The Spanish Armada was stopped at the shores of perfidious Albion this week. The big two in Spanish football both slipped up against English opposition in the Champions League quarter finals, and will have their work cut out to progress any further in the competition. Real Madrid were held to a goal-less draw by Manchester United at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Real Madrid's Englishman Steve McManaman was the man of the match, although he missed a chance to put his team ahead in the second half. Barcelona were hit by an eight minute whirlwind at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea scoring three goals through Zola and Flo (2) in the first half. Figo pulled one back after the break to give the Catalans an outside chance. Valencia turned the form books upside down however with a spectacular 5-2 victory against Lazio, and could be Spain's only representative in the semi-finals. Angulo and Gerard both scored in the first four minutes of the game, and Gerard went on to complete a hat-trick in the second half. Inzaghi and Salas pulled two back, but Piojo Lopez scored right at the end to restore the three goal advantage.

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Real Madrid 0 - Manchester United 0

Real Madrid: Casillas; Salgado, Karanka, Iván Campo, Roberto Carlos; McManaman, Iván Helguera, Redondo, Savio (Balic 76'); Morientes (Ognjenovic 86'), Raúl. 4-4-2.
Manchester United: Bosnich; Gary Neville, Stam, Berg, Irwin (Silvestre 87'); Beckham, Keane, Scholes (Butt 81'), Giggs; Yorke (Sheringham 76'), Cole. 4-4-2.

Real Madrid left themselves with a lot to do after drawing at home to Manchester United. The last two winners of the Champions League failed to score as keepers Casillas and Bosnich kept out two of the best strike forces in Europe. Despite the result both sides had a multitude of chances, and in fact a 4-2 would probably have been a more appropriate scoreline. Del Bosque was missing Hierro and Sanchis through injury and Guti through suspension, but Morientes returned to join Raúl in attack. Iván Helguera played a roving role, making a third central defender when Manchester attacked and joining the forwards when play was at the other end. Giggs passed a late fitness test for United, who were virtually at full strength. The players came out one by one as if it was a game of American football and were warmly applauded by a crowd which surprisingly was not at full capacity. The first minutes belonged to Madrid, with Bosnich saving from Salgado and then pushing a header from McManaman over the bar. Cole was the most dangerous of the United forwards, and he brought a good save out Casillas halfway through the half. French referee Giles Veissiére waved away Madrid's appeals for a penalty for a push by Bosnich on Raúl, and then disallowed a goal by Yorke for a dubious offside. The pace slowed somewhat in the second half as players tired, and Del Bosque brought on Balic for Savio with 15 minutes to go, Sheringham coming on for Yorke at the same time. The Bosnian got free but shot wide minutes after coming on, and a few minutes later McManaman wasted the best chance of the match, hurrying his shot and hitting Bosnich on the knee after Morientes had put him through. Butt and Silvestre came on for Scholes and Irwin to give fresh legs to the defence, and four minutes from time Del Bosque put his saleable wares up in the shop window, 'Atom' Ognjenovic coming on for Morientes. All now depends upon the second leg at Old Trafford, with Madrid needing at least a score draw to go through to a tie with the winner of Bayern Munich and Oporto.

Chelsea 3 - Barcelona 1

Chelsea: De Goey; Ferrer, Desailly, Thome, Babayaro; Morris, Wise, Deschamps, Petrescu (Di Matteo 70'); Zola, Flo (Sutton 87'). 4-4-2.
Barcelona: Hesp; Frank De Boer, Abelardo; Puyol (Litmanen 46'), Xavi, Bogarde; Cocu, Gabri;Figo Kluivert (Dani 70'), Rivaldo. 2-3-2-3.

Part time commando group leader Louis Van Gaal lead his geo-force team to Stamford Bridge with instructions to return with the match ball. However the opposition this time were not Nike's ninja robots but an international Chelsea side lead by mastermind Gian Luca Vialli, and the boss met his match. The visitors were without their 'brain', Josep Guardiola, who had not recovered from a bruised left knee, and the captain's presence was sorely missed. Chelsea's starting line up included nine foreigners, including right back Chapi Ferrer who played for the Azulgrana before joining the London club. Up to the half hour mark either team could have scored, with De Goey and Hesp both making good saves. However Zola broke the equilibrium with a fee kick from the edge of the area which bent over the defensive wall and past Hesp, and a few minutes later he set up Flo for a second goal with a good pass from the right. Barcelona were reeling, but there was more to come, Flo scoring his second and his team's third with a lob over the advancing Hesp on their next attack. The three goals had come in a period of just eight minutes, and by half time Chelsea were already studying hotel brochures for Valencia and/or Rome. Van Gaal brought on Litmanen at the break for Puyol, with Gabri dropping back to right back as he had done in their last league match, and the team came out with all guns blazing. Rivaldo went close with a shot and Kluivert placed a header into the hands of De Goey before Figo gave his team an outside chance with a precious away goal, turning Rivaldo's cross past the Chelsea keeper. Dani came on for Kluivert as the Catalans pushed for a second, but the home side were close to adding to their lead, with their little and large strike force of Zola and Flo a constant danger. Dani could have scored in injury time but De Goey was there once again, and Barcelona fell to their first Champions League defeat of the season. Van Gaal's commandos lost this one, but thanks to the 'eel' they could still turn it around. Fans are hoping for another 'noche mágica' along the lines of their famous comebacks in similar circumstances against Gothenborg in 1986 and Dynamo Kiev in 1993. There will be 100,000 supporters cheering them on, and the club could land a famous double if their basketball team win through in their final four semi-final against Maccabi Tel Aviv. However Chelsea have the upper hand and have the experience to support the pressure. Second and final episode in Barcelona in 13 days time.

Valencia 5 - Lazio 2

Valencia: Cañizares; Angloma, Djukic, Pellegrino, Carboni; Angulo, Farinós, Gerard, Kily González; Claudio 'Piojo' López, Juan Sánchez (Oscar 81'). 4-4-2.
Lazio: Ballotta; Gottardi, Negro, Mihajlovic, Pancaro; Stankovic (Conceicao 61'), Simeone (Salas 75'), Almeyda, Nedved, Verón; Inzaghi (Boksic 67'). 4-5-1.

The press had made up their mind before this game that Valencia were going to be the Spanish team to be eliminated in the quarter finals, coming up against an experienced Lazio side who had already tasted blood when they won the last cupwinners cup against Mallorca last year. The home side had obviously not read the script however, as they thrashed their rivals with a display of football that left bookies working overtime to reduce their odds. With club captain Mendieta still out, Héctor Cúper relied on his group of Spanish under 21 internationals filling midfield in front of a veteran defence. They proved they were up to the task immediately, and within four minutes they had gone two ahead, first through Angulo who followed up after Ballotta had blocked Piojo's shot, and then with a brilliant solo goal from Gerard. Valencia could have gone further ahead, with Kily González in particular going close on a couple of occasions. Lazio can never be ruled out however, and Inzaghi got ahead of Cañizares on the half hour mark to pull one back from Nedved's cross. It was their turn to attack, and Verón was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty a few minutes later when he was tackled heavily by Pellegrino. But this was Valencia and in particular Gerard's night, and the young midfielder completed his hat-trick, scoring five minutes from the interval with a powerful header from Piojo's free kick, and getting his third after Ballotta had failed to hold on to Kily's cross. Eriksson brought on two experienced forwards in the second half, with Boksic replacing Inzaghi and Salas coming on for Simeone, and the two combined for Salas to control the ball and toe poke it past Cañizares four minutes from time. It was still not over though, and Piojo López raced through in the last minute to get the goal he deserved against what will be his new club in July. The three goal cushion should be enough for Valencia to qualify for a semi-final tie with either Barcelona or Chelsea. Having also scored two goals for the Spanish under 21 side against Italy last week, Gerard is being penciled in on the must-buy list for half the clubs in Italy, and there are calls for him to be included in the full Spanish squad for Euro 2000 rather than the under 21 version. It's probably a bit early for that, but the player who left FC Barcelona to seek opportunities elsewhere will surely be a star in the future. Valencia will do their utmost to keep him.