Liverpool, Milan advance to semi-finals

LONDON – Liverpool became the third English team to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday, and AC Milan claimed the final spot in the last four.

Liverpool, a five-time European Cup champion, got a goal from Peter Crouch to beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in the second leg and advance 4-0 on aggregate. Six-time champion Milan downed Bayern 2-0 to progress 4-2 on aggregate.Clarence Seedorf scored Milan’s first goal in the 27th minute and set up Filippo Inzaghi for the second in the 31st.In the semi-finals, Liverpool will face Chelsea on April 25 and May 1 in a rematch of the 2005 semifinals, which Liverpool won before claiming its most recent European Cup title.Milan will take on Manchester United on April 24 and May 2.Seedorf put Milan ahead after taking a pass from Kaka and dribbling around a defender before shooting past Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn from the edge of the area.Four minutes later, Seedorf’s deft backheel put Inzaghi through alone on Kahn, and the Italian calmly sent his shot over the onrushing Bayern captain.The goal was Inzaghi’s 36th in the Champions League.”The day couldn’t have gone better,” Seedorf said.”We played very well defensively and we were always a threat….We allowed a couple of early chances but then we scored and we closed our ranks.”Bayern nearly had taken the lead in the eighth minute.Christian Lell had Milan goalkeeper Dida beaten with a tap off a cross from Mark van Bommel, but defender Massimo Oddo cleared it off the line.Van Bommel had several chances in the second half, including two shots in the 63rd, as Bayern pressed for goals.”We got a 2-2 draw in Milan and we had great hope that we would advance.But we always knew that Milan can win away from home,” Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said.Nampa-APSix-time champion Milan downed Bayern 2-0 to progress 4-2 on aggregate.Clarence Seedorf scored Milan’s first goal in the 27th minute and set up Filippo Inzaghi for the second in the 31st.In the semi-finals, Liverpool will face Chelsea on April 25 and May 1 in a rematch of the 2005 semifinals, which Liverpool won before claiming its most recent European Cup title.Milan will take on Manchester United on April 24 and May 2.Seedorf put Milan ahead after taking a pass from Kaka and dribbling around a defender before shooting past Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn from the edge of the area.Four minutes later, Seedorf’s deft backheel put Inzaghi through alone on Kahn, and the Italian calmly sent his shot over the onrushing Bayern captain.The goal was Inzaghi’s 36th in the Champions League.”The day couldn’t have gone better,” Seedorf said.”We played very well defensively and we were always a threat….We allowed a couple of early chances but then we scored and we closed our ranks.”Bayern nearly had taken the lead in the eighth minute.Christian Lell had Milan goalkeeper Dida beaten with a tap off a cross from Mark van Bommel, but defender Massimo Oddo cleared it off the line.Van Bommel had several chances in the second half, including two shots in the 63rd, as Bayern pressed for goals.”We got a 2-2 draw in Milan and we had great hope that we would advance.But we always knew that Milan can win away from home,” Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said.Nampa-AP