© EuroFootball.com
In the Champions League, four second-leg matches were played on Wednesday, where the last tickets to the quarter-finals were handed out. Advancing to the next stage were "PSV" after a tough battle against "Arsenal" away, "Man Utd" who defeated "Lille" for the second time, and "Bayern" who got their revenge against "Real". Meanwhile, "Milan" and "Celtic" needed extra time to determine the winner, with the Italian team celebrating victory at the end.
In the first match in Eindhoven, the injury-plagued "Arsenal" players attacked for much of the game on their home turf. Their frequent attacks paid off in the 58th minute when after a corner kick, "PSV" defender Alex unexpectedly redirected the ball into his own net.
Inspired by this success, the Gunners continued to attack. Soon after, Emmanuel Adebayor jumped in front of goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, but failed to outsmart him. Later, substitute Thierry Henry made a very dangerous penalty kick, only for Gomes to save it again.
However, "Arsenal's" determination was thwarted at the end of the match. Following a penalty kick by Edison Mendez, Alex jumped the highest of all and headed the ball into the net, redeeming his earlier mistake. The Dutch team celebrated victory with a final score of 2-1 and advanced to the quarter-finals.
"Bayern" started the match against "Real" impressively. Just 11 seconds into the game, a goal was scored. Hasan Salihamidzic broke through on the right side, passed the ball to Roy Makaay, who directed it into the net. This was the fastest goal in Champions League history.
In the 66th minute, Lucio doubled the score with a header after a corner kick.
"Real" then needed to score two goals, but they only managed to score one. Ruud van Nistelrooy converted a penalty kick awarded for a foul against Robinho by Mark van Bommel.
"Man Utd" once again defeated "Lille" with a minimal score. The hosts took the initiative from the start of the match and could have broken the deadlock in the 15th minute. A dangerous shot by Wayne Rooney was blocked by Matthieu Chalme, and a header by Michael Carrick shook John O'Shea.
"Lille", who needed only a victory, did not shy away from attacking. Their most dangerous opportunity came at the start of the second half when a header from Peter Odemwingie from the left side hit the crossbar.
Manchester players finally scored in the 72nd minute. Cristiano Ronaldo broke through on the left side and crossed the ball to the penalty area, where Henrik Larsson, left unmarked, directed it into the net.
"Milan" needed more than three hours of playing time to overcome the resistance of Scottish champions "Celtic".
In the first half of the second-leg match, there were many controversies when Paolo Maldini played a handball trying to block Jiri Jarosik's shot in the penalty area, but the referee did not call a penalty.
At the start of the second half, "Celtic" tried to breach the Italian goal, but failed to score, and by the end of regular time, "Milan" launched a very dangerous attack on the goal. Glasgow goalkeeper Artur Boruc had to show his skills after shots by P. Maldini and Clarence Seedorf, and a shot by Kaka from the penalty area hit the crossbar and bounced off Boruc.
Kaka scored the winning goal in the 3rd minute of extra time when he broke through from the center of the field and shot the ball between the goalkeeper's legs into the net. "Milan" maintained a positive result and celebrated victory.
The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals will take place on Friday.
Statistics of the Wednesday's round of 16 matches (Teams advancing to the quarter-finals are highlighted more prominently)
"Milan" 1 - 0 "Celtic" (First leg 0-0, aggregate score after extra time 1-0) 93' [1 - 0] Kaka "Arsenal" 1 - 1 "PSV" (First leg 0-1, aggregate score 1-2) 58' [1 - 0] Alex (own goal) 83' [1 - 1] Alex "Man Utd" 1 - 0 "Lille" (First leg 1-0, aggregate score 2-0) 72' [1 - 0] Henrik Larsson "Bayern" 2 - 1 "Real" (First leg 2-3, aggregate score 4-4) 1' [1 - 0] Roy Makaay 66' [2 - 0] Lucio 83' [2 - 1] Ruud van Nistelrooy (pen.)
