Roma were quite unlucky not to get more out of this match and after the match Daniele De Rossi admitted his first-half penalty miss was the pivotal moment in the Italian club's defeat.
It was a highly-charged moment and probably I had too much time to think before taking it. I've scored penalties in important games like the World Cup final during my career but tonight I was less fortunate. I'm deeply sorry. I hoped that this would not have happened to me, especially tonight in a special game like this."
Let’s get one thing straight, Manchester United without Ronaldo and Rooney are not Manchester United... they’re more like Scunthorpe United on RedBull... and even though they came out charged (that’s what 5 cans does to you), Roma settled and started to play the ball around a lot nicer, yet once again, as was the case last week, they failed to capitalize on their chances. A full strength United will win the Champions League this year. They want it more than anyone at the moment.
In all fairness, Barcelona played like crap and they still won. Some critics say that that’s the sign of a good team; not me though! To me it could only mean 1 of 2 things. 1. Ronaldinho has to stop partying and come back into the team and 2. Rijkaard should employ cheerleaders that offer blow jobs as incentives for playing well. Maybe then the team will pick up its act... wait a minute is'nt that why they’re in this slump at the moment?... cause Ronnie is cashing in on 2 years worth of "incentives"!?
Ps. They won’t beat United in the semi’s.
Arsene Wenger felt his defense played a part in Arsenal's downfall as Sami Hyypia was allowed a free header to equalise Abou Diaby's opener and Fernando Torres found time to turn and score his side's second. After Gerrard's penalty, Babel completed the scoring with a stoppage-time fourth.
The defeat was not down to mental strength though, it was down to a lack of experience defensively. We made big mistakes and we conceded a goal from a corner and on the second goal we gave Fernando Torres too much room."
Hey Adebayor, watch Fernando Torres and you might learn how to score a goal! Had he finished that through ball by Hleb midway through the second half, the match would have been turned on its head. So finally the saga that was this threesome of matches ended and much to my surprise, Liverpool prevailed... and deservedly so. After conceding the first they woke themselves up and took the match by the scruff of the neck putting a lot of pressure on Arsenal. In the end, Liverpool's experience shone through and the young Gunners didn't know where to hide. Important lessons learned.
A brave Fenerbahçe went to Stamford Bridge looking to take something from the match... instead they were given an early headache by Michael Ballack’s 4th minute goal and then a sucker punch to the nads late in the match by Frank Lampard. Apparently after the game, Chelsea manager Avram Grant gathered his players in the locker room and got them to sign a card made out to team Fenerbahçe. One side read "Get well soon" and when you opened it up there was a picture of all the players lining up against Liverpool that read "Wish you were here!?"