UEFA Champions League Round of 16
AC Milan 2-0 Barcelona
AC Milan entertained Barcelona at the San Siro and the visitors took the game to their hosts with Lionel Messi disturbing the Milan defense from the off. Milan looked like the visiting team even though they were in fact at home, appearing to be looking for a “smash and grab” win.
Despite all their attacking efforts and lion’s share of possession, Barca were kept at bay by typical miserly defending characteristic of many an Italian club. Milan looked to hit the Spanish side on the break and it seemed to make Barca approach with more caution.
Kevin Prince Boateng gave Milan the lead on 56 minutes when he reacted first to score after Riccardo Montolivo’s shot hit a crowd of bodies in the box. Milan refused to go to the Nou Camp with a slender lead and doubled their advantage through Sulley Muntari after 81 minutes. The Ghanaian volleyed the ball past an onrushing Victor Valdes after M’baye Niang and Stephan El Shaarawy had combined well to set him up.
Barcelona now need to put 3 past Milan in the second leg in Spain without allowing the latter to add to their aggregate and failing to do so will undoubtedly cause the biggest upset in the round of 16.
Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich
Arsenal were well and truly beaten at the Emirates by last season’s runners up Bayern Munich as the Bavarians recorded a comfortable win and take a 2 goal lead into the second leg at the Allianz Arena.
Toni Kroos opened the scoring for the Bavarians after 7 minutes after Thomas Muller’s cross was poorly dealt with. It was 2-0 on 21 minutes when Daniel van Buyten’s header from a corner was parried back by Wojciech Szczesny into the path of Muller who scored from pointblank range.
The Gunners pulled one back on 55 minutes when Lukas Podolski headed in Jack Wilshere’s corner much to the dismay of Manuel Neuer who in his previous 8 games had only conceded 1 goal. Olivier Giroud had a glorious chance to level the score but hit straight at Neuer and his miss was punished when Bayern restored their 2 goal advantage when substitute Arjen Robben found Philip Lahm on the overlap and his cross was turned in by Mario Mandzukic.
Arsenal will certainly need a miracle to turn the tie around when they visit the German side in Munich and need to win by a 3 goal margin if they are to progress.
In other games, FC Porto beat Malaga 1-0 at home thanks to Joao Moutinho’s solitary goal and the likes of Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder were not enough for Galatasaray as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Schalke after Burak Yilmaz’s goal was cancelled out by that of Jermaine Jones.
English FA Cup
Fifth Round
Luton Town were beaten 3-0 at home by Millwall while Arsenal were shocked at home by Blackburn Rovers in a 1-0 loss.
MK Dons suffered a 3-1 defeat at home at the hands of Barnsley while Oldham Athletic held Everton to a 2-2 draw at home where they will be a replay.
Chelsea trashed Brentford 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in their 4th round replay and will play Middlesbrough in the 5th round. Manchester City beat Leeds United by the same score line while Huddersfield were beaten 4-1 by Wigan Athletic.
Manchester United overcame a stern Reading side 2-1 at Old Trafford and the 6th round fixtures are as follows:
-Oldham or Everton VS Wigan Athletic
-Manchester City VS Barnsley
-Millwall VS Blackburn Rovers
-Manchester United VS Middlesbrough or Chelsea
English Premier League
In the only game played during the weekend, Liverpool thrashed Swansea at Anfield with 5 different players getting on the score sheet. Steven Gerrard opened scoring from the spot in the 1st half and Philippe Coutinho doubled the lead for the Reds just after the break.
Jose Enrique got the third and Luis Suarez added another minutes later with Daniel Sturridge sealing the win with another penalty.
Spanish Primera Liga
Barcelona came from behind to beat Granada 2-1 away with Lionel Messi scoring a brace after Odion Ighalo had put the hosts in front.
Atletico Madrid beat Real Valladolid 3-0 away with Radamel Falcao getting on the score sheet while Real Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano thanks to early goals from Morata and Sergio Ramos.
Barca lead the pack after 24 games with 65 points, 12 more than Atletico in 2nd and 16 more than rivals Madrid in 3rd.
German Bundesliga
Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben scored as Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 2-0 away while Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 at the Signal Iduna Park with Marco Reus scoring a hat trick.
Bayer Leverkusen overcame Augsburg 2-1 at the Bayarena.
Bayern lead after 22 games with 57 points followed by Dortmund on 42, Leverkusen on 41, Frankfurt on 37 and Freiburg on 34.
Italian Serie A
AS Roma beat Juventus 1-0 at home thanks to Francesco Totti’s strike and Napoli were held to a goalless draw at home by Sampdoria.
AC Milan beat Parma 2-1 at home while city rivals Inter were hammered 4-1 away at Fiorentina. Lazio were beaten 3-0 away by Siena.
Juve lead after 25 games with 55 points followed by Napoli on 51, Milan and Lazio both on 44 and Inter on 43.
French Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain were beaten 3-2 away at Sochaux while Lyon thrashed Bordeaux 4-0 away and Marseille won 1-0 at home against Valenciennes.
PSG top the table after 25 games with 51 points followed by Lyon and Marseille on 48 and 46 points respectively.
Dutch Eredivisie
PSV Eindhoven beat Utrecht 2-1 at home while Ajax beat Waalwijk 2-0 away. Twente were held to a 1-1 draw by Willem II Tilburg at home while Feyenoord were beaten 3-2 away by Zwolle.
After round 23, PSV Eindhoven lead with 50 points with Ajax in 2nd on 47, Twente and Feyenoord on 44 each and Vitesse Arnhem in 5th with 42 points.
Scottish Premier League
Celtic continue their dominance in the league as they thrashed Dundee United 6-2 at Celtic Park and top the table with 59 points from 27 games followed by Motherwell and Inverness who have both played 1 game less and have 40 and 38 points respectively.
