SOCCER - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
2009/10
Group E - Liverpool (1) @ (1) Lyon - On a dramatic night in Lyon, Lisandro Lopez rescued a draw for Lyon with a 90th minute goal and effectively knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League. Liverpool knew they needed to win to keep qualification in their control but had to wait until the 83rd minute for their goal, a screamer from Ryan Babel. But the Reds paid for slack defending in the 90th minute and Lopez scored past Reina to secure qualification for themselves. Liverpool also featured Fernando Torres but were missing Steven Gerrard through injury (10, 2 Discs, ITV - Tyldesley/Beglin, PAL)
Group F - Rubin Kazan (2) @ (1) Barcelona - In a big upset, the Russian champions stunned the current Champions with a dogged display in the Camp Nou, capped by the winning goal in the 73rd minute. Rubin Kazan started brightly with a stunning long-range goal in the opening 75 seconds but Barcelona restored parity with a goal in the 48th minute from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Despite Barcelona out-shooting Rubin Kazan by 24 shots to 3, they couldn't find the winning goal and it was Rubin Kazan that found the winning goal from Turkish international Gokdeniz Karadeniz on a rare break-away (10, 1 Disc, FSC with SKY Sports commentary - Palmer/Birtles, NTSC)
Last 16, 2nd Leg - AC Milan (0) @ (4) Manchester United - Manchester United continued their quest for 3 consecutive finals with a big win against the Italians. With United holding a slim 3-2 lead from the 1st leg, a tight game was expected but United dominated the game from start to finish. Goals from Wayne Rooney (2), Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher did the damage. United old-boy David Beckham came on as a substitute for AC Milan with 26 minutes remaining and received a warm ovation from the crowd. Milan also featured Ronaldinho, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Andrea Pirlo (10, 2 Discs, ITV - Tyldesley/Beglin, PAL)
Quarter Final, 1st Leg - Barcelona (2) @ (2) Arsenal - A highly anticipated match-up of 2 of the best footballing teams in Europe didn't disappoint as Arsenal recovered from a 2-0 deficit to keep the tie in the balance. Barcelona were on fire in the first half and the game only stayed scoreless thanks to Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia. Barcelona took control in the 2nd half with 2 goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic before goals from Theo Walcott and captain Cesc Fabregas, a penalty, gave Arsenal a tie to take into the 2nd Leg. In the challenge that gave Arsenal the penalty, a Puyol tackle on Fabregas, Fabregas broke his leg but still stepped up to take and score the goal (10, 2 Discs, ITV - Tyldesley/Beglin, PAL)
Quarter Final, 2nd Leg - Arsenal (1) @ (4) Barcelona - Reigning champions Barcelona booked their place in the semi-final with a stunning win in the Nou camp that saw them through 6-3 on aggregate. Lionel Messi was the star, scoring all 4 goals after Arsenal had taken a shock 1st half lead through Nicklas Bendtner. Messi scored his opening 3 goals in a 21 minute spell in the 1st half and Barca coasted home in the 2nd half (10, 1 Disc, SKY - Hawthorne/Gray, PAL)
Quarter Final, 2nd Leg - Bayern Munich (2) @ (3) Manchester United - On a roller-coaster night in Manchester, Bayern knocked out the English Champions with a late goal and gained a measure of revenge for their 1999 Final loss. United started strong with 2 goals in the opening 7 minutes from Darren Gibson and Nani and Nani added a third to put United in a strong position, with a 4-2 aggregate lead. Ivica Olic scored just before the half to give Bayern hope and when Arjen Robben scored in the 74th minute with a spectacular volley, the comeback was complete and Bayern went through on away goals (10, 2 Discs, ITV - Tyldesley/Beglin, PAL)
Semi-Final, 2nd Leg - Inter Milan (0) @ (1) Barcelona - In a big upset, Inter Milan knocked out the reigning Champions with a 3-2 aggregate win. Inter played the final hour with only 10 men after Thiago Matta was sent off but Barcelona couldn't break down the Inter defense until the 84th minute with a great goal from Gerard Pique. Despite immense pressure, Inter held on to reach their 1st European Cup final in 28 years. The stats for the game told the story as Barcelona completed 200 more passes, had 16 shots to zero and had 76% of the possession (10, 2 Discs, ITV - Tyldesley/Beglin, PAL)
Final - Bayern Munich (0) v (2) Inter Milan - Inter finally won the their 1st Champions League trophy with a big win over the German champions. Goals in each half from Diego Milito, against the run of play, did the damage while a strong defense kept the Bayern attacks at bay. The title was Inter's first since 1965 and the 2nd for coach Jose Mourinho (10, 2 Discs, ITV - Tyldesley/Beglin, PAL)