Uefa Champions League 2006-07 Knockout Stage

[Juliane Bari]

Sincethe title holders (Barcelona) qualified for the Champions League group stage through their domestic league, the group stage spot reserved for the title holders is vacated, and the following changes to the default access list are made:[3]

* Due to the armed conflict going on in Israel, UEFA decided that no European matches could be staged in the country until further notice.[7] The match was played at Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine.[8]

The top two teams in each group advanced to the knockout stage, and the third-placed teams entered the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup. Based on paragraph 4.05 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:

All knockout rounds are two-legged, except for the final. In the event of aggregate scores being equal after normal time in the second leg, the winning team will be that which scored more goals on their away leg: if the scores in the two matches were identical, extra time is played. The away goals rule also applies if scores are equal at the end of extra time. If there are no goals scored in extra time, the tie is decided on a penalty shootout.

The draw for the first knockout round of the competition took place on 15 December 2006 in Nyon, Switzerland.[10] The team first out of the hat in each tie plays the first leg of their tie at home, and the second leg away. This team is denoted as "Team #1" below.

On 8 February 2007, the Italian government announced that the San Siro in Milan was unsafe for spectators after the rioting that had occurred during and after a league match in Catania six days earlier. As a result, the venues of the first leg of the Inter-Valencia tie scheduled for 21 February and the second leg of the Celtic-Milan tie scheduled for 7 March were thrown into doubt. Various proposals and offers of the use of stadia outside Italy were made,[11][12] but it was finally agreed that the Inter-Valencia tie would be played at the San Siro with a reduced capacity of 36,000. After further work at the San Siro, Italian authorities and UEFA announced that the second leg of Celtic-Milan would go ahead at the stadium, at its full capacity of 85,700. 4,500 seats were reserved for Celtic supporters.[13]

The draw for the final stages, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, was held on 9 March 2007 in Athens, Greece. The draw was conducted by ad interim UEFA CEO Gianni Infantino, assisted by Friedrich Stickler, chairman of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee. Theodoros Zagorakis, the captain of Greece in Euro 2004, was appointed ambassador for the final.

The Final took place on 23 May 2007 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. Unlike the other knockout rounds, the final was played over just one match, with extra time in case of a draw after 90 minutes. If the teams were still level following extra time, a penalty shootout would have determined the winner.

Liverpool FC's magical powers of recovery were demonstrated in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League final, but AC Milan were not to be denied twice, with Filippo Inzaghi's double in the Athens decider taking the trophy to San Siro.

As Carlo Ancelotti faced the press after AC Milan had defeated Liverpool FC 2-1 to win the UEFA Champions League in Athens it was clear the Rossoneri coach had completed his own personal odyssey. The journey had been long and arduous, but for the 47-year-old the fact the destination was so unexpected made it all the sweeter.

When AC Milan last played at the OACA Spyro Louis Stadium in the group stage the previous November, Ancelotti's team were at their lowest ebb. Sixteenth in Serie A, they had won just one of their previous four league matches. Forget about winning the UEFA Champions League, the real challenge was to qualify for the competition again. The form of many of the side had dipped following their exertions helping Italy lift the FIFA World Cup the previous summer and Milan were also feeling the effects of a difficult pre-season.

Plans had to be changed at the last minute after they were docked points for their part in the sporting fraud scandal, which meant starting the season earlier than expected in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. FK Crvena Zvezda were duly beaten, but the affects of having to play those matches would be felt long into the campaign. By the time Milan lost to AEK in November, Ancelotti's job was on the line. Another Group H defeat would follow against LOSC Lille Mtropole at San Siro on Matchday 6 but by then Milan were safely through to the knockout rounds.

The superlative Kak aside, Milan had looked less than convincing and a narrow 1-0 aggregate victory against Celtic FC in the first knockout round hardly assuaged the doubters. Kak would get the winner that night, one of ten en route to finishing as the tournament's leading scorer. A stuttering FC Bayern Mnchen were seen off in the quarter-finals to set up what would prove to be a thrilling semi-final against Manchester United FC. United had defeated AS Roma 7-1 at Old Trafford in the previous round and they hit three more in a 3-2 win against Milan. The Rosseneri, however, hit their stride in the return and United had no answer to a brilliant first-half performance that set up a 3-0 win and a rematch of the 2005 final.

It was a case of dj vu for Liverpool who had also defeated Chelsea FC in the semi-finals in 2005 and did so again here. Goalkeeper Pepe Reina was the star for the Reds who triumphed in a penalty shoot-out at Anfield after the two sides had swapped 1-0 away wins. Rafael Bentez's side had eased through a group containing Galatasaray SK, PSV Eindhoven and FC Girondins de Bordeaux before knocking out holders FC Barcelona in the first knockout round and PSV, again, in the last eight. With Chelsea out of the way the psychological mind games could begin. Liverpool had clawed back a 3-0 first-half deficit before beating Milan on penalties in the 2005 final and that match was scrutinised as the Athens return loomed.

Milan played down talk of revenge but the sense of relief was huge when Filippo Inzaghi deflected in his side's opener shortly before half-time. A second Inzaghi strike with eight minutes to play sealed Milan's victory and their seventh European Champion Clubs' Cup even though Dirk Kuyt reduced the arrears in the final minute. Ancelotti was twice a European Cup winner with Milan as a player and he triumphed again as Rossoneri coach in 2003.

Nothing, however, could match victory in Athens. If losing to Liverpool two years previously had been the low point of his career, this was the high. Revenge didn't come into it. "Very few people expected Milan to win this most important of trophies this season, perhaps nobody expected it," Ancelotti said. "It is the greatest victory we've had. We never lost sight of what we wanted to achieve."

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United States international Ricardo Pepi came off the bench to help PSV Eindhoven rally from two goals down against Sevilla and advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2015-16.

Pepi entered the match in the 83rd minute and scored the winner in stoppage time to give PSV a 3-2 win over 10-man Sevilla on Wednesday, leaving the Dutch club in second place in Group B, one point behind Arsenal and three points in front of third-place Lens.

"To be honest, when I saw that we scored the 2-2 goal, I talked to [teammate][ Patrick [van Aanholt] and I said, 'This is our moment,'" Pepi said. "We felt like it was an important goal that we scored and we knew the winner was coming."

Sevilla stayed with two points and were eliminated. They will fight for third-place -- and a Europa League spot -- when they visit Lens in the final round. It is the third straight season the Spanish club have failed to advance past the group stage.

"In the Champions League, the small details will make the difference," said veteran defender Sergio Ramos, who scored the 10,000th goal in Champions League history from group stage to final. "We were in control but going a man down turned out to be crucial."

It was PSV's first away win in the Champions League since 2007. They have won consecutive games in the competition -- excluding the qualifying rounds -- for the first time since the 2006-07 season, when they won three in a row in the group stage on their way to the quarterfinals, when they were eliminated by Liverpool. PSV had beaten Lens in the previous round.

Ismael Saibari pulled the visitors closer two minutes later with a neat left-footed flick from inside the area off a cross by U.S. defender Sergio Dest, and PSV equalized with an own-goal by Nemanja Gudelj in the 81st before Pepi got the winner with a header from near the penalty spot two minutes into stoppage time.

The hosts had a few chances to add to their lead in the first half, first when Djibril Sow had a goal disallowed by video review for a handball in the 39th, and then a minute later when En-Nesyri hit the crossbar with a dangerous header.

The 37-year-old Ramos scored the milestone 10,000th goal after a free kick taken by Ivan Rakitic. It was the veteran defender's first goal with Sevilla since he scored in a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid in 2005, before he joined the Spanish powerhouse.

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