a tense night for the 2008 winners and injuries during the match to John O’Shea and Rafael only made things harder. Sir Alex Ferguson has his new goal poacher Javier Hernandez to thank for further progression in the Champions League. The Mexican scored a brace to make sure that Wes Brown’s late own goal was of little consequence. Marseille will rue the lack of adventure they showed in the home game between these two sides.
Chelsea made it through into the quarter-finals, following a comfortable, if uninspiring 0-0 draw against FC Copenhagen on Wednesday. This meant that the two Nicholas Anelka goals in the first leg in Denmark were easily enough. Chelsea’s performance wasn’t great in midweek and the lack of goals in the team since the arrival of Fernando Torres might worry Carlo Ancelotti. Nevertheless, at least they have something to fight for this season.
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| STUNNER: Inter fought back to beat Bayern in Germany |
Reigning champions Inter Milan somehow managed to keep Italian interest in Europe alive, by beating Bayern Munich 3-2 in Germany and therefore, advance on the away goals rule. Despite an early Samuel Eto’o strike, quick fire goals from Arjen Robben and Mario Gomez seemed to have ended Inter’s title defence. However, Leonardo has managed to install some impressive battling qualities into the side and they kept fighting, aiding by Bayern’s ability to miss a host of chances. Wesley Snejider drew Inter level on the night, and in stoppage time, the inconsistent Goran Pandev produced a stunning strike to win the tie. It was Pandev’s first ever Champions League strike for Inter and left Bayern’s players and fans especially numb afterwards.
There weren’t any issues for Real Madrid, who comfortably saw off Lyon 3-0 at the Bernabeau to make the quarter-finals for the first time since 2004. Karim Benzema netted again against his former club and there were also strikes from left-back Marcelo and Angel di Maria. Jose Mourinho’s quest to become the first coach ever to win the Champions League with three different clubs still remains, but Real, like Chelsea are bound to face harder challenges in the latter stages.
The remaining quarter-final births were taken by Shakhtar Donetsk and Schalke 04. Shakhtar are a very dangerous side and they ripped apart AS Roma over two legs, to win 6-2 on aggregate. Philippe Mexes was sent off and Jeremy Menez missed a penalty to complete Roma’s dreadful night. Schalke might be very inconsistent in the Bundesliga, but they seem to be saving their best form for this competition. They came from 1-0 down to see off Valencia 3-1 in Gelsenkirchen and advance 4-2 on aggregate.
The quarter-final draw has pitted Chelsea against Manchester United in an all-English tie, whilst Tottenham play Real Madrid, Inter Milan test themselves against Schalke 04 and Barcelona’s next opposition is Shakhtar Donetsk. Wembley is getting ever closer and I think this competition is only going to get even more tastier now.
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