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| April 25, 2003 | Friday | Safar 22, 1424 |
Ronaldo’s triple ends United’s advance in Champions League
PARIS, April 24: Brazilian World Cup hero Ronaldo turned boos into cheers on Wednesday as his hat trick ensured Real Madrid edged into the Champions League semifinals despite a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Manchester United in a pulsating match at Old Trafford.
The 26-year-old had exited to boos from Real fans a fortnight ago during the first leg but a different welcome awaits him on his return to Madrid as his goals saw the nine-time winners triumph 6-5 on aggregate.
However the press that awaits United manager Sir Alex Ferguson could well have a different hue after waiting for more than an hour to introduce talismanic England skipper David Beckham and the reputed Real target did his transfer value no harm at all by scoring two goals.
It was too little too late to emulate the only side to have overhauled a two goal deficit — Barcelona against Chelsea in 2000 — and left Real’s shaky defence to meet Juventus in the semifinals in a repeat of the 1998 final which Real won 1-0.
The other semifinal will see Inter Milan face bitter city rivals AC Milan after the latter saw off a valiant young Ajax side 3-2 with a late goal by Danish international Jon-Dahl Tomasson to seal a remarkable week for Italian clubs and confirm they were back at the top table of European club football after a fallow period.
The Milan derby will be only the second time that clubs from the same city have met in a European semifinal — the ubiquitous Real Madrid having met Atletico Madrid in the 1958-59 tournament which predictably went the former’s way.
For AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti it was a rare pleasant moment in a season of unmitigated misery and probably ensured he stayed in his post for a little longer — how defeat to Inter might go down is another matter.
An Inter win and victory for Real would permit Ronaldo to meet one of his former clubs in the showpiece final and Real coach Vincente del Bosque was quick to pay homage to his clinical finishing.
“Tonight was his night,” the normally lugubrious Del Bosque said.
“We managed to create three chances for him and he scored from all three, and he also gave us a good target.”
While both Ferguson and del Bosque concurred as to the quality of the match the Scot was firmly on the defensive over his late introduction of Beckham, who has also had to sit on the bench for vital Premiership matches with Newcastle and Arsenal of late.
“(Ole-Gunnar) Solskjaer has been in great form down the right for us and tonight he created several chances and had a few himself and it isn’t binding that he stays as a substitute — he is also a first team player.”
Ancelotti bore the look of a mightily relieved man as the weekend’s embarrassing defeat at home to Empoli was banished — for the moment anyway — as his decision to send on Tomasson late in the match paid off big time with Ajax looking set to progress on the away goals rule as the match was tied 2-2.
Wednesday’s results:
Quarterfinals (second leg):
In Milan:
AC Milan 3 Ajax Amsterdam 2
First leg: 0-0. AC Milan win 3-2 on aggregate.
In Manchester:
Manchester United 4 Real Madrid 3
First leg: 1-3. Real Madrid win 6-5 on aggregate.
Played on Tuesday:
In Valencia:
Valencia 2 Inter Milan 1
First leg: 0-1; aggregate result 2-2. Inter Milan win on away goals rule.
In Barcelona:
Barcelona 1 Juventus 2
First leg: 1-1. Juventus win 3-2 on aggregate after extra time.—AFP/Reuters
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