Battling Bolton Wanderers jumped to sixth place in the Premier League with a 1-0 victory at Manchester City on Monday, moving them into contention for a place next season in Europe.
Senegal international El-Hadji Diouf tapped in the winner at the far post on the stroke of halftime after a cross from Stelios Giannakopoulos.
Diouf's goal came after a lackluster first half in which neither team looked threatening. City striker Robbie Fowler probably had his team's best chance in the first half -- and the match -- when he shot high over the cross-bar from close range with Bolton 'keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen out of position.
PHOTO: EPA
Bolton improved to 43 points in the Premiership standings -- the same as Liverpool in sixth place. Man City stayed in 12th place with 36 points.
Sixth place will guarantee a place in next season's UEFA Cup. Bolton have never played in European competition.
Chelsea leads the Premier League with 71 points followed by Manchester United (63) and Arsenal (61).
Man City coach Kevin Keegan started US national team captain Claudio Reyna, who has missed most of the season with a leg injury. The midfielder played the entire match, but was unable to provide much service up front to Fowler.
Keegan said this week he would retire when his contract expires next year.
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich
Arsenal's leaky defense must somehow repel Bayern Munich today if they are to avoid yet another Champions League disappointment.
The London side have been shorn of injured center-back Sol Campbell since Feb. 1 and without him they have looked suspect at the back, conceding three goals in the first leg of the first knockout round tie in Munich.
A late goal by Kolo Toure gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope -- a 3-1 deficit means they can win 2-0 at Highbury and progress -- yet they are a shadow of the side which went through the last league season unbeaten.
There are few in English soccer outside the Arsenal dressing room who believe the home side can survive 90 minutes against a well-organized Bayern team without conceding a goal, even if the Germans will be without injured striker Roy Makaay.
Arsenal, who have never gone beyond the quarterfinals of Europe's top club competition, strolled past Portsmouth 3-0 on Saturday thanks to a hat-trick from Thierry Henry who was only fitfully involved in the first leg against Bayern.
The Arsenal defense looked shaky in the early stages against Portsmouth and Campbell's replacement Pascal Cygan was injured. Despite the obvious prob-lems, manager Arsene Wenger remains confident.
"Wednesday's game will be more about mental strength. We must regroup, relax and show resilience," Wenger said.
The loss of Makaay, who has scored seven goals in the Champions League this season, with a hamstring strain is certainly a blow for Bayern.
The good news though is the return of playmaker Michael Ballack, who missed the first leg with a thigh injury.
The Germany captain scored the winner against Werder Bremen at the weekend in what was another ultra-professional performance.
Bayern have not conceded a goal since the first leg against Arsenal and a key contributor to that defensive stability has been Martin Demichelis.
The Argentine originally came in as a replacement for Ballack but his performances were so good that coach Felix Magath has had to make space for him since Ballack's return.
The absence of Makaay may persuade the coach to deploy a five-man midfield today, with Claudio Pizarro, scorer of two goals in the first leg, on his own up front.
Real Madrid vs Juventus
Two years ago the limitations of a Real Madrid side packed with attacking talent but lacking defensive solidity were exposed in a Cham-pions League semifinal defeat by Juventus.
Real return to the Delle Alpi today with a 1-0 advantage from the first leg of their first knockout round tie knowing that their stiffer resolve under coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo faces its toughest examination yet.
Club president Florentino Perez has strengthened the side's defensive capacity with the addition of Argentine center-back Walter Samuel and Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen, the latter credited with giving Real the fight they lacked.
The new-look Real are less spectacular in attack, but the pay-off has been an improvement in defense which they hope will see them through against the Italians.
With the Spanish title gradually slipping out of reach, Real are now focusing their attention firmly on Europe.
The absence of Juve's Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved, who has not trained since a clash of heads with Raul Bravo in the first leg, has forced Juventus coach Fabio Capello to re-organize his side with surprisingly good results.
Capello, who won the Spanish title during a brief spell with Real, has compensated for the lack of punch from midfield caused by Nedved's injury by opting for a three-pronged attack.
Alessandro Del Piero has enjoyed the freedom of a deeper role behind Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta, although the latter could be forced out of the starting line-up by fit-again Frenchman David Trezeguet.
In the two games that Capello has used the "trident" system in attack, Juve have beaten Siena at home 3-0 and won 2-1 at Roma.
Ronaldo ended his recent scoring drought to score his first goal in eight games and looked a lot sharper than in recent games, while the Real back four gave an assured performance.
Former Juventus and France midfielder Zinedine Zidane has recovered from a groin strain, and strikers Raul and Michael Owen are back in training after missing the Valencia match through illness.
In midfield, Guti is likely to be dropped despite his recent good form as Luxemburgo opts for the muscular qualities of Gravesen.
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