The 2nd leg began in earnest with the semi-finals spot finally decided at the end. A total of 14 goals were scored yet again and featured one of the greatest UCL matches, not only in UCL in fact, but also in history. No surprise for guessing which game was that. For the 5th year running, England would also have an English representative in the final after Arsenal and Man Utd both won their matches on aggregate to set up an intriguing semi-final affair. Barcelona, on course for a treble of their own, the likes of which had only been won by Man Utd in 1999, I just had to mentioned that, will face Chelsea, in the semi-finals for the 3rd year running, in the other semi-final.
Arsenal 3 - 0 Villareal (Arsenal win 4-1 on agg)
Arguably, the loss of injured Marcos Senna may have damaged Villareal's chances even before this match started. The Brazilian club skipper had of course scored that stunner in the 1st leg. But credit to Arsenal who played excellent football with a young team, good enough to last a short tournament like the UCL as compared to the long gruelling domestic league, and overcome the Yellow Submarines very easily.
Theo Walcott was exceptionally superb, scoring a magnificent goal after a brilliant flick from captain Cesc Fabregas, only recently returning from injury. That early goal in the 10th minute came after a very strong Arsenal start with Walcott the most dangerous man and allowed Arsenal to dominate the entire 1st half. The 2nd half was more balanced with Villareal needing to score an away goal of their own, maybe two to win, but they could not find the rhythm to match that of Arsenal who had simply built too much momentum to let this tie slip away.
They may not have cup-tied Arshavin for this season's competition but I do marvelled at how a midfield comprising of Walcott on the right, Nasri on the left, Arshavin and Fabregas pulling the strings, coupled with strong striking duo in Persie and Adebayor, would fare next season. If only Wenger find that extra major signing in central defence, their only main weakness perhaps.
As for Villareal, expect them to return to UCL again next season. They could have advanced further if they had won the 1st leg, which they should have, but nevertheless, they have been an inspiration for small clubs, they have a very small fan base in Spain, and have done themselves proud to consistently remain high in the domestic league.
Chelsea 4 - 4 Liverpool (Chelsea win 7-5 on agg)
Being a neutral fan, I was ecstatic to have witnessed a great match of football. Liverpool, 1-3 down from the 1st leg, have again found themselves in a situation in UCL where they have to come back from behind to triumph. Yet Liverpool had to match Chelsea's 3 away goals and I had foreseen they would only scored 2. Plus, Liverpool was missing the injured Captain Marvel Steven Gerrard...
So when Liverpool did score 2 in the 1st half to level the tie at 3-3, Chelsea was still in the lead because of that extra precious away goal, I did not expect Chelsea to concede again. True, Chelsea was missing suspended captain John Terry and Alex is not a suitable replacement. On the other side of the coin, though, Chelsea, even with John Terry, has been weak defensively this season as compared to their mean streak from years past. Yet still, surely they could not concede a 3rd goal at home? Reality check of course, Bolton had scored 3 at the weekend after being 4-0 down against the Blues... Ah, the endless chain of events...
Chelsea did look as though they would shut Liverpool out for the 2nd half. Anelka, a replacement for Kalou late in the 1st half, made a huge impact on the right to pull a goal back at 1-2. When Alex scored an unstoppable free-kick to level the score at 2-2 and Lampard scored to make it 3-2, surely the game was over, even Liverpool's manager gave up when he took off the league's most dangerous stiker in Fernando Torres.
Unbelievably, Liverpool re-wrote the script for a frantic 10 minute finale. Lucas and Kuyt scored 2 goals in 2 minutes to make it 3-4 on the night, and 6-5 on agg, meaning they only need to score 1 more to win the tie on away goals. Stamford Bridge was stunned at the Second Coming. But they were relieved as Liverpool ran out of steam and Lampard took the wind out of Liverpool's sails when he scored his 2nd goal of the match with a superb finish off the post just before full-time to complete an incredible 4-4 draw.
In a match that saw 2 complete comebacks from Chelsea (from 2-0 and 3-4 down) and 2 near comebacks from Liverpool (both comebacks shy of an away goal), it is definitely the best match in the UCL this season.
Bayern Munich 1 - 1 Barcelona (Barcelona win 5-1 on agg)
With a 4-0 lead from the 1st leg, Barcelona pulled off the gas and took it easy in this match, though they still fielded a strong team to ensure the madness did not happen. For Bayern Munich, they must have been despondent at Barcelona's starting line-up but in front of a maniacal Allianz Arena crowd, they were still inspired to exit the competition with pride.
Franck Ribery, ever the key man for Bayern this season, gave brief hopes when he scored a clever goal to take the lead. For Bayern, any win against Barcelona on the night would be a good victory. Barcelona had other ideas. They may have put in bare minimal effort but they did not want to lose.
Keita scored a ridiculously easy goal, one out of the training session, after a pedestrian-paced build-up, to equalize for the final score.
A potentially semi-final explosive affair with Chelsea awaits but seeing as how the 1st leg is at Camp Nou, Chelsea would do well to lose only narrowly to bring back to Stamford Bridge and fight it out there. Given Messi-led Barcelona's scary world-class form though, and hopes of the impossible treble still firmly in their sights, Barcelona would fancy their chances of reaching the final.
Arsenal 3 - 0 Villareal (Arsenal win 4-1 on agg)
Arguably, the loss of injured Marcos Senna may have damaged Villareal's chances even before this match started. The Brazilian club skipper had of course scored that stunner in the 1st leg. But credit to Arsenal who played excellent football with a young team, good enough to last a short tournament like the UCL as compared to the long gruelling domestic league, and overcome the Yellow Submarines very easily.
Theo Walcott was exceptionally superb, scoring a magnificent goal after a brilliant flick from captain Cesc Fabregas, only recently returning from injury. That early goal in the 10th minute came after a very strong Arsenal start with Walcott the most dangerous man and allowed Arsenal to dominate the entire 1st half. The 2nd half was more balanced with Villareal needing to score an away goal of their own, maybe two to win, but they could not find the rhythm to match that of Arsenal who had simply built too much momentum to let this tie slip away.
They may not have cup-tied Arshavin for this season's competition but I do marvelled at how a midfield comprising of Walcott on the right, Nasri on the left, Arshavin and Fabregas pulling the strings, coupled with strong striking duo in Persie and Adebayor, would fare next season. If only Wenger find that extra major signing in central defence, their only main weakness perhaps.
As for Villareal, expect them to return to UCL again next season. They could have advanced further if they had won the 1st leg, which they should have, but nevertheless, they have been an inspiration for small clubs, they have a very small fan base in Spain, and have done themselves proud to consistently remain high in the domestic league.
Chelsea 4 - 4 Liverpool (Chelsea win 7-5 on agg)
Being a neutral fan, I was ecstatic to have witnessed a great match of football. Liverpool, 1-3 down from the 1st leg, have again found themselves in a situation in UCL where they have to come back from behind to triumph. Yet Liverpool had to match Chelsea's 3 away goals and I had foreseen they would only scored 2. Plus, Liverpool was missing the injured Captain Marvel Steven Gerrard...
So when Liverpool did score 2 in the 1st half to level the tie at 3-3, Chelsea was still in the lead because of that extra precious away goal, I did not expect Chelsea to concede again. True, Chelsea was missing suspended captain John Terry and Alex is not a suitable replacement. On the other side of the coin, though, Chelsea, even with John Terry, has been weak defensively this season as compared to their mean streak from years past. Yet still, surely they could not concede a 3rd goal at home? Reality check of course, Bolton had scored 3 at the weekend after being 4-0 down against the Blues... Ah, the endless chain of events...
Chelsea did look as though they would shut Liverpool out for the 2nd half. Anelka, a replacement for Kalou late in the 1st half, made a huge impact on the right to pull a goal back at 1-2. When Alex scored an unstoppable free-kick to level the score at 2-2 and Lampard scored to make it 3-2, surely the game was over, even Liverpool's manager gave up when he took off the league's most dangerous stiker in Fernando Torres.
Unbelievably, Liverpool re-wrote the script for a frantic 10 minute finale. Lucas and Kuyt scored 2 goals in 2 minutes to make it 3-4 on the night, and 6-5 on agg, meaning they only need to score 1 more to win the tie on away goals. Stamford Bridge was stunned at the Second Coming. But they were relieved as Liverpool ran out of steam and Lampard took the wind out of Liverpool's sails when he scored his 2nd goal of the match with a superb finish off the post just before full-time to complete an incredible 4-4 draw.
In a match that saw 2 complete comebacks from Chelsea (from 2-0 and 3-4 down) and 2 near comebacks from Liverpool (both comebacks shy of an away goal), it is definitely the best match in the UCL this season.
Bayern Munich 1 - 1 Barcelona (Barcelona win 5-1 on agg)
With a 4-0 lead from the 1st leg, Barcelona pulled off the gas and took it easy in this match, though they still fielded a strong team to ensure the madness did not happen. For Bayern Munich, they must have been despondent at Barcelona's starting line-up but in front of a maniacal Allianz Arena crowd, they were still inspired to exit the competition with pride.
Franck Ribery, ever the key man for Bayern this season, gave brief hopes when he scored a clever goal to take the lead. For Bayern, any win against Barcelona on the night would be a good victory. Barcelona had other ideas. They may have put in bare minimal effort but they did not want to lose.
Keita scored a ridiculously easy goal, one out of the training session, after a pedestrian-paced build-up, to equalize for the final score.
A potentially semi-final explosive affair with Chelsea awaits but seeing as how the 1st leg is at Camp Nou, Chelsea would do well to lose only narrowly to bring back to Stamford Bridge and fight it out there. Given Messi-led Barcelona's scary world-class form though, and hopes of the impossible treble still firmly in their sights, Barcelona would fancy their chances of reaching the final.
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