ANKARA
Four matches out of eight in UEFA Champions League Round 16 completed on Wednesday. Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain having been predicted as the favourites of the round, each qualified for the quarter finals by eliminating their opponents.
Atletico Madrid smashed Italian club Milan on Tuesday 4-1 at home in which the Turkish star of the Spanish team, Arda Turan, scored a goal. Other scorers for "Atleti" were their Spanish forward Diego Costa scoring a brace and his fellow citizen Raul Garcia who found the net once. Meanwhile, Milan's goal which was scored by Brazilian attacking midfielder Kaka was not enough to keep the Italian team at play since the first leg in Milan ended as a 1-0 Spanish triumph.
Recent winners of the UEFA Champions League, Germany's Bayern Munich had a lacklustre second leg in Munich. The showdown against English team Arsenal at Allianz Arena ended as a 1-1 draw on Tuesday. Bayern Munich eliminated Arsenal despite the draw since "Die Bayern" won the first match 2-0 in Arsenal's home ground, Emirates Stadium. While German international of Bayern Munich Bastian Schweinsteiger scored for "Die Bayern", Arsenal's single goal came from German forward Lukas Podolski.
Barcelona knocked England's Manchester City out of the tournament by defeating City 2-1 in Camp Nou Stadium on Wednesday. As Catalan giants Barcelona cruised past City 2-0 before, the 2-1 score was enough for them to qualify for the next round. Barcelona's Argentine world class forward Lionel Messi scored the first goal of the match in Camp Nou. City's Belgian defender Vincent Kompany retaliated by scoring the equaliser goal in the 89th minute but Catalan team's Brazilian full-back Dani Alves' goal in injury time determined the result of the match.
French Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) gained a blowout against Germany's Bayer Leverkusen in Paris on Wednesday. The match at Parc des Princes Stadium ended as a 2-1 French victory. Although Bayer Leverkusen's German midfielder Sidney Sam scored the opening goal of the game, home team PSG made a quick response with their Portuguese defender Marquinhos. In the second half Parisian team's Argentine regular Ezequiel Lavezzi who made PSG take the lead in the match determined the result as 2-1. With this result, the Parisian giants eliminated their opponents since they had won the first match 4-0 in Germany.
Results of the four matches out of eight in UEFA Champions League Round 16 are as follows:-
Atletico Madrid 4 - 1 Milan (Aggregate 5-1)
Bayern Munich 1 - 1 Arsenal (Aggregate 3-1)
Barcelona 2 - 1 Manchester City (Aggregate 4-1)
Paris Saint Germain 2 - 1 Bayer Leverkusen (Aggregate 6-1)
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