Breakthrough win for Leverkusen

Germany's Bayer Leverkusen enjoyed one of greatest triumphs in their history on Tuesday when they won a pulsating tie with Liverpool to reac...

Germany8217;s Bayer Leverkusen enjoyed one of greatest triumphs in their history on Tuesday when they won a pulsating tie with Liverpool to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.

The Bundesliga leaders were joined in the last four by Barcelona who saw off Panathinaikos after an early scare in a thrilling night of quarter-final, second leg action.

An 84th-minute goal by Brazilian defender Lucio sealed a dramatic 4-2 victory for Leverkusen in Germany that gave them a 4-3 aggregate success and a place in the last four against either Manchester United or Deportivo Coruna.

In the Catalan capital Barcelona conceded an early goal but roared back to win 3-1 against Greek opponents Panathinaikos, scraping through 3-2 overall to set up a semi-final against either Spanish rivals Real Madrid or holders Bayern Munich.

Two-goal Michael Ballack was the inspiration behind Leverkusen8217;s stunning triumph as they tore four-times European champions Liverpool apart.

The German international gave Leverkusen a deserved 16th-minute lead and, after Abel Xavier8217;s equaliser for the English club, headed them back in front just after the hour.

There was plenty of drama to come, though. Dimitar Berbatov quickly made it 3-1 to Bayer before Finnish substitute Jari Litmanen looked to have put Liverpool, who won the first leg 1-0, through on away goals when he scored with 11 minutes to go.

Story continues below this ad

But defensive lynchpin Lucio had the final word and Liverpool were left to regret a hat-trick of Michael Owen misses as they suffered their first loss in 16 away games in Europe.

Barcelona lost 1-0 in Greece in the first leg and suffered another shock when Michalis Konstantinou drove 1996 semi-finalists Panathinaikos in front after only eight minutes, meaning Barcelona needed to score three to progress.

They duly did. The 1992 European champions equalised after 23 minutes when Javier Saviola fed Luis Enrique who prodded the ball home.

The Spanish international then headed his second five minutes into the second half, by which time Barcelona had brought on Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert in a desperate bid for goals.

Story continues below this ad

Saviola coolly scored the decisive third goal after 61 minutes to spark joyous celebrations in the Nou Camp and Carles Rexach8217;s side survived a nerve-wracking finale to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2000.

8220;What I liked was that despite going down 2-0 on aggregate so early on in the game we never panicked and were able to turn the game around,8221; said Rexach.

8220;With the way we were playing I always had faith that we could score the necessary goals and get back into the tie.8221;

Reuters