LONDON, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- AC Milan thrashed
Bayern Munich 4-1 to join Arsenal, Benfica and Olympique Lyon for the
quarter-finals of European Champions League on Wednesday.
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AC Milan player Andriy shevchenko put Milan 2-0 ahead with a fine header
in the 25th minute. [Xinhua/Reuters
photo] |
Filippo Inzaghi struck twice to put AC Milan on their
way to a 5-2 aggregate win with an eighth minute header and soon after Andriy
Shevchenko missed a penalty, but the Ukrainian made amends in the 25th minute
with a fine header to put Milan 2-0 ahead on the night.
Bayern got back into the game in the 36th through
Valerien Ismael but after the break Milan put the game beyond the Germans with
Inzaghi's second goal, his 50th in European club competition, before Kaka made
it 4-1 with a confident finish.
Arsenal booked their place in the Champions League
quarter-finals after holding nine-times winners Real Madrid to a pulsating 0-0
draw at Highbury for a 1-0 aggregate victory.
Despite the lack of goals, the game crackled with
excitement and attacking football as Real tried to cancel out Thierry Henry's
strike at the Bernabeu and Arsenal pushed for a goal that would kill the tie.
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| Filippo Inzaghi (down) struck twice
to put AC Milan on their way to a 5-2 aggregate win with
an eighth minute header. [Xinhua/Reuters
photo] |
Arsenal's Spanish winger Jose Antonio Reyes could
have had a first-half hat-trick, with one of his squandered chances hitting the
bar. Raul struck the post for Real after the break before forcing an outstanding
one-handed save from keeper Jens Lehmann from the rebound.
Liverpool's reign as European champions ended on
Wednesday when they lost 2-0 at home to Benfica and went out of the Champions
League 3-0 on aggregate.
Olympique Lyon avenged last season's quarter-final
defeat to PSV Eindhoven by crushing the Dutch side 4-0 at home for a 5-0
aggregate win to enhance their claims as the dark horses.
Benfica, Milan, Arsenal and Lyon join Barcelona, Villarreal and Juventus, who all came through on Tuesday, in the last eight, while the final first knockout round tie between Inter Milan and Ajax Amsterdam will be decided in Milan next Tuesday. Enditem
