Mid-Week Round-Up

Well, I have to admit, there were actually a few shocks in the usually predictable knock-out stages of the Champions League! In fact, I'll admit I was wrong, because in my last post I confidently predicted that:

"AC Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United, Sevilla, Chelsea, Porto, Real Madrid are going through"

Three out of seven ain't bad is it? Well yes I suppose, it's terrible!

Arsenal were superb against a largely veteran AC Milan side, signifying a huge shift in the balance of power. The Gunners progressed with a 2-0 win in the San Siro, goals coming from Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Barcelona were less prolific, edging past Celtic 1-0 with a Xavi goal confirming the inevitable. The goal came following a slick, passing move from the Catalan club which summed up the difference between the two clubs.

Manchester United were at times slick but not all-conquering as they beat Lyon by the same scoreline, with Cristiano Ronaldo-who attracts superlatives like metal to a magnet-scoring his 4,000th goal of the season. Well, it seems like he's got that many anyway. Although Lyon striker Karim Benzema impressed, he will have to wait until next year at least for Champions League glory. Probably lining up alongside Ronaldo if Sir Alex Ferguson asks nicely enough.

Sevilla and Fenerbahce played out a goal-laden 120 minutes, with the Spanish side winning 3-2 on the night to level the aggregate score at 5-5. Penalties loomed and the man whose name could feature in a sci-fi novel, Volkan Demirel the Fenerbahce 'keeper, was the hero as he saved three spot-kicks to send the Turkish side through against the odds.

Chelsea took advantage of some tragic Greek defending against Olympiakos to progress, with Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, and Salomon Kalou scoring in a hugely one-sided game. The Blues finally showed some attacking football under Avram Grant while Olympiakos left the competition without even a whimper.

Porto went the same way as Sevilla in another penalty shoot-out despite winning 1-0 on the night. A sensational Lisandro Lopez goal took the game to extra-time, but penalties eventually came with the German side finishing on top. A German team better on spot-kicks? Imagine that.

Finally, the perennial bridesmaids Real Madrid yet again failed to live up to their potential, crashing out to Roma 2-1 at home, 4-2 on aggregate. A frantic game of football swung in the Italian's favour after Madrid had defender Pepe sent off two yellow cards. Roma scored soon after with Rodrigo Taddei converting, but the competition's top scorer Raul equalised minutes later. With a comeback unlikely for the Spanish giants, Roma put them out of their misery (and possibly Bernd Schuster out of a job at the end of the season) as Mirko Vucinic won the game.

With Liverpool and Inter Milan playing next week the final eight will be decided in time for the draw a week on Friday. Chelsea-Barcelona again anyone?