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The Chelsea match
against Manchester United turned out to be anti-climactic and was
settled by a Wayne Rooney goal in the 23rd minute. A cross-field pass
from Michael Carrick to Ryan Giggs was brought down superbly past a
floundering Jose Bosingwa and his cut back found Rooney who passed the
ball into the net via the post. This was Rooney’s fifth consecutive
goal in the Champions League quarter finals. in five years. The England
striker had also scored against Chelsea in the league in match, though
United went on to lose 2-1.

The match started
at a frenetic pace as Chelsea sought to take the game to Manchester
United and Fernando Torres almost got on a Bosingwa near-post cross but
it was brilliantly intercepted from a returning Rio Ferdinand.

Michael Essien in
Chelsea’s two-man midfield found it tough against the United trio of
Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Park Ji-Sung and the Ghanaian gave away
many loose passes. Chelsea almost got the equaliser in the 45th minute
but for a clearance from Patrice Evra on the line. Didier Drogba
crossed to Torres and his effort hit the post while Frank Lampard’s
rebound was cleared off the goal line by Evra.

The second half was
a cagey affair with Chelsea seeking the equaliser but whatever they
did, they just could not get past Edwin Van Der Saar in goal for
United. The outstanding save of the match was in the 75th minute and
Torres will have thought he had scored but a great save from the 40
year old rolled back the years.

The match almost
turned ugly in the last minutes as the centre referee, Alberto Undiano
Mallenco from Spain failed to spot an Evra foul on Ramires in the box
in added time and then gave Torres a yellow card for simulation.

So the first goal turned out to be the winner in this tie and who will bet against United in the second leg next week Tuesday.

Barcelona odds on to meet Real now

Barcelona kept up
their side of the bargain in the expected semifinal clash with fierce
rivals. Real Madrid by thumping quarterfinal debutants,

Shakhtar Donetsk
5-1, though it was surprising that Lionel Messi did not get on the
score sheet. Andres Iniesta started the rout in the second minute of
the first half with a lovely chip and created the second goal for Dani
Alves in the 34th minute.

The game was over in the 53rd minute when Gerard Pique scored for
the second consecutive game. Though Shakhtar pulled a goal back, Seydou
Keita and Xavi added further goals to make the second leg trip to
Ukraine a comfortable one for the Catalans.