British hopes of triumphing in Europe's premier club competition
rode high on Wednesday after all its five clubs qualified for the
lucrative knockout phase of the Champions League.
Manchester United survived an early scare at Old Trafford,
beating Benfica 3-1 and relegating them into the UEFA Cup, while
Arsenal played out a 0-0 draw with another Portuguese side, FC
Porto, to join them in the last 16.
English champions Chelsea had qualified with room to spare, as
had Liverpool and Scottish champions Celtic, who were
comprehensively defeated 3-1 at FC Copenhagen as the Danes fought
to restore their Viking pride.
All four English Premiership clubs topped their respective
groups, meaning no cross-Premiership clashes will take place until
the quarter-finals.
Only Celtic, who finished second in group F behind Manchester
United, failed to avoid that relative setback which means the
Scottish champions will play the first leg of the knockout phase at
home.
However, how long any of the five Brits survive is another
matter.
The likes of multiple European champions Real Madrid, Barcelona
and AC Milan are all in the hat for the December 15 draw.
United manager Alex Ferguson was buoyant after his team's
performance on the night, and hopes the two-time winners can go one
better than last year's beaten finalists Arsenal.
"There's lot of quality there in the last 16 now - five British
teams - and it's absolutely fantastic," said Ferguson. "One of the
British teams can win it, hopefully it's us."
From the five British teams have come eight European titles.
Liverpool were the last British club to win the continental crown
when they won it for a fifth time in 2005, while Celtic became the
first British club to be champions of Europe, in 1967.
Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea has claimed the European crown while
United have won it twice.
Compare that to records elsewhere on the continent though and
the Europeans' track record shines through. Three Spanish teams
will face them in the last 16, with defending and 1992 champions
Barcelona squeezing in at the last minute with a 2-0 win over
Werder Bremen at the Nou Camp on Tuesday.
Nine-times European champions Real Madrid, who had already
qualified after finishing second in group E behind French champions
Lyon, finished their group campaign with a 2-2 draw away to Dynamo
Kiev thanks to a brace from Ronaldo.
Valencia, the UEFA Cup winners in 2004, have yet to win the
Champions League but qualified with ease from a relatively easy
group D with four wins from six matches.
The Champions League would not be complete without the Italians,
present despite the match-fixing scandal which brought several
giant clubs to their knees.
On Wednesday AC Milan fell 2-0 at home to Lille, allowing the
French side to join the last 16 party for the first time. It was a
great performance from one of France's solid league clubs, and one
which their manager, Claude Puel, was only to happy to shout
about.
"We showed a lot of maturity, a lot of know-how," said Puel, who
has been to the semi-finals of the competition both as a player and
as an assistant coach at his former club, Monaco. "We stayed calm
and didn't give any opportunities to Milan, and I think in the end
they were lucky we didn't score even more."
AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted they had played badly,
but promised a re-invigorated approach to the competition once key
players return from injury. We'll now wait to see what the draw
gives us and, in February, we will welcome back a few key players
who have been injured."
AC Milan, like the other group winners, will have the advantage
of an away tie first in the next round while two-time winners Inter
Milan, who finished second in group B behind Bayern Munich, will
play at home first.
Roma, like Lille, joined the last 16 for the first time when
they beat Valencia 1-0 on Tuesday to finish second in group D.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who recently celebrated his
decade working with the Gunners, joined his old foe, Ferguson, in
applauding the influence of the Premiership on the competition.
"That shows how much the Premiership has improved," Wenger told
Sky Sports.
Arsenal, only just recovering from their defeat in last year's
final, could face Barcelona in the next round, in a rematch of last
year's final.
The other clubs to qualify were 1988 winners PSV Eindhoven,
four-time winners Bayern Munich and two-time winners FC Porto.
(China Daily December 8, 2006)