March 09, 2007	Friday	Safar 19, 1428

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LONDON, March 8: Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven booked their places in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, dashing English hopes of making European football history.

Bayern stormed back from a 3-2 defeat in Spain to beat Real 2-1 on the night and qualify on the away goals rule after a 4-4 aggregate, while United beat Lille 1-0 at Old Trafford for a 2-0 aggregate win, ending an acrimonious knockout round tie.

PSV drew 1-1 at Arsenal, their defender Alex scoring an own goal and then the vital late equaliser to secure a 2-1 win over the two legs and deny England the chance of becoming the first country to put four clubs into the last eight.

Milan needed extra time to get past Celtic as their Brazilian playmaker Kaka scored a fine winner in the 93rd minute after the teams had been goalless for 180 minutes.

Bayern, United, Milan and PSV will join 2005 winners Liverpool, Chelsea, AS Roma and Valencia, who all qualified on Tuesday, in the quarter-final and semi-final draw on Friday.

Both last year's finalists are out, however, as runners-up Arsenal join Barcelona, knocked out by Liverpool, on the sidelines.

Bayern's triumph was a classic encounter between two European heavyweights and the tone was set when Dutch striker Roy Makaay put the Germans ahead after 10 seconds - the fastest goal in Champions League history.

Bayern created and missed a host of chances before Lucio headed the second in the 66th minute but a penalty converted by Real's Dutch forward Ruud van Nistelrooy made for a pulsating finish, marred by two red cards.

Bayern's Mark van Bommel and Real's Mahamadou Diarra were dismissed after receiving second yellow cards as they jostled before Nistelrooy took the spot kick.

The result extended nine-times champions Real's appalling record in Germany, where they have now won only one of 21 European matches.

Manchester United's Swedish on-loan striker Henrik Larsson, playing his last competitive home game for them before returning to his native Helsingborg, headed their winner 18 minutes from the end of a dour game.

United will certainly be glad to see the back of a tie that was dogged by animosity since their controversial winner against Lille in Lens two weeks ago.

The French team's players appeared to walk off the pitch in protest at Ryan Giggs's quickly-taken free kick and their club appealed unsuccessfully to UEFA while United were unhappy with the way their fans were treated.

The two managers have exchanged barbs, with United's Alex Ferguson accusing Lille of adding to an already inflammatory situation with their behaviour since the game in France.

Brazilian defender Alex was villain-turned-hero for PSV, deflecting in a 58th minute own goal but then rising superbly to head the equaliser in the 83rd minute to put the Dutch through.

Arsenal's exit capped a calamitous 10 days which saw them lose a stormy League Cup final to Chelsea and then get dumped out of the FA Cup by Blackburn Rovers.

The draw for the quarter-and semi-finals will be held on Friday in Athens, which is also hosting the final on May 23.

Wednesday’s results:

First knockout round second leg matches:

AC Milan 1 Celtic 0, after extra time

(AC Milan win 1-0 on aggregate)

Arsenal 1 PSV Eindhoven 1

(PSV Eindhoven win 2-1 on aggregate)

Bayern Munich 2 Real Madrid 1

(4-4 on aggreagate, Bayern Munich win on away goals rule)

Manchester United 1 Lille 0

(Manchester United win 1-0 on aggregate)

—Reuters