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After playing four return UEFA Champions League round of 16 matches on Wednesday, it became clear that the tournament will have a new winner - defending champions Liverpool sensationally withdrew from the competition. Arsenal won impressive football night by defeating Real in a real nerve-wracking battle, and Milan crushed Bayern at home, while Lyon got their revenge on PSV. Last season's prestigious title winners, current champions Liverpool, had to overturn a one-goal deficit at home against Benfica, but in the middle of the first half they conceded a goal and later psychologically collapsed - in the 36th minute, the visitors from Portugal were brought forward by a superb strike from none other than Simao Sabrosa. The closest to scoring in the hosts' ranks were Luis Garcia, Peter Crouch, and defender Jamie Carragher, whose shot hit the crossbar. Liverpool failed to score and at the end of the match, Fabrizio Miccoli added insult to injury by securing a victory for Benfica with a free kick in the penalty area. The match in London was intense, where the local Arsenal, after winning the first match, played against Real Madrid. In the first half, the best opportunity to score fell to Arsenal's Spaniard Jose Antonio Reyes, but after receiving a pass from Thierry Henry in the penalty area and being alone against the goalkeeper, he hit the crossbar. After the break, the most dangerous attack was already created by the visitors, but Raul's shot bounced off the crossbar, and although in a second attempt the Real captain only had to send the ball into an empty net, in the last moment Jens Lehmann, Arsenal's goalkeeper, directed the ball behind the goal line. The Spanish club pushed forward with all its might, but the hosts also had opportunities to counterattack, but initially, T. Henry's shot was deflected by Real's goalkeeper Iker Casillas with his fingertips, and later the attempt by the leader of the 'gunners' was slightly off target. At the end of the game, Real pressed their opponents towards the goal, but they failed to break through their defense and Jens Lehmann's solid performance - the royal club was forced to exit the tournament in the round of 16. The match in Milan went in a completely different direction, with goals coming one after another. Milan took the lead against Bayern in the 8th minute with Filippo Inzaghi, and towards the end of the first half, the hosts doubled their lead with a goal from Andriy Shevchenko, but in the 35th minute, Bayern's hope was revived by Valerien Ismael's goal. However, at the beginning of the second half, the same F. Inzaghi restored Milan's lead with two goals, and after almost an hour of dominating their opponents, they finished with a fourth goal from Kaka - the hosts triumphed and efficiently eliminated the Bayern team, advancing to the quarterfinals. Even more convincing victory was achieved by Lyon, who sought revenge against PSV for last season's failure and did so impressively - in the first half, the Portuguese Tiago scored two goals, and in the second half Sylvaine Wiltord and Fred added one each. The last participant of the quarterfinals will be determined after the Milan Inter and Ajax Amsterdam match on Tuesday, and the Champions League draw ceremony, during which all quarterfinal and future semifinal pairs will be determined, will take place this Friday. Wednesday's match statistics: Eindhoven 4 - 0 (First leg 1-0, aggregate result 5-0) 26' [1 - 0] Tiago 45' [2 - 0] Tiago 71' [3 - 0] Sylvaine Wiltord 90' [4 - 0] Fred London 0 - 0 Madrid (First leg 1-0, aggregate result 1-0) Lisbon 0 - 2 (First leg 0-1, aggregate result 0-3) 36' [0 - 1] Simao Sabrosa 89' [0 - 2] Fabrizio Miccoli Munich 4 - 1 (First leg 1-1, aggregate result 5-2) 8' [1 - 0] Filippo Inzaghi 25' [2 - 0] Andriy Shevchenko 35' [2 - 1] Valerien Ismael 47' [3 - 1] Filippo Inzaghi 59' [4 - 1] Kaka Champions League quarterfinalists: Juventus (Italy) Villarreal (Spain) Barcelona (Spain) Milan (Italy) Benfica (Portugal) Arsenal (England) Lyon (France) Inter Milan (Italy) or Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands)
