Four away sides go one up in

PARIS – Three of the four away sides came away with positive results from their Champions League last 16 first-leg clashes on Tuesday night.

In fact, even holders Liverpool could feel optimistic about their chances of progressing despite losing 1-0 away at Benfica on a night when goals were at a premium. Arsenal probably pulled off the result of the night when a moment of individual brilliance by Thierry Henry made the difference as the Gunners beat Real Madrid 1-0 away.Their inexperienced defence then held out well, far better in fact than Real’s England defender Jonathan Woodgate, who further embellished his reputation as ‘Mr Sick Note’ by going off early in the encounter with a hamstring injury.Liverpool’s former manager Gerard Houllier enjoyed a more pleasant evening as his Lyon outfit matched their conquerors from last year’s quarter-finals PSV Eindhoven in The Netherlands in the first-half and then edged them 1-0 with a second-half free kick by Brazilian playmaker Juninho.The four-time French champions then had to hold out for the last 10 minutes with 10 men after Sidney Govou was sent-off by the extremely card happy Greek referee for a second bookable offence.The other match saw Bayern Munich held 1-1 at home by Italian giants and finalists last time out AC Milan.However, the Andriy Shevchenko penalty that got the visitors their invaluable away goal sprung from a dubious decision.Arsenal have had a pretty rough time domestically this term but like Liverpool last year they appear to have saved their best performances for the Champions League.Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was justifiably proud of his relatively young and inexperienced team.”We needed big nights from Thierry Henry, Kolo (Toure) and Gilberto (Silva) but the young players did well.In fact there was not a single player who did not have an outstanding game.”Real coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro admitted his side had underperformed and let themselves down after reviving their league campaign over the past six weeks.”We just did not play well,” he said.”We were convinced we were going to put on a great performance but we hit a barrier and will have to play really well in a fortnight.”Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez was more concerned by the serious eye injury sustained by Mohamed Sissoko when it connected with Beto’s highflying boot than the overall performance of his champions, who went down to a goal by Luisao.”For me it was a game for a draw and then we conceded from a free kick,” said the Spaniard.However he had far from given up hope for the return leg in a fortnight’s time.”We know the other team is very difficult, but if we score one goal we start again and with the supporters behind us maybe we can go and get two.”His predecessor in the Liverpool hot seat, Houllier was not counting his chickens yet even after securing the excellent result at Eindhoven, who had not been beaten at home in any competition since December 2004.AC Milan handler Carlo Ancellotti rejected any accusations his Italian boys had stolen a draw at Bayern with the penalty awarded against the German side’s Valerien Ismael for handball.-Nampa-AFPArsenal probably pulled off the result of the night when a moment of individual brilliance by Thierry Henry made the difference as the Gunners beat Real Madrid 1-0 away.Their inexperienced defence then held out well, far better in fact than Real’s England defender Jonathan Woodgate, who further embellished his reputation as ‘Mr Sick Note’ by going off early in the encounter with a hamstring injury.Liverpool’s former manager Gerard Houllier enjoyed a more pleasant evening as his Lyon outfit matched their conquerors from last year’s quarter-finals PSV Eindhoven in The Netherlands in the first-half and then edged them 1-0 with a second-half free kick by Brazilian playmaker Juninho.The four-time French champions then had to hold out for the last 10 minutes with 10 men after Sidney Govou was sent-off by the extremely card happy Greek referee for a second bookable offence.The other match saw Bayern Munich held 1-1 at home by Italian giants and finalists last time out AC Milan.However, the Andriy Shevchenko penalty that got the visitors their invaluable away goal sprung from a dubious decision.Arsenal have had a pretty rough time domestically this term but like Liverpool last year they appear to have saved their best performances for the Champions League.Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was justifiably proud of his relatively young and inexperienced team.”We needed big nights from Thierry Henry, Kolo (Toure) and Gilberto (Silva) but the young players did well.In fact there was not a single player who did not have an outstanding game.”Real coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro admitted his side had underperformed and let themselves down after reviving their league campaign over the past six weeks.”We just did not play well,” he said.”We were convinced we were going to put on a great performance but we hit a barrier and will have to play really well in a fortnight.”Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez was more concerned by the serious eye injury sustained by Mohamed Sissoko when it connected with Beto’s highflying boot than the overall performance of his champions, who went down to a goal by Luisao.”For me it was a game for a draw and then we conceded from a free kick,” said the Spaniard.However he had far from given up hope for the return leg in a fortnight’s time.”We know the other team is very difficult, but if we score one goal we start again and with the supporters behind us maybe we can go and get two.”His predecessor in the Liverpool hot seat, Houllier was not counting his chickens yet even after securing the excellent result at Eindhoven, who had not been beaten at home in any competition since December 2004.AC Milan handler Carlo Ancellotti rejected any accusations his Italian boys had stolen a draw at Bayern with the penalty awarded against the German side’s Valerien Ismael for handball.-Nampa-AFP