March 10, 2006	Friday	Safar 9, 1427

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LONDON, March 9: AC Milan, Arsenal, Lyon and Benfica reached the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday. Defending champion Liverpool and nine-time champions Real Madrid are out, however.

Three other clubs advanced on Tuesday - FC Barcelona, Villarreal and Juventus. The eighth club will be decided next Tuesday in Milan with Ajax and Inter Milan level at 2-2 heading into the second leg.

AC Milan, a six-time champion and a finalist last year against Liverpool, ripped through Bayern Munich 4-1 to advance 5-2 on aggregate.

Filippo Inzaghi scored two goals, including the opener in the eighth minute, with Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka getting the others. Valerien Ismael scored for Bayern, a four-time European champion.

Arsenal, which has yet to win Europe’s top club prize, reached the quarterfinals for the third time in six seasons and is the only English team left in the competition.

The Gunners, who have never been beyond the final eight, held Real Madrid to a scoreless draw at Highbury and advanced 1-0.

Real Madrid was also ousted at this stage last season and hasn’t won a trophy in three seasons. Earlier this month, club president Florentino Perez resigned, replaced a week ago by Fernando Martin.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger saluted his defense, which shut out the Spaniards in two straight games.

Lyon got its revenge.

Ousted from the quarterfinals last season by PSV Eindhoven, the French champions prevailed 4-0 _ and 5-0 on aggregate. Tiago scored two goals and Sylvain Wiltord and Fred added the others.

Liverpool was the shock winner in 2005.

This time the surprise quarterfinalist is Benfica, which defeated the Reds 2-0 to advance 3-0. Simao Sabrosa scored the first goal and Fabrizio Miccoli added the other.

Benfica, a two-time European champion, is in third place in Portuguese league, five points behind FC Porto.

The draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals is Friday in Paris. The first leg of the semifinals is set for March 28-29.

Results:

Arsenal 0 Real Madrid 0

(Arsenal advances 1-0)

Liverpool 0 Benfica 2

(Benfica advances 3-0)

Lyon 4 PSV Eindhoven 0

(Lyon advances 5-0)

AC Milan 4 Bayern Munich 1

(Milan advances 5-2)