FC Barcelona, Juventus and Villarreal qualified for the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Chelsea didn't.
Ronaldinho scored in the 78th minute to give host Barcelona a 1-1 draw with Chelsea and put the Spanish league leaders into the final eight 3-2 on aggregate. Frank Lampard converted a penalty for Chelsea in injury time.
PHOTO: AP
Juventus, which got an 88th-minute goal from Emerson after a goalkeeping error, beat Werder Bremen 2-1. The deciding goal leveled the aggregate score at 4-4, which advanced the Italian champions on away goals.
Villarreal drew 1-1 with visiting Rangers and advanced on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate score. Defender Rodolfo Arruabarrena scored Villarreal's equalizer in the 49th, advancing the provincial Spanish team, which is making its debut in the Champions League.
With Barcelona holding Chelsea scoreless into the final minutes, the hosts didn't need to score to advance. But Ronaldinho -- the FIFA world player of the year -- wasn't satisfied with that.
Taking a pass from Samuel Eto'o, the Brazilian skipped into the area, barged past Chelsea defender John Terry and drove the ball past the diving Petr Cech.
"There's nothing better than winning a game like this one," Ronaldinho said.
Today, defending champion Liverpool hosts Benfica while trailing 1-0, AC Milan hosts Bayern Munich after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Arsenal hosts Real Madrid with a 1-0 lead and Lyon has a 1-0 advantage when it hosts PSV Eindhoven.
The remaining Champions League game will be March 14 in Milan with Ajax and Inter Milan level 2-2. The draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals is tomorrow in Paris.
The Barcelona-Chelsea match -- the Spanish champions against the English champions -- was the most awaited match of this season's Champions League.
Seldom generous in defeat, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was true to form when asked if the better team had won.
"I don't think so," Mourinho said. "We played against them four matches in two seasons -- and 11 against 11 they never beat us. That's the reality."
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard had a different view.
"I think we deserved to get through," he said.
Chelsea ousted Barcelona 5-4 a year ago at the same stage, a series in which Mourinho suggested Rijkaard tried to cheat.
Two weeks ago in the first leg -- won by Barcelona 2-1 in London -- Mourinho contended that Barca forward Lionel Messi faked an injury to get Chelsea defender Asier del Horno sent off.
Chelsea officials accused Barcelona fans of spitting at Mourinho when he arrived on Sunday in Barcelona. The Portuguese, once an assistant coach at Barcelona, said the anger focused at him took pressure off his players.
He took the same approach at Camp Nou on Tuesday, taking the field long before his team in a bid to deflect the pressure off his players.
Barcelona has won Europe's top club prize only once -- in 1992. Chelsea has never won it.
In the wake of the Turin Olympics, Juventus slipped into quarterfinals on an 88th-minute error by Werder Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese. It allowed the Italian champions to win the second leg 2-1, and they advanced on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate score.
Juventus was trailing on aggregate when Wiese lost control of the ball inside the area, and Emerson drove the ball home for an easy goal.
Midfielder Johan Micoud gave Bremen the lead in the 13th minute and David Trezeguet equalized in the 65th.
Villarreal delighted the 22,500 fans at its stadium by drawing 1-1 with Rangers to advance on away goals.
Rangers striker Peter Lovenkrands scored the first goal in the 12th minute after a mistake by Villarreal goalkeeper Sebastian Viera. But Arruabarrena scored the deciding goal in the 49th.
Three of AS Roma's top strikers are injured, its starting goalkeeper is banged up and midfielder Daniele De Rossi is suspended.
That's unlikely to slow the Italian team, which will be among the favorites when the UEFA Cup's round of 16 begins today.
German teams Schalke and Hamburg are also in that position, while Spanish club Sevilla and France's Lille are other strong contenders.
Roma opens its two-leg series at Middlesbrough, a club struggling in 15th place in the English Premier League.
Also today, it's: Rapid Bucharest versus Hamburg; Lille versus Sevilla; FC Basel versus Strasbourg; Steaua Bucharest versus Real Betis; Palermo versus Schalke; Udinese versus Levski Sofia; and Marseille versus Zenit St. Petersburg.
Roma, in fifth place in the Serie A and pushing for a European Champions League spot next season, has overcome injuries to play some of Italy's best soccer.
Striker and captain Francesco Totti is out until May following leg surgery. Fellow striker Vincenzo Montella is gone for 10 days with a back injury, and another striker, Shabani Nonda, is lost for another month with a bad knee.
"I don't have any strikers," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said recently.
Fortunately for Spalletti, he's strong on defense with Christian Panucci, Sammy Kuffour and Philippe Mexes -- and at midfield with Simone Perrotta, Olivier Dacourt, Rodrigo Taddei and Amantino Mancini.
Schalke will be without striker Kevin Kuranyi -- out after knee surgery -- and playmaker Lincoln is doubtful. The Germans are still the choice facing Palermo, which has lost two straight games and hasn't scored in three.
Sevilla and Lille face each other.
In sixth place in Spain, Sevilla will be without injured Enzo Maresca, though fellow midfielder Jose Luis Marti could return from an injury layoff.
"Lille is very physical team, like almost all French teams," Sevilla striker Javier Saviola said. "That's why it will be very important for us to play good soccer to counteract their play."
Lille is third in the French league and is coming off a 4-0 victory over Le Mans. The team is healthy and will rely on Nigeria striker Peter Odemwingie. The Nigerian scored in the last two league games, and in a 3-2 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the previous round of the UEFA Cup.
The Romanian capital Bucharest has two clubs playing -- Rapid and Steaua.
Rapid could have a problem with Hamburg, third in Germany's Bundesliga. A Bucharest newspaper has noted that Hamburg's annual budget is 12 times that of Rapid.
"We don't fear any opponent," Rapid forward Daniel Nicolae said.
Germany's sports minister defended national team coach Juergen Klinsmann, declaring that his under-fire side "will not disappoint us" at the World Cup.
Criticism of Klinsmann has intensified since last week's 4-1 friendly loss to Italy, with Franz Beckenbauer -- the president of the World Cup organizing committee -- complaining that Klinsmann returned home to California instead of attending a workshop of World Cup coaches in Germany.
However, interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who also is responsible for sports, told daily Bild that that the coach had a difficult task and the German football federation "knew Klinsmann is not easy to handle"
"I don't believe in changing horses in the middle of the river," Schaeuble was quoted as saying Tuesday. "Juergen Klinsmann has my confidence. I am still confident, despite all the weaknesses in the preparatory phase."
Schaeuble did not address frequent criticism of Klinsmann for splitting time between his homeland and California, where the coach lives with his family. Many believe he should stay in Germany until the June 9-to-July 9 World Cup.
Bild quoted Klinsmann as saying that "objectively, my appearance was not absolutely necessary" at this week's workshop. He said he has been in Germany for three out of the five weeks since the close of the Bundesliga's winter break.
"We have a working style that, for many, maybe takes some getting used to," Klinsmann said. "And if you approach something differently, you always have to expect a headwind -- but that is not a problem for me, because there are always different opinions in every profession."
Blackwell re-signed
Leeds said on Tuesday that manager Kevin Blackwell agreed to a new three-year contract.
Blackwell, whose current contract was set to expire at the end of the season, has led the club since it was relegated from the Premier League in May 2004.
He led Leeds to third place in the League Championship with 10 games left this season. The club is still in contention for automatic promotion to the Premier League.
"I feel the club is only at the start of something good. I'm positive that we can go on and achieve good things," Blackwell said. "There is nowhere else I would rather be than Leeds United. I can look to the future now and we can make plans -- but my immediate focus is on getting Leeds out of the Championship and back to where we belong."
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