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News Archive

Champions League, round of 16, first leg

More bad news for Spanish sides in the Champions League coming on top of last week's poor results, with Málaga losing 1-0 at Porto on Tuesday, and Barcelona beaten 2-0 by AC Milan the following day. Pellegrini's team hardly managed a shot at goal all night, and Moutinho got on the end of Sandro's through ball early in the second half to score what was to prove the only goal. Barcelona were also closed down by their opponents in the San Siro stadium, local keeper Abbiati not having a real save to make throughout the ninety minutes, and the Italians won it with second half strikes from Boateng and Muntari. All four La Liga teams are now facing difficult return legs, and for the first time in years we may be facing the prospect of no Spanish representation at the quarter final stage. (20.02.13)

AC Milan 2 - Barcelona 0

Champions League favourites Barcelona are close to being knocked out of the competition after losing 2-0 at AC Milan! A disciplined defence closed the door to Messi and company, and local keeper Abbiati hardly had a real save to make throughout the ninety minutes. Only an early Piqué header went anywhere near the Milan goal in the first half, and Puyol had to be at his most decisive to prevent El Shaarawy from opening the scoring midway through the first half. The Italians took the lead though ten minutes after the break, Montolivo's shot hitting Jordi Alba and appearing to deflect off Zapata's upraised arm before falling kindly for Boateng to beat Valdés. Messi and Xavi fired free kicks over the bar and Iniesta drove a long shot just wide of the post, but otherwise the Catalans were lacking their usual flair, and with ten minutes to go Muntari latched on to El Shaarawy's lifted pass to volley a shot past the keeper. Probably Barça's worst performance in a long time, and nothing short of an epic night in the Nou Camp can turn things around. (20.02.13)

Porto 1 - Málaga 0

A poor start for Málaga in their first ever appearance in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, a 1-0 defeat at Porto leaving them a lot to do in the second leg. Pellegrini's team hardly managed a shot at goal all night, and their hosts fared little better as the two defences controlled the game. The Portuguese side did however have a few chances, with Jackson Martínez going close a couple of times before the break, and Izmailov shooting wide when free in front of goal soon after the restart. The goal itself though was scored under dubious circumstances, Moutinho clearly in an offside position when he latched on to Alex Sandro's through ball to beat Caballero some ten minutes in to the second half. That is what separates the two teams however, and having not scored the away goal they wanted, Málaga basically need to win by a two goal margin when play resumes in three weeks' time. (19.02.13)