United sink Inter, Barca run riot

Holders Manchester United soothed a painful old wound for Alex Ferguson by beating Inter to reach the Champions League last eight and Barcelona gave Olympique Lyon a 5-2 mauling yesterday.

United struck with headers from Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo to seal a 2-0 win at Old Trafford after a goalless draw in Italy and make it a satisfying night for Ferguson against his old nemesis Jose Mourinho.

Max Tonetto missed the crucial spot-kick as Arsenal beat Roma 7-6 on penalties after the Italian hosts won the second leg 1-0.

Roma made it 1-1 on aggregate after nine minutes when defender Juan, who later went off injured, slammed in at the far post after Arsenal had allowed Francesco Totti's ball to run across the box.

The home side also had a strong shout for a penalty when Marco Motta went down under pressure from Gael Clichy just before half-time.

Arsenal had a few decent chances in normal time but neither side came close in a tired extra period.

The exits of Inter and Roma yesterday means there are no Italian teams left in the competition.

Barcelona led Lyon 4-0 after Thierry Henry had struck twice and Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o joined in the fun, before conceding two quick goals either side of half-time to the French side.

The Catalans were flirting with disaster but they gradually regained composure and a late strike from Seydou Keita rounded off a 6-3 aggregate win.

Porto sneaked through at the expense of Atletico Madrid, their 0-0 draw in the second leg enough to see them through on the away goals rule following a 2-2 draw in the Spanish capital two weeks ago.

Atletico coach Abel Resino left striker Diego Forlan on the bench until the 55th minute and his team struggled to create chances in the first half, only coming close on 16 minutes when Luis Perea forced Helton to make a smart save.

Porto continued to dominate in the second half and almost took the lead twice in the 71st minute, with Raul Meireles's free-kick tipped over the bar and Cristian Rodriguez's header from the corner drawing another save from the keeper.

Five years ago Mourinho finished the night dancing up the Old Trafford touchline after his Porto team pulled off a shock victory over United on their way to winning the 2004 Champions League.

Mourinho continued to get the better of Ferguson on a regular basis after taking over at Chelsea and there were times last night when it looked like being a familiar story.

Vidic's early goal still left Inter needing just one goal to edge ahead and they very nearly got it, with Dejan Stankovic twice going close and Zlatan Ibrahimovic heading against the bar.

Inter continued to look the better side at the start of the second half before the deftest of chips from Wayne Rooney set up Ronaldo to settle the tie.

Liverpool reached the last eight on Tuesday as a stunning 4-0 win at home to Real Madrid secured a 5-0 aggregate victory over the nine-times European champions.

Bayern Munich outscored them, beating Sporting 7-1 and a record 12-1 over the two legs to take their place, Villarreal edged past Panathinaikos and Chelsea got the better of Juventus.

United record

Manchester United set a record of 21 matches unbeaten in major European competitions last night.

United broke the record they shared with Juventus, who went 20 matches unbeaten in the UEFA Cup between 1970 and 1972.

The English champions' last defeat in Europe was 3-0 away to Milan in the semi-finals of the 2007 Champions League.

United also extended their unbeaten home record in the Champions League to 19 matches, winning 15 of them. Milan were the last team to beat United at Old Trafford in the competition, 1-0 in the same round four years ago.