© EuroFootball.com
In the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, the last two participants of the quarterfinals were revealed - among the eight strongest clubs for the first time since 2004, Madrid's "Real" and England's champion London's "Chelsea" qualified.
These teams joined the earlier qualifiers Gelzenkirchen's "Schalke", London's "Tottenham", "Barcelona", Milan's "Inter", "Man Utd" and Donetsk's "Shakhtar".
The pairings for the quarterfinals will be determined after the draw ceremony in Nyon on March 18. The first matches of this stage will be played on April 5-6, the second legs - on April 12-13.
Jose Mourinho once again demonstrated his talent to lead a team in knockout matches and led "Real" to the quarterfinals thanks to a convincing 3-0 victory at home against "Lyon".
Madrid's eleven broke through in the end of the first half, when Brazilian Marcelo sent in a ball after a series of passes with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Shortly after, Karim Benzema doubled the advantage by jumping ahead of the goalkeeper, and Angel di Maria put the third nail in the coffin of the French team.
This was the first victory of "Real" against "Lyon" in eight head-to-head meetings.
Meanwhile, in London, "Chelsea" secured a spot in the quarterfinals for the sixth time in eight years, but did not please their own fans with a goalless draw against "Kobenhavn".
In Denmark, Carlo Ancelotti's players won 2-0, so they could feel calm enough.
Opportunities to score for "Chelsea" were had by Yuri Zhirkov and Nicolas Anelka, but the former missed the mark and the Frenchman's attempt was kept out by the goalkeeper.
However, the hosts were alarmed by Dame N'Doye, whose penalty hit the post.
Later, John Obi Mikel shook the crossbar of "Kobenhavn", and defender blocked Fernando Torres's shot. It is worth noting that the Spaniard, who cost the "Chelsea" club €58 million, has not scored a goal yet, although he has already played six matches.
Results:
Real Madrid 3 - 0 Lyon (first leg 1-1, total result 4-1)
37' [1 - 0] Marcelo
66' [2 - 0] K.Benzema
76' [3 - 0] A.Di Maria
Chelsea 0 - 0 Kobenhavn (first leg 2-0, total result 2-0)
