British clubs keep rolling in European Champions League
Anyone for another all- English European Champions League final — this one at Wembley Stadium in London on May 28?
That prospect remained very much alive Tuesday night after victories by Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United meant that the four English Premier League clubs in the 32-team tournament all sit atop their respective Champions League groups.
Every team will have only two games left after Wednesday’s games and the English quartet appears almost certain to advance to the 16-team knockout stage.
It was Spurs who provided the most impressive of the eight results Tuesday, defeating defending champion Inter Milan, 3-1, in a pulsating game at White Hart Lane.
Goals by Rafael van der Vaart, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko allowed Tottenham to reverse the result of two weeks ago, when it lost, 4-3, in Italy. Tuesday’s victory enabled it to leapfrog Inter Milan into first place in the group.
Welsh international winger Gareth Bale, who scored all of Spurs’ goals in the earlier game, this time was the provider, assisting in some manner on all three goals. Samuel Eto’o scored for the Italian club.
“From the first to the last we played unbelievably,” Coach Harry Redknapp said. “We pressed them, outworked them, outplayed them all night.”
FC Twente Enschede of the Netherlands stayed within striking distance in the group by defeating Werder Bremen, 2-0, in Germany.
Nacer Chadli and Luuk de Jong scored in the last nine minutes after Werder Bremen, which dominated play but wasted its chances, had been reduced to 10 men by the ejection of former Germany international midfielder Torsten Frings.
Manchester United had an easy time of it against Bursaspor in Turkey, where goals by Darren Fletcher, Gabriel Obertan and Bebe allowed it to coast, 3-0, and move to within one point of clinching a place in the last 16.
“You can never be sure, but the second goal killed the match,” United Coach Alex Ferguson said.
The loss was the Turkish team’s fourth in four games and it has yet to score a goal. It cannot advance in the tournament.
While the future appears bright for England’s four entries, a cloud moved over Scotland’s lone participant.
Rangers was beaten for the first time in any competition this season when it fell, 3-0, to Valencia in Spain, where striker Roberto Soldado scored twice and Tino Costa once.
Valencia moved ahead of Rangers into second place in its group behind Manchester United.
Olympique Lyon of France crashed out of the ranks of the unbeaten and untied in bizarre fashion when it was upset, 4-3, in Portugal by Benfica, which had previously found goals difficult to come by but repeatedly took advantage of French defensive miscues.
Fabio Coentrao scored once in each half for the Portuguese team, and a header by Alan Kardec and a shot by Javi Garcia provided its other goals. Portuguese international midfielder Carlos Martins was in superb form and set up each of the goals.
The victory put Benfica, which last won the competition in 1962 and last reached the final in 1990, back in the hunt for a place in the last 16.
Lyon, still leading its group, woke up far too late and trailed by four goals before Yoann Gourcuff, Bafetimbi Gomis and Dejan Lovren found the back of the net in the last 15 minutes.
“I’m happy with how we responded,” Lyon Coach Claude Puel said.
Germany’s Schalke ’04 stayed in second place, just ahead of Benfica, by earning a point in a 0-0 tie on the road at Hapoel Tel-Aviv of Israel.
Barcelona, which swept all before it in 2009 when winning the Champions League, was held to a 1-1 tie in Denmark by a game and determined FC Copenhagen, with the teams remaining first and second, respectively, in the group.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi scored for the Spanish team and Brazil’s Claudemir scored for the Danish club.
“It’s a massive achievement for my club,” Copenhagen’s Jesper Gronkjaer said.
In a game between teams that will not be reaching the knockout round, Russian champion Rubin Kazan was held to a 0-0 tie at home by Panathinaikos of Greece. The teams also tied, 0-0, in Athens two weeks ago.
The tournament continues Wednesday, when the potentially most intriguing of the eight games will feature seven-time champion AC Milan at home against nine-time champion Real Madrid. The Spanish team won the previous encounter, 2-0, in Madrid.
London clubs Arsenal and Chelsea will seek to preserve their unbeaten and untied records, with the Gunners traveling to Ukraine to play Shakhtar Donetsk and the Blues at home against Spartak Moscow.
The only all-English final in the tournament’s history was in 2008, when Manchester United overcame Chelsea in Moscow.
