It was too little, too late for Barcelona, which beat Liverpool, 1-0, at Anfield Tuesday night in the UEFA Champions League but could not make up for its 2-1 loss to the Reds two weeks earlier in Barcelona. Liverpool knocked out the defending champions on the away goals after their round-of-16 series ended in a 2-2 tie.
Liverpool should have put Barca away in the first half at Anfield, where it had a 10-1 advantage in shots on goal and Norwegian John-Arne Riise and Malian Mohamed Sissoko both hit the bar. Brazilian Ronaldinho hit the post when he should have scored for Barcelona in the 53rd minute, and Icelandic substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen finally scored for Barcelona with 15 minutes to go. On the two games, the Catalan club only showed glimpses of its spectacular form that made it one of the most exciting clubs in Europe in recent years.
“Let’s not forget that we did actually win tonight’s game — a little luckily maybe — but that was not enough, we know,” Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said.
“We made our own destiny because of what happened at the Nou Camp two weeks ago when we lost, 2-1.”
Fellow English Premier League club Chelsea joined Liverpool in the final eight after coming from behind to beat Portugal’s Porto, 2-1, and go through, 3-2, on aggregate. Porto had managed only one draw in nine previous European matches in England — a 1-1 tie at Manchester United en route to its 2004 Champions League title — but Ricardo Quaresma‘s 15th-minute breakaway gave the Dragons hope of an upset. Chelsea recovered after halftime, though, and won on goals by Dutchman Arjen Robben and Germany midfielder Michael Ballack.
Lyon and Inter Milan, the runaway leaders of France’s Ligue 1 and Italy’s Serie A, respectively, both fell on Tuesday. Lyon dropped a 2-0 decision to Roma — its first home loss in 19 games in Europe — to go out by the same score. Roma put the game away with two first-half goals — a Francesco Totti header and a superb individual effort by Brazilian Mancini.
Valencia only needed to hold on for a scoreless draw to eliminate Inter on the away goals rule after their game in Milan ended in a 2-2 tie.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ON TV:
Wednesday
MAN. UTD.-LILLE, ESPN2 (live), 2:30 pm ET; ESPN Deportes (delay), 7 pm ET.
ARSENAL-PSV, Setanta Sports USA (live), 2:30 pm ET; ESPN Deportes (delay), 4:45 pm ET
BAYERN MUNICH-REAL MADRID, ESPN Deportes (live), 2:30 pm ET; ESPN Classic (delay), 5 pm ET; Setanta Sports USA (delay), 5 pm ET.
AC MILAN-CELTIC, PPV-Setanta (live), 2:40 pm ET; ESPN Deportes (delay), midnight ET.