Bayern Munich won the first leg away match of quarter stage in style.

Lastnight the French side Marseille host the four times European Champion German powerhouse Bayern Munich in the first leg stage of the quarter final of the UEFA Champions League at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France. The result was as expected the visitors win their first away match easily in a 2-0 margin.

Visitors scored both the goals in both the halves of the match, Mario gomes scored the first goal for the visitor just one minute to spare in the first half while the Dutchman Arjen Roben scored the second for the visitors in 69^th minute of the game & sealed the game for the German side.

SANDIP KARMAKAR_ONLINE FOOTBALL JOURNAL. FACEBOOK . TWITTER. LINKEDIN .

Barca & AC Milan made a goalles draw in the first lef of the quarterfinal stage

Lastnight two European giants met on the UEFA Champions League first leg quarter final when the seven times European Champion Italian giant AC Milan host the four times European Champion Barcelona at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. The match could be described as the clash of the titans, without any argument the two best teams of the world right now took on each other but there is nothing to separate these former UEFA Champions League winners at the midway stage of their quarter-final tie after a tense goalless draw in San Siro, now both the teams will go to Nou-Camp next Tuesday for securing a berth in the semis stage of the tournament.

Josep Guardiola's visitors dominated for long spells and Xavi Hernández and Lionel Messi impressed throughout with their mesmerising footwork, yet the hosts' rearguard, marshalled superbly by Alessandro Nesta, defended resolutely. But for errant finishing, the Rossoneri might have sneaked a win. Before long, though, the Catalans were reverting to type and Nesta had to use foul means to prevent Messi from snaking into the area again. The Argentinian forward curled the resulting free-kick just over. With the visitors determined to plunder an away goal, Guardiola replaced Iniesta with the lively Tello, who sent a vicious shot wide on 73 minutes. Apart from all those the uneven bounce & the slow pace of San Siro troubled both the teams during the match.

SANDIP KARMAKAR_ONLINE FOOTBALL JOURNAL. FACEBOOK . TWITTER. LINKEDIN .

Nothing uneven happened in the UEFA Champions League quarter finals first leg lastnight, both the giants won their away matches. Real Madrid smashed the Cypriot side APOEL by a 3-0 margin while Chelsea have defeated the Portugese side Benfica in Lisbon.

The fairytales of the Cypriot side APOEL almost ended in front of their homecrowd lastnight. They defended the Spanish giant Real Madrid throughout the entire first half, ended in a goalless draw. But just after restart of the game it looked the known Real Madrid in their known rhythm. Kaka took a great part in the second half, Karim Benzima scored the first goal from a free header following a lob from Kaka in the 74^th minute of the game, kaka himself scored the second goal for the visitors in 81^st minute, Karim Benzima scored the third for the visitors & his second in the exat 90^th minute of the match.

In another match in Lisbon the hosts fought well throughout the entire match but the Ivorian International scored the solitary goal for the visitors & secured the win in the 75^th minute of the game following a pass from Fernando Torres. Chelsea is the only team remaining from England in the Champions League, win in the away match will give the boost in their next round home match.

SANDIP KARMAKAR_ONLINE FOOTBALL JOURNAL. FACEBOOK . TWITTER. LINKEDIN .

UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals First Leg

The biggest ever mismatch is going to happen in UEFA Champions League history when the Cypriot side APOEL is going to host their first leg tie in UEFA Champions League against the Spanish giant Real Madrid in Nicosia tonight. The match can be described easily as Liliput in front of Galibhar. APOEL is the first team from Cyprus to qualify till the quarter final stage of UEFA Champions league, whether Real Madrid is the nine times European Champion. The hosts are banking on their Greek goalkeeper Dionisios Chiotis, whose heroic activities guided the homeside to quarter stage following a tie-breaker win against the French side Lyon in the round of sixteen stage. While the visitors are going to miss their star mid-fielder Xabi Alonso due to his two back to back yellow cards in the round of sixteen against CSK Moscow. With Lassna Diarra injured, Esteban Granero is likely to slot in alongside the German international Sami Khedira in the holding midfield role for the visitors.

Meanwhile in another vital match in Lisbon, Benfica

will host the only existing British

challenge Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal. Chelsea coach Di Matteo is strongly depending on two ex Benfica players, defender David Luiz & midfielder Ramires who both played at Benfica before joining Chelsea. Nevertheless, Di Matteo insists his players like nothing better than proving all the critics wrong, they stormed into quarter stage by overturning their first leg deficit of 0-2 against the Italian side Napoli. While the hosts also entered in quarter stage by overturning their first leg 2-3 deficit against the Russian side Zenith St. Petersburg.

SANDIP KARMAKAR_ONLINE FOOTBALL JOURNAL. FACEBOOK . TWITTER. LINKEDIN .

Mohun Bagan Shared points with Air India following a 2 all draw today in a vital encounter of 21st round of I-league

After Dempo SC the another powerful contender of this year I-League Championship Mohun Bagan Shared points with Air India following a 2 all draw today in a vital encounter of 21^st round of I-league at Chattrapati Shivaji Stadium in Baliyari, Pune, the Kolkata giant not only shared the points they almost left out from the championship battle. It could well be a bitter sleepless night for all the Mohun Bagan supporters with full of tears on their eyes . Everybody was targeting heavily after the poor performance of Federation Cup & CFL this season, even regarding the I-League Mohun Bagan denied to play the prestigious IFA Shield this year but the dreams of Green & Maroon supporters are flooded & drowned in the river Mandovi in Goa today. It could well be said from now that Kolkata is going to miss the I-League trophy this year too if Dempo SC doesn’t make a big mess in their remaining matches then Goa is going to hold the crown this year too.With the help of 2 all draw in their away match Mohun Bagan secured the second position of the I-League table with 38 points in 21 matches just behind Dempo SC 46 points in 21 matches, both the teams have five matches left ahead, while East Bengal also have 38 points in 21st matches but regarding their first leg defeat they are in the 3^rd position.

After a long gap of one & half month Mohun Bagan started their campaign today against the homeside Air India, known for their giant killing ability. From the very beginning the Green & Maroon brigade never looked in a good rhythm rather the hosts were very much composed & committed from the beginning. Although against the run of play Manish Maithani scored the first goal for the Mariners from a long ranger just outside the box in the just 20^th minute of the game, just after the minute Mandeep Singh equalized for the hosts taking the advantage of poor defending quality of the visitors. Mandeep Singh scored once again & gave lead to the hosts by scoring form a rebound at the 38^th minute of the game, but Odafa Okoli once again rescued the Mariners by scoring the equalizer in the 59^th minute of the game. In between both the teams missed lots of opportunities, Oda made the wood work once again, merely missed the goal.

SANDIP KARMAKAR_ONLINE FOOTBALL JOURNAL. FACEBOOK . TWITTER. LINKEDIN .