UEFA Champions League

With four English teams (Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal) in the quarter-finals, odds were they’d be off to a good start with three games occurring in her majesty’s territory. Results were stunning and the drama flowing with 14 goals in four games.

VILLAREAL 1 – 1 ARSENAL

Skipper and Brazilian expatriate Marcos Senna chose quite a match to return from injury, blasting a scorcher to put the Yellow Submarine up in the 10th minute. Villareal dominated play, watching the chips fall as Arsenal’s Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and French captain William Gallas were both substituted out for injuries in the first half. The two look doubtful for next week’s second leg. Arsenal came out of the tunnel in the second half with a vengeance and Emmanuel Adebayor finally found the back of the net to allow his team to breathe easier on the return leg in London.

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 – 2 PORTO

Five years ago, Porto returned from Old Trafford with a draw in pocket-enough to knock the English giants out of the Champions League. Old ghosts came back to haunt the English as a spunky Portuguese side successfully quelled Man U’s lack luster midfield. Carlos Tévez put the English up 2-1 thanks to a brilliant back-heel assist from Wayne Rooney with six minutes to go. The Portuguese weren’t done yet. As the seconds ticked away, Mariano put goalkeeper Edwin van der Saar to shame by collecting a deflected cross and punching it past him in the 89th minute. Manchester United travels next week to the Estádio do Dragao with one fact lingering: No English team has ever won in Porto.

LIVERPOOL 1 – 3 CHELSEA

Having met nine times in the Champions League in the last five years, few rivalries in the tournament are more bitter than this one. Liverpool, having dispatched Real Madrid and annihilated Manchester United in the Premier League, got off to a great start thanks to wonderful finishing from Spanish wunderkind Fernando Torres in the 6th minute. Chelsea was quick to cease as much possession as they could through Michael Essien and Michael Ballack. Though Chelsea skipper John Terry was booked and will miss the second leg, they quickly found reason to celebrate thanks to a double from bench warmer Branislav Ivanovic and a subtle strike from Didier Drogba.

BARCELONA 4 – 0 BAYERN MUNICH

Barcelona showed sparkling form as Bayern, reeling off a 5-1 loss to Wolfsburg over the weekend never quite found their rhythm as the triple threat of Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto’o proved lethal for the Germans. All goals came in the first half and Barcelona dominated with 69 percent ball possession. Messi opened the scoring in the 9th minute with Eto’o following shortly after. The Andres Iniesta and Messi combo proved too much for Bayern’s goalkeeper, Hans J