A good night for Chelsea in the Champions League while Real Madrid’s struggles in the knockout stages continue.
In France, Karim Benzema scored against his former club in the 65th minute and seemed to give Real Madrid a morale boosting away victory. But Lyon’s Bafetimbi Gomis tied the score in the 83rd minute leaving the tie finely balanced heading back to the Bernabeu in three weeks.
Real will consider themselves unlucky not be heading home ahead on aggregate as Cristiano Ronaldo hit a post with a free kick in the 49th and Sergio Ramos hit the crossbar a minute later.
The draw improved Lyon’s record in the competition against nine-time champion Real to 3-0-4. The Spanish club has failed to reach the quarterfinals since 2004.
In Denmark, Nicolas Anelka scored twice for Chelsea as the English Champions are all but through to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
In the first half Anelka intercepted a pass from former Chelsea player Jesper Gronkjaer in midfield and drove toward the edge of the penalty area before beating goalkeeper Johan Wiland with a low shot in the 17th minute. Then in the 54th, Anelka scored on a half-volley following a pass from Frank Lampard.
It was not all good news for Chelsea as £50 million man Fernando Torres again was held off the scoresheet. Torres has not scored scored since Chelsea bought him from Liverpool last month.
In the final first-leg matches Wednesday, defending champion Inter Milan hosts Bayern Munich in a rematch of last year’s final and Manchester United is at Marseille.
