Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs failed to get victories on their 100th Champions League matches on Wednesday, but both can still dream of a place in the last eight.
Arsenal were held 0-0 at home by holders AC Milan, while United grabbed a late goal through Carlos Tevez to draw 1-1 with six-time French champions Lyon in France.
The two Spanish sides in Champions League action were both involved in five-goal thrillers.
PHOTO: AP
A brace by Argentina star Lionel Messi and one goal from former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry saw Barcelona come from behind twice to beat Celtic 3-2 in Glasgow, while two-time UEFA Cup titleholders Sevilla lost 3-2 to Fenerbahce in Istanbul.
Wenger was happy with the result even though the Gunners missed a host of chances, none more painful than when on-fire Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor saw his header come off the bar.
AC Milan handler Carlo Ancelotti admitted his side could play a lot better with Brazilian playmaker Kaka all-but muzzled by the Arsenal defense.
Lyon manager Alain Perrin admitted that the Tevez strike -- which fell to him somewhat fortuitously off Brazilian striker Fred -- had been a real blow.
"Unfortunately we couldn't hold out to the end and now we are behind having conceded the away goal," said the former Marseille boss, who is rumored to have fallen out with both the coaching and playing staff.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was both delighted with the result and to have something to complain about -- in this case claims that Portuguese wing Cristiano Ronaldo had a laser shone in his eyes in the warm-up before the match.
"I am delighted to get the draw and it gives us a a good chance to qualify," Ferguson said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier