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On Wednesday the UEFA Champions League saw the second day of the quarterfinals playoff. After the goalless draw in Turin, "Liverpool" secured a place in the semifinals against "Juventus", while in the other pair, after extra time and penalty shootout, "PSV" won against "Lyon".
In the battle for a ticket to Istanbul, where the Champions League final will take place on May 25th, "Liverpool" will face another English team, London's "Chelsea", in the semifinals, while in the other pair, the champions of Italy and the Netherlands - respectively, "Milan" and "PSV" clubs - will play.
0 - 0 (First leg 1-2, aggregate 1-2)
The English club had won the first match and therefore the hosts had to attack, but they had only one chance in the first half, when Z. Ibrahimovic struck from about eight meters over the goal.
After the break, the game only livened up a bit, but the initiative was taken by the visitors from Liverpool, who almost broke through in the 50th minute: M. Baros fooled P. Montero and shot just wide of the post.
In the 64th minute, "Liverpool" goalkeeper J. Dudek had some serious work for the first time, as he had to catch a header from Emerson. With twelve minutes left, "Juve" was closest to scoring - after a free kick from the left, the ball ricocheted off D. Traore and F. Cannavaro's heads and hit the crossbar, and Dudek managed to catch the ball on the goal line.
The Turin team struggled to find a way towards the opponents' goal and failed to break down the English club, which advanced to the semifinals due to a 2-1 victory on their home ground.
1 - 1 (First leg 1-1, aggregate 2-2, penalty shootout 4-2) 10' [0 - 1] Sylvaine Wiltord 50' [1 - 1] Alex
In the first half, the hosts had the initiative, but the visitors broke ahead with the first and only shot on goal in 45 minutes - defender W. Bouma made a mistake and S. Wiltord took advantage of the opponent's "gift" to beat the Dutch team's goalkeeper from close range.
Eindhoven's "PSV" continued to control the ball more, but the visitors' defense played without mistakes. However, the situation changed after the break, and in the 50th minute, defender Alex from Brazil received the ball in the penalty area and scored accurately to equalize the score.
"Lyon" responded with attacks from their Brazilian Cris - in the 70th minute, his shot was cleared off the goal line by the Dutch team, and shortly after an attempt to shoot through themselves the ball flew near the goal. At the end of the first half, missed opportunities were exchanged by D. Beasley and F. Malouda, and with the result remaining tied, the teams had to play extra time.
In the first half of the extra time, Nilmar came on instead of Sylvaine Wiltord for "Lyon", who soon created an opportunity for Juninho to shoot at goal, but the latter missed. In the second half, "PSV" dominated, but both P. Cocu and J. S. Park and M. van Bommel failed to capitalize on their chances, and the teams had to go to a penalty shootout.
The team leaders van Bommel and Juninho scored the first penalties, then A. Ooijer converted his penalty, and goalkeeper saved M. Essien's attempt. W. Bouma and H. Ben Arfa also scored their penalties, while D. Beasley and E. Abidal missed their chances. The decisive penalty was scored by the Brazilian Robert, bringing victory to his team.
After a 17-year break, "PSV" reached the semifinals, while "Lyon" exits the Europa League tournament in the quarterfinals for the fourth time. This is also the first time that the winner of the Champions League knockout stages is decided by a penalty shootout.
