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Barca and Milan draw blank while Bayern-Real Madrid semi-final tie seems likely
The eagerly anticipated Champions League match between Barcelona and AC Milan produced a goalless draw at the San Siro. Andres Iniesta performed below par as Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez were arguably Barca’s best players on the pitch. Still, these stars’ expertize couldn’t deceive the Rossoneri.
AC Milan rather looked nervous throughout the game but in a way or another, they managed to keep their European rivals from scoring. Meanwhile, Robinho and Ibrahimovic could be blamed for missing glorious opportunities in front of goal.
2011/12 Champions League: Milan-Barca & Benfica-Chelsea highlight Last 8 draw
Real Madrid will tackle APOEL Nicosia. This is perhaps a kind draw for Los Blancos who are unbeatable on home soil. However, the two-legged tie might not be a one-sided affair knowing that APOEL are powerful underdogs. If they’ve reached the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League, it is because they got the best out of big oppositions such as FC Porto and Olympique Lyonnais.
In another mouth-watering quarter-final clash, Benfica and Chelsea will sort things out. The Blues made a terrific comeback in the Last 16. Against all the odds, they overcame their 3-1 deficit over Napoli to survive in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League.
Champions League: Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern & Inter seeking Last 8 tickets
Mar 13, 2012: Bayern Munich vs Basel
Bayern Munich have to correct the mistakes that saw them lose to FC Basel away from home. Luiz Gustavo is not taking anything away from the Swiss contenders who stunned pre-tournament favourites Manchester United en route to the Last 16.
“It is not only a very difficult game, but also a very important one. We will have to be very focused in order to turn around this tie. We have to deliver a good game from all positions. One mistake can decide everything!”
Barcelona 7-1 Bayer: 5-goal hero Messi creates new Champions League record
In 2010, Messi joined legends Puskas, Di Stefano, Van Basten and Simone Inzaghi in the list of players to net 4 goals in a single European encounter. However, no player had ever scored as many as 5 goals in a Champions League match until Lionel Messi set the record on Wednesday, March 7.La Pulga took the stage by storm in a game which Barcelona could have afforded to lose 2-0 thanks to their 3-1 first-leg advantage. The illustrious player put the Catalans 2-0 up at the break thanks to a couple of unstoppable shots. He completed his hat-trick in the 49th minute and matched his four-goal record against Arsenal with another strike in the 58th minute.
Olympique Marseille vs Internazionale Preview
Team News
Didier Deschamp's Marseille will face a number of injury setbacks for the crucial clash, as France international Loic Remy will be unavailable after suffering a hamstring injury. Stephane Mbia will also miss out as he has yet to reach full-fitness after an injury layoff, while defensive midfielder Alou Diarra is in doubt for the game after receiving...
French Ligue 1: Bordeaux’s record at stake, Marseille vs Lyon turns up the heat
On Saturday, AC Ajaccio will host rock-bottomed Nice. Dijon will face Valenciennes while second-placed Montpellier will try to keep the pressure on PSG with victory over Brest.
PSG lead the way in the French Ligue 1 with 46 points from a possible 63. They will be at home to Evian TG. All these matches, among a few others, will start at 6:00pm GMT (1:00pm EST).
Bordeaux vs Toulouse will close the night in an 8:00pm GMT (3:00pm EST) kick-off. These two teams are 8 points apart in the table. Whatever the result on Saturday, Les Girondins won’t move up from the 9th position as they lack 6 points behind eighth-placed St Etienne.
Champions League: Arsenal facing the hunger of Olympique Marseille in France
The French giants won both of their first two matches as they beat Olympiacos 1-0 and Dortmund 3-0 last month. Marseille now have the edge in the standings over Arsenal. Coach Didier Deschamps spoke to UEFA.com on Tuesday to reveal his expectations ahead of his team’s fixture against Arsene Wenger’s Gunners:“I won't be satisfied with a draw. We have two games against Arsenal and need to take points as these six points could be decisive. Arsenal are a competitive team who can upset any team in Europe.
“The situation will be a bit clearer tomorrow; if we can take three points it would put us in the ideal position to reach the knockout rounds.”
UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid out to tame the demons of Olympique Lyon
Iker Casillas, who has participated in 8 previous UEFA Champions League encounters against Les Gones, is hoping to build on Real Madrid’s strength to cast the Lyon demons for good.“They are uncomfortable rivals for us and they know they have our respect,” the Madrid captain told during the pre-match press conference.
“In the 2009/10 campaign they took an important step into the last eight at our expense but last year we ended our nightmare of not having advanced past the last 16 [in the six previous campaigns] and we did so against Lyon.”
Casillas continued:
UEFA Champions League playoffs: Setanta to broadcast 3 matches live
A day later, Setanta Sports will broadcast Olympique Lyonnais’ game away to Rubin Kazan and Arsenal’s encounter away to Udinese as they happen. Kick-off time for Rubin Kazan vs Olympique Lyonnais is at 11:55am EST and 8:55am PST. Meanwhile, the Gunners’ match is set to start at 2:40pm EST and at 11:40am PST.
Champions League – Real Madrid vs Olympique Lyon: 5 Things You Must Know
Although each game in football is a new 90 minutes sequence, history often seems to have a big impact on a team’s fate in cup football, and so do recent runs or various statistics. Tonight, Real Madrid will affront Olympique Lyon; and that French side is certainly not the best team in the world. But the importance of this Champions League encounter has transformed the Spanish giants’ task into an enormous one.
An unconcerned person may ask, ‘Isn’t it just a Last 16 match that Madrid wil be playing?’ Certainly, but there is more to Wednesday night’s Real Madrid vs Olympique Lyon match than “just” a quarter-final spot at stake. Yes, and this is the case because of what history confines. Los Blancos have a big curse to destroy.
Sir Alex Ferguson Hails 'Rooney-Hernandez' Partnership
Two predatory goals from Javier Hernandez sealed the win against Marseille as Manchester United booked a spot in the quarter finals. While 'Chicharito' took all the plaudits for scoring two important goals, Wayne Rooney was lethal all night long and was subsequently voted as the man of the match.Hernandez and Rooney have now started the last two matches and Sir Alex Ferguson believes that both of them are beginning to show their great understanding on the pitch.
"It's been developing well,'' he said. ''Where Wayne has been playing in the past couple of games he is a real threat. He has such power and speed and Hernandez is unbelievable with his movement. The boy has goals in him.''
UEFA Invokes Silence To Honour The Voices Of Japan’s Disaster Victims
The Asian country was hit by an unprecedented natural disaster last Friday, leaving the population in total chaos. Over 10,000 people are believed to have lost their lives whereas the situation is yet to be stable. As the world is gathering in unity to help the people of Japan, UEFA has decided to observe a minute silence. This will apply for men and women’s football.
“The entire European football family will stand united on the pitch this week before our matches,” Michel Platini declared in a statement.
Who Said Manchester United Were Beatable? Olympique Marseille Did
Fact: a score draw at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Olympique Marseille, and the French will go through to the next stage of the competition. It may not be very easy for Tuesday night’s visitors to clinch at least a draw, but Lucho Gonzalez remains confident. Manchester United, he says, are not more the “Invincible team” they used to be. The Sun quoted him as saying:
“We go to Manchester without fear and ready to beat United. They may look upon Old Trafford as a bunker, but the challenge of beating them there is very attractive to us.
Manchester United vs Olympique Marseille: Should Fergie Really Be Wary?
There are three things that have left the Manchester United manager with a few problems to solve ahead of the big moment on Tuesday night. These things are the Red Devils’ failure to get an away goal, Marseille’s strength as a team, and the Didier Deschamps factor. Ferguson couldn’t explain his worries better than that when he talked to UEFA.com as he said: “We are up against a very experienced, powerful Marseille team who will want to play well. “We’ve watched them twice playing away from home.
“Against [AS] Monaco [FC] and [Stade Rennais FC], and they showed the qualities we expect to see again tomorrow. Marseille will try and hit us on the break.
Real Madrid vs Lyon: Sergio Ramos Puts Faith In Away Goal Ahead Of Second Leg
“We are obliged to win the Lyon tie. It was a shame [not to do so in France] since we played a good match,” Real Madrid’s official website quoted Sergio Ramos as saying.The defender then looked back at the outcome of the meeting in which Karim Benzema got the opening goal before Bafetimbi Gomis levelled the result at 1-1. He continued:
“We had a great result with ten minutes to go in the match, but it ended up with a draw. However, we can't be negative.
“We know that an away goal is very important,” Ramos concluded.
Marseille Vs Manchester United: Last Night's Draw Could Be Dangerous - Fergie
Manchester United and Olympique Marseille battled out a stalemate in Stade Velodrome and Ferguson believes that the scoreline has the potential to be a dangerous one for United."The game was a disappointing game to me," he told ITV Sport.
"The pitch was lively, but they made sure they didn’t want to lose a goal and that was an example of it at the end.
"It can be dangerous if you lose a goal at home, but for us it's about winning the game. If we win the game, we’re through. I think we have a good chance."
Marseille Vs Manchester United: I Regret Bad Episode With Ferguson - Heinze
Heinze has become an integral part of Didier Deschamps set-up in Marseille after joining them from Real Madrid. He is now preparing to face Manchester United in his second season with the French club after helping them to win the league last season.Heinze was frustrated after being replaced by Patrice Evra as United's first choice left back and he demanded to be allowed to join Liverpool. The request was rejected and Heinze was offloaded to Madrid instead.
After falling out of favour at Madrid, he left them to join Marseille last season and he quickly established himself as an important first-team player over there. Nonetheless, the player who once left Old Trafford for Madrid regrets the way it all ended in Manchester.
Marseille Vs Manchester United: We Will Not Wait For Them - Deschamps
Olympique Marseille host Manchester United in the first leg of the Champions League second round clash and Marseille manager Didier Deschamps insists that his side will take the game to United. Even though they are the underdogs for the clash, Deschamps believes that his squad has what it takes to knock United out of the Champions League
"We're not going to wait for them of course," Deschamps told The Sun.
"We will take the game to them. They have a lot of quality up front but our chance is to create them problems at the back.
Lyon 1-1 Real Madrid: Blancos With One Foot In Or Out From Next Round?
Olympique Lyon 1-1 Real Madrid: Lucky French Survive
On Tuesday night, Olympique Lyon showed again that their luck at the Stade de Gerland against 9-time UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid was no fluke. In a scrappy game as it was, Bafetimbi Gomis had the final word after former Lyon play maker Karim Benzema broke Real Madrid’s barren record in terms of goals away to Les Gones.
In fact, Olympique Lyon had to thank the wood-work for saving them a couple of times in the early stages of the second period. Firstly, Cristiano Ronaldo – who has quite a good record against French teams – smashed a free-kick off the top of the post in the 49th minute. A few seconds later, defender Sergio Ramos also had his header from a corner hit the wood-work.
Real Madrid Must “Pour Out Their Guts” To Beat Lyon, Says Adebayor
The task is huge, but with Jose Mourinho at the head of a team consisting of top players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, the majority of the public has tipped Madrid to triumph on Tuesday. However, loan signing Emmanuel Adebayor prefers to take things very seriously. The ex-Monaco striker is very familiar with Olympique Lyon and he has asked his Real Madrid team mates to offer a big sacrifice if they want to break their Champions League Last 16 curse.
“Lyon has quality players in their team, and we will have to suffer [to beat them],” Adebayor told AS.