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Real Madrid was ousted from the
European Champions Cup with a 3-1 loss to AS Monaco in the quarterfinals on
Tuesday night, and Arsenal was eliminated with a 2-1 loss to London rival
Chelsea.
Monaco overcame a 4-2 deficit from
the first leg of the home-and-home, total goals series on March 24, tying the
aggregate score and advancing to a semifinal matchup with Chelsea because it
scored more away goals.
``This is exceptional,'' Monaco
coach Didier Deschamps said.
Real Madrid, a nine-time European
champion, was favored to win the cup this year, especially after adding English
midfielder David Beckham to a team nicknamed ``Los Galacticos'' because of its
many stars.
``It's very bad.'' Madrid's
Zinedine Zidane said. ``That's the way things are. What can I say? We'll have to
look at it more calmly later.''
Raul Gonzalez put Real Madrid ahead
in the 36th minute at Monaco, but Fernando Guily tied it in the 36th minute and
Fernando Morientes, who is on loan from Madrid, put the visitors ahead in the
48th. Giuly scored the decisive goal of the series in the 66th minute.
In London, Jose Antonio Reyes
scored for Arsenal in the 45th minute, but Frank Lampard tied the score in the
51st and Wayne Bridge got the go-ahead goal in the 87th to give Chelsea a 3-2
aggregate win.
Arsenal, which is unbeaten in 30
English Premier League games and holds a four-point lead over second-place
Chelsea, was coming off a 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup semifinals
Saturday.
``When you are such a long unbeaten
run as we are, when you lose the first game you know by experience that you are
in trouble for the next one,'' Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger said. ``Once you hit
the wall you take some time to recover.''
On Wednesday, defending champion AC
Milan takes a 4-1 lead into its second leg at Deportivo de La Coruna and FC
Porto goes into its game at Lyon with a 2-0 advantage.
The Champions Cup final is
scheduled for May 26 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. |
