Chelsea and Bar?a streak away
Monday, 7 March 2005
Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona both won on Saturday to extend their domestic
leads to eight points - just the tonic each need ahead of the second leg of
their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie. uefa.com rounds up the domestic news
for teams in European action on Tuesday.

Chelsea FC v FC Barcelona
A 3-1 win at Norwich City FC gave Chelsea an increased advantage at the top
of the Premiership thanks to Manchester United FC's draw at Crystal Palace
FC. Joe Cole, Mateja Kezman and Ricardo Carvalho were on target for Chelsea,
who on Tuesday will be without Wayne Bridge (ankle), Robert Huth (knee) and
Scott Parker (broken foot). However, winger Arjen Robben may recover from his
own broken foot to play some part against Bar?a, who won the first leg 2-1.
Didier Drogba's red card at Camp Nou rules the striker out of the Stamford
Bridge return.

Samuel Eto'o scored the only goal, his 18th in the Primera División this
season, as Barcelona triumphed 1-0 at CA Osasuna. Real Madrid CF were held
1-1 by Valencia CF, allowing the Catalan side to pull further clear having
slipped slightly in midweek when they were held 0-0 by local rivals RCD
Espanyol at Camp Nou. Although both Carles Puyol and Víctor Valdés required
medical attention after receiving blows at El Sadar, Bar?a emerged from the
victory with just one injury concern - Rafael Márquez was taken off at
half-time with a hamstring pull and will not travel to London. Gabri García,
Thiago Motta, Edmílson and Henrik Larsson remain sidelined, however.

AC Milan v Manchester United FC
Milan made it six wins in a row as Andrea Pirlo scored the winning goal in
added time against Atalanta BC, a success which enabled the Rossoneri to
continue to fend off Juventus FC, themselves 2-1 winners against AS Roma, at
the top of Serie A. Massimo Ambrosini opened the scoring for Milan in the
74th minute before Stephen Makinwa equalised for the bottom club a minute
later. Coach Carlo Ancelotti was without Andriy Shevchenko and Kakha Kaladze
through injury and Rui Costa with flu, although the Portuguese playmaker
should be available as Milan defend a 1-0 lead on home turf against United.
In a further boost, Filippo Inzaghi played for 15 minutes following a
four-month lay off, while Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf were rested
and Cafu suspended.

Ten-man Crystal Palace FC dented United's English title hopes as they
defended bravely to secure a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park. Louis Saha picked up
a knock in training which rules him out of the trip to the San Siro and Gary
Neville is also a doubt with an ankle injury sustained at Portsmouth FC on 26
February. Kleberson remains sidelined with a similar complaint and fellow
midfielder Darren Fletcher is out with knee ligament problems.

Olympique Lyonnais v Werder Bremen
They may be expected to defend a 3-0 Champions League lead on home soil, but
Lyon's form has slipped in the last week. On Tuesday they lost on penalties
to Ligue 2 Clermont Foot Auvergne in the French Cup - the champions having
even needed a last-gasp Sylvain Wiltord goal to reach extra time with a 1-1
draw - and three nights later the French leaders fell to their second Ligue 1
defeat this season, 1-0 at lowly SM Caen.

Bremen saw their hopes of retaining the Bundesliga title reduced on Saturday
as they lost 1-0 at FC Bayern München to fall seven points behind the
leaders. They did, however, beat Bayern's amateur side on Tuesday 3-0 to
reach the German Cup semi-finals. Ivan Klasnic missed the trip to Munich with
a calf injury but should be fit to participate in Lyon.

FC Internazionale Milano v FC Porto
With Milan at home on Tuesday, the home leg of Inter's tie against Porto is
being played on 15 March. Despite being without Alvaro Recoba (ankle),
Christian Vieri (knee), Emre Bel?zoglu and Cristiano Zanetti (both flu),
Inter coach Roberto Mancini saw his side return to winning ways after last
week's Milan derby disappointment by defeating US Lecce 2-1 in Serie A thanks
to goals from Iván Cordoba and Adriano. Left-back Giuseppe Favalli sustained
a thigh injury and was substituted midway through the first half, his absence
leaving the Nerazzurri without any Italian players on the pitch.

Porto, who remain without the injured Boswinga, kept their place at the top
of the Portuguese SuperLiga on Saturday as a last-gasp goal from Benni
McCarthy wrapped up a 2-1 win at FC Penafiel. Pedro Emanuel's 81st-minute
header had cancelled out the home side's surprise opener. The extra week
before the second leg could see Porto midfield player Maniche regain full
fitness after he felt a recurrence of the hernia injury which kept him out
recently and was substituted at half-time.

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