So it was the end of another disappointing Champions League campaign for Manchester United, who have failed to reach the quarter-finals for the second straight year (and failed to advance past the first knock-out round for three straight). It's sort of difficult to win if you don't score, and United couldn't score a single goal in two full matches against an aging Milan defence.
Ronaldinho, meanwhile, could not hold up his end of the bargain after predicting that England would not be represented in the quarter-finals. Despite scoring two goals at Stamford Bridge, Ronaldinho can only bemoan the controversial goal allowed by Pierluigi Collina that gave Chelsea a 5-4 aggregate win. Ironically, Real Madrid must hold onto their 1-0 advantage tonight in Turin if Spain is to be represented next round.
French Ligue 1 leaders Olimpico Lyonnais made the most of their 3-0 away win from a fortnight ago, took advantage of Werder Bremen's need for goals and romped them 7-2 in Lyon. Sylvain Wiltord's hat-trick places him third on the Champions League goalscoring charts with 5 goals, behind Ruud van Nistelrooy (8) and Roy Makaay (7). Wayne Rooney (3), of course, hasn't scored in Europe since his debut. Given time, however, he and van Nistelrooy will form quite a devastating partnership.
At the moment, United can only hope that Chelsea's continued participation in the Champions League, and consequently their more congested fixture list, will cause them to slip up in the Premiership. United will be in Southampton this Saturday evening for the FA Cup quarter-finals. Bolton will host Arsenal in the afternoon; certainly they're hoping for another positive result after a 2-2 draw at Highbury in September and a 1-0 win at the Reebok Stadium mid-January. And should Arsenal be knocked out of Europe tonight against Bayern München, Bolton just might sneak another one past the Londoners come this Saturday.
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