2008–09 UEFA Champions League knockout phase
The knockout phase of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League began on 24 February 2009 and concluded with the final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009.
[2] Bayern Munich defeated Sporting CP by 12–1 on aggregate in the first knockout round; the biggest two-leg win in Champions League era.
[3] English side Arsenal gained a first leg advantage with a 1–0 home victory against Roma at the Emirates Stadium, courtesy of Robin van Persie's 37th-minute penalty.
[4] The other English team in action, Manchester United, drew 0–0 with Internazionale at the San Siro, failing to score the away goal they had been hoping for.
In the match at the Estádio José Alvalade, Franck Ribéry gave the Germans the lead in the 42nd minute and Miroslav Klose doubled their advantage in the 57th.
Ribéry scored again from the penalty spot in the 63rd before a brace from Luca Toni put the tie out of Sporting's reach, even before the second leg.
Fernando Torres doubled Liverpool's aggregate lead in the 16th minute, and Steven Gerrard made it 2–0 on the night with a 28th-minute penalty.
[15] In the other games, Sporting CP departed the competition after setting a new Champions League record aggregate defeat of 12–1 to Bayern Munich.
After a 0–0 draw at the San Siro in the first leg, United were aware that an away goal for Inter would make it difficult, but they made the perfect start with centre back Nemanja Vidić scoring with a header after four minutes.
Thierry Henry scored twice in the space of a couple of minutes shortly before the half-hour mark to put Barcelona 3–1 up on aggregate before Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o made it 4–0 just before half-time on the night.
Lyon scored two consolation goals through Jean Makoun on the stroke of half-time and Juninho just after the break, but Barcelona added a fifth in the final minute.
[21] In the last game to finish, Roma defeated Arsenal 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico with Juan scoring in the ninth minute.
[26] Manchester United played their first leg at home at Old Trafford against Porto, the team who had knocked them out in the first knockout round five years before.
Porto took an early lead, in the fourth minute, when Cristian Rodríguez netted past Edwin van der Sar.
The advantage lasted only 11 minutes, however, at which point Wayne Rooney scored the equaliser, chipping the ball over the advancing Helton following a careless back-pass from Bruno Alves.
The sides were meeting in the Champions League for the fifth straight season, having last faced each other in the competition in the 2008 semi-final, when Chelsea advanced to the final.
However, their lead only lasted until the 39th minute when the Liverpool defence allowed Branislav Ivanović too much space at a corner and he was able to power a header past Pepe Reina.
[28] In the final game, played on the same evening, two of the most successful European clubs, Barcelona and Bayern Munich met at the Camp Nou in Spain.
Despite starting the match as outsiders, Liverpool looked to be well on the way towards their target as they took a 2–0 lead within half an hour and levelled the scores at 3–3 on aggregate.
The match finished 1–1, giving Barcelona a 5–1 aggregate win to set up a fourth tie with Chelsea in five seasons two weeks later.
Both teams were without key players: Arsenal had to play without goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, William Gallas and Gaël Clichy while captain Marcos Senna and Santi Cazorla were missing for Villarreal.
Emmanuel Adebayor followed up a Van Persie free kick with a header on goal, but Gonzalo Rodríguez cleared the ball off the line.
The tie was over in the 69th minute when Godín was adjudged to have fouled Walcott; Sebastián Eguren collected a second yellow card for his protests before Van Persie scored from the penalty spot.
[32] The final quarter-final second leg tie was between Porto and Manchester United, played simultaneously with Arsenal's match.
Manchester United looked to recall Rio Ferdinand from a back injury to partner Nemanja Vidić in central defence.
Chelsea were knocked out by Barcelona after a highly controversial performance by referee Tom Henning Øvrebø,[34] while Arsenal's 3–1 loss to Manchester United in the second leg of the semi-finals was the club's first defeat at the Emirates Stadium in a European competition.
The game started well for Chelsea and in the ninth minute Michael Essien scored a 20-yard left-footed volley after Barcelona had failed to clear a pass into the box from Frank Lampard.
Almost as soon as referee Tom Henning Øvrebø blew the final whistle, several Chelsea players surrounded him with complaints regarding his decisions.
[38] In the post-game analysis on Sky Sports 2, the four commentators unanimously held that of the four possible penalty appeals turned down by the referee, three of them should have been awarded, including the shirt-pulling against Didier Drogba by Eric Abidal which would have otherwise been a one-on-one against the goalkeeper, the lob over Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué that was blocked by his outstretched right hand in the 82nd minute, and the last-minute upper arm block by Eto'o.
