Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Champions League Update

Two more teams moved on to the Quarterfinals today. For the second time in two days, and Italian side is going home early. Serie A leaders AC Milan was shutout for the second straight game by Tottenham Hotspur, drawing 0-0 and losing the series 1-0. The strong defensive effort by the English club was a bit of a surprise considering they gave up 11 goals during group play and were scored on in all but one of their six group matches. But Brazilian goalie Gomes was up to the task back matches and now England is guaranteed to have at least one club in the quarterfinals. Italy on the other hand, is down to just Inter Milan who trail Bayern Munich 1-0 and have to travel to Germany next week.

 Photo Courtesy: zimbio.com

Speaking of Germany, Schalke 04 knocked off Spain's Valencia 3-1 to win the series 4-2 on aggregate goals. Ricardo Costa put Valencia up 1-0 early in the first half, but the lead didn't hold up as Schalke got a pair of goals from Jefferson Farfan and the game winner from Mario Gavranovic as they advanced to the Round of 8.

 Photo Courtesy: transferdefoot.net

So the first half of the quarterfinals is set: Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk, Schalke 04 and Tottenham Hotspur. Next week we'll see Manchester United vs Marseilles, Bayern Munich vs Inter Milan, Real Madrid vs Lyon, and Chelsea vs FC Copenhagen to finalize the Final 8.

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