15 April 2005	Friday	05 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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LONDON, April 14: Former European champions Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven turned the clock back on Wednesday as they clinched places in the Champions League semifinals. Liverpool, European champions four times between 1977 and 1984, defended superbly for 90 minutes to earn a 0-0 draw with Juventus in their quarterfinal second leg.

They advanced 2-1 on aggregate and now meet Chelsea in the first all-English semifinal in the competition’s 50-year history after the London side knocked out Bayern Munich 6-5 on aggregate on Tuesday.

PSV, European champions in 1988 under current boss Guss Hiddink, drew 1-1 at home with Olympique Lyon of France leaving the tie all-square at 2-2 on aggregate at the end of 90 minutes.

With extra time failing to produce a winner, the tie became the first in the history of the Champions League knockout stages to be decided on penalties. PSV won the shootout 4-2 and will now almost certainly meet AC Milan in their semi-final.

Those matches are scheduled for April 26 and 27 with the second legs on May 3 and 4. The final is in Istanbul on May 25.

AC Milan are likely to go through after a meeting of UEFA’s disciplinary panel on Friday when the governing body will decide on the outcome of the quarterfinal with Inter Milan, which was abandoned on Tuesday after 73 minutes.

The match was stopped when Inter fans hailed flares and missiles down on to the pitch after having a goal disallowed by German referee Markus Merk when they were trailing 1-0 to their arch-rivals on the night and 3-0 on aggregate.

Liverpool not only had to see off Juve in their first match in Turin since the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985 when a charge by their fans led to the death of 39 mostly Italian supporters but they also had to keep their nerve in a hostile environment.

A huge police presence prevented any major incidents although eight Juventus fans were arrested after an attack on a Liverpool supporter earlier on Wednesday and there was some crowd trouble before the kick-off inside and outside the stadium.

But Juve fans had more reason to rue the events of the night rather than the tragedy of 20 years ago as their team failed to break down Liverpool’s solid rearguard in which Sami Hyypia was outstanding as his side reached the last four for the first time since 1985.

Liverpool now face Chelsea who have beaten them three times this season — 1-0 at home and away in the Premier League and 3-2 in the English League Cup final at the end of February.

It will be the fourth time Chelsea have played another English team in European competition dating back to 1971 and they have won three of those four games and drawn the other.

In 1971 Chelsea knocked Manchester City out of the European Cup Winners’ Cup 2-0 on aggregate and last season tey beat Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate in the quarterfinal of this competition.

Liverpool have played English teams six times before — losing to Leeds United 1-0 on aggregate in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup semifinal in 1971, beating Tottenham Hotspur on away goals in the UEFA Cup semifinal in 1973 and losing 2-0 to Nottingham Forest in the first round of the European Cup in 1978 when they were the defending champions.

The all-English tie will see a fascinating clash between Chelsea’s Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho and Liverpool’s Spanish boss Rafael Benitez.

Mourinho won the UEFA Cup with Porto in 2003 before lifting the European Cup with them the following year and he is now attempting to claim the trophy again this time at Chelsea.

Benitez lifted the UEFA Cup last term with Valencia and is now attempting to emulate Mourinho’s feat by winning the European Cup the following season.

In the night’s other quarterfinal Sylvain Wiltord gave Lyon the lead after 10 minutes in Eindhoven, their 28th goal of the competition, but it proved to be their last.

Alex equalised for PSV early in the second half and neither side could find their way through to score again.

Brazilian substitute Robert hit the winning penalty after his compatriot and goalkeeper Gomes had saved penalties by Lyon’s Ghanaian midfielder Mickael Essien and Eric Abidal.—Reuters