Champions League: Just Not Britains Night

Andrew McNair by Senior Writer Written on February 20, 2008
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There was a mixed bunch of results last night in the UEFA Champions League. Niether of the three British (two of which were at home) teams could come up with a victory. As a result I expect to lose at least two of the British sides before the quarter finals.

I'll start with Arsenal who fought hard against a tight AC Milan side, but could not get that breakthrough goal. The 0-0 result will favour Milan, but as we all know from this season, Arsenal cannot be totally written off.

Milan, like neighbours Inter the night before them, would have come to England looking not to lose and will be perfectly content with their result at the Emirates Stadium.

Manchester United headed to France to take on French Champions Lyonnais. I'd said before the game Untied would be happy with a draw and the 1-1 result, and with that away goal I'm sure Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be relatively pleased.

United left it late though, as Carlos Tevez came off the bench to save United's blushes and put the tie firmly within Man Utd's grasp.

Celtic vs. Barcelona proved to be the tie of the round as Barcelona twice came from behind to beat Celtic 3-2 in Glasgow.

Celtic were nowhere near their best as they tackled the Spanish giants, but surprisingly took an early lead through Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The success was short lived though as Lee Naylor's tackle on Lional Messi flicked off the young Argentines shins and into the Celtic net. Celtic were back to square one and Barca were looking menacing.

Celtic could just not string anything together and were looking vulnerable at the back when they scored again with just their second strike. Barry Robson's looping header sent Celtic Park into raptures.

Barcelona were back to their best after the break and with Celtic's Nakamura posted missing, they left Celtic without a hope.

Celtic gifted Barcelona all three goals with sloppy passing and in truth deserved little from their performance. Thierry Henry scored a sublime equalizer that many an Arsenal fan would be familiar with before Messi pounced on another defensive mix up to score the winner.

Special praise for Celtic's Scott McDonald who worked tirelessly along with Aiden McGeady to keep Celtic within striking distance.

So all eight first-leg games have been played with some interesting results.

Truth be told I think Arsenal and Celtic will exit the competition. What do you think?

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written on February 20, 2008 Sports

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