Champions League - Barcelona to appeal Webb decisions

Barcelona will appeal to UEFA to reverse the punishments incurred by coach Pep Guardiola and forward Lionel Messi in Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Messi was shown a yellow card for diving in the penalty area by English referee Howard Webb in the first half of the 4-0 win over Bayern Munich and Guardiola was ordered to the stands for protesting the decision.
A statement on the English language version of the club's official website reads: "FC Barcelona will appeal against the yellow card received by Messi in the 17th minute after being tackled by Lell inside the penalty box. The English referee Howard Webb ignored the penalty shout and decided that Messi had taken a dive and therefore booked him.
"As a result of this, Pep Guardiola made a heated protest against the decisions of the linesman and the referee and was subsequently expelled from the bench and had to watch the rest of the match from the stands.
"The Club will appeal both decisions.
UEFA may not announce its decision on the appeals until after Tuesday's return leg in Munich, due to the Easter holidays, but there is the possibility that a panel could meet and make a ruling this Saturday.

Ancelotti 'to take over at Chelsea next season'

LONDON (AFP) - AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has agreed to take over at Chelsea next season to replace interim coach Guus Hiddink, the Sun newspaper reported on Thursday.
The report said Ancelotti has agreed a contract worth 5.8 million pounds a season to move into the hotseat at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea, who took a giant step towards the Champions League semi-finals by beating Liverpool 3-1 in Wednesday's quarter-final first leg at Anfield, earmarked the Italian as their first choice after Hiddink insisted he wanted to resume coaching the Russian national team on a full-time basis at the end of the season.
The Sun, quoting unnamed sources at AC Milan, said the personal intervention of Chelsea's billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich had proved decisive in swinging the deal with Ancelotti.
Chelsea's form has improved since Hiddink took over from Luiz Felipe Scolari in February but Abramovich has been unable to persuade the Dutchman to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge beyond May.
Ancelotti has one year left on his contract at the San Siro, but the Sun said he had an agreement with the club allowing him to leave at the end of the current campaign.
AC Milan's vice-president Adriano Galliani insisted on Wednesday that neither Ancelotti nor the club's Brazilian star Kaka would be leaving after interest in both from Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Ronaldo: "How much can you ask about the" Real "?

Krishtianu Ronaldo and Alex Ferguson is already tired of the rumors constantly woo Portuguese in Madrid "Real". Giving a press conference before chetvertfinalnym match of the Champions League with Porto, reporters again asked about whether its future is "white." Krishtianu responded to his volumes and eloquent silence, and then smirk. Sitting next to him she added: "How many more times we will have to answer this question? How many more times we will have to answer to him?" - Crustily said Ferguson. "Always the same question," - added Ronaldo. "Yeah, it is terrible," - re-entered Ferguson. "I am happy in this club. I think this is the best club for me" - graduated from Ronaldo.

Unlikely hero Ivanović heads Chelsea charge

Two headers by Branislav Ivanović and a clinical finish by Didier Drogba brought Chelsea FC to the verge of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals as they ended their barren run of European visits to Liverpool FC.
Goal flurryChelsea had only a John Arne Riise own goal to show for the previous four recent UEFA Champions League trips to Anfield but Serbian defender Ivanović, who had never previously scored for Chelsea, found the net from two corners either side of the break, while Drogba neatly tucked the third in from four metres out. Liverpool now have an enormous job on their hands at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday if they are to stay in the competition, despite forging an early lead through Fernando Torres.
Torres strikesDirk Kuyt set the move rolling for that sixth-minute goal with a superb back-heel out to the right wing, where Álvaro Arbeloa crossed for Torres to calmly side-foot the ball into the corner of the net from close to the penalty spot. Moments later, Drogba had a glorious chance to equalise when he found himself through on Pepe Reina after being released by Salomon Kalou at the Kop end, but the Spanish goalkeeper – making his 100th appearance in UEFA club competition – blocked the Ivorian striker's shot, which was straight at his body.
Chelsea responseChelsea responded well and had Liverpool under pressure after earning two free-kicks in promising positions, both blocked by the wall. Florent Malouda then threatened Reina's goal after being found by Drogba, but the Frenchman dragged his left-foot shot wide. Play ebbed and flowed with no sign of the tension or nerves of previous meetings between these two sides on Merseyside as Torres shook off the close attention of Frank Lampard before curling an effort over the top.
Ivanović off markMichael Ballack then played Drogba into space with a perfect pass, but the striker's shot cleared the crossbar comfortably. Chelsea eventually got the equaliser that their pressure deserved in the 39th minute. Full-back Ivanović, in for the injured José Bosingwa, sprinted into the box to meet Malouda's corner with a firm header past Reina.
Terry outChelsea upped the tempo further still after the restart and could have gone in front after 51 minutes when Drogba, after a swift interchange with Lampard, beat Reina with his low shot but Jamie Carragher produced a fantastic clearance from right on the goal line. John Terry was then booked for a dangerous challenge on Reina, a caution which means the Chelsea captain will miss the second leg.
Visitors aheadAll that was forgotten in the 62nd minute, however, when Ivanović again found the target with another headed goal from a corner, Lampard the provider this time. As if matters could not get any worse for Liverpool, they did just that five minutes later when Drogba finally got his reward by neatly finishing off an inviting cross from the left by Malouda. Liverpool simply had no reply and fell to a UEFA Champions League home defeat only equalled when FC Barcelona won here 3-1 in November 2001. While the Kop was muted, Chelsea fans are already dreaming of a fifth semi-final in six seasons.

Barça brilliance turns tables on Bayern

An enthralling first-half display put FC Barcelona within touching distance of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals for the third time in four seasons as FC Bayern München were brushed aside at the Camp Nou.Outstanding displayTwo first-half goals from Lionel Messi plus one each from Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry ripped through the resistance of a Bayern side who had themselves scored a record 12 times against Sporting Clube de Portugal in the previous round, comprehensively ending the German club's 100 per cent competitive record against Barça here. Ten years on from their final defeat by Manchester United FC there was more misery in Barcelona for Bayern, for whom Hans Jörg Butt made only his second start of the season in goal in place of Michael Rensing. The decision to opt for experience was to no avail as the Liga leaders imposed themselves at will with all three strikers in dazzling form.
Early breakthroughBarça were into their stride from the first whistle and, even before Messi's ninth-minute opener, a lovely interchange of passes between Daniel Alves, Xavi Hernández and Henry allowed the latter to round Butt. Martín Demichelis cleared off the line but the respite was brief for a Bayern defence already deprived of Lucio and Daniel Van Buyten and with a calf injury restricting Philipp Lahm to a place on the bench. Within moments Andrés Iniesta dribbled past Hamit Altıntop and Eto'o held off Breno before setting Messi free to slide past Butt. Carnival atmosphereThe falling rain made the playing surface quick, but Barça's passing and movement were even slicker and Eto'o duly made it two in the 12th minute. Iniesta and Messi combined again, the Barça No10 picking out Eto'o's run in time to let the striker slip the ball under the advancing Butt. The carnival atmosphere was dampened slightly when Josep Guardiola was sent to the stands for his protests after Messi went down under Christian Lell's challenge, but in the 38th minute the Argentinian reacted by adding his eighth goal of the competition – becoming its leading scorer in the process – applying the finishing touch to Henry's low cross despite the attentions of three defenders. Three became four when Messi tormented the Bayern defence again and, though he was felled by Mark van Bommel, Eto'o expertly exploited the advantage to help the ball reach Henry. Having scored Barça's 700th goal in UEFA club competition against Olympique Lyonnais on Matchday 8, Henry took the pass and rolled his own 50th UEFA Champions League strike inside the far post.
Excellent savePerhaps naturally the tempo dipped slightly in the second half as the home side moved the ball around crisply and Bayern worked intensely hard to staunch the flow of goals. Nonetheless it took a wonderful save from Butt to deny Messi his hat-trick; Gerard Piqué's long crossfield pass was controlled perfectly and Lell outsprinted before Messi hit a fierce left-footed shot which the keeper parried on to the crossbar and over. After Carles Puyol had denied Bayern even a consolation with a perfect tackle on Zé Roberto, substitute Seydou Keita inadvertently kept the score at 4-0 by blocking Messi's goalbound shot although Bayern's task in Tuesday's second leg is already sufficiently daunting, a match Barcelona's Rafael Márquez will miss through suspension after his late booking.