Arsenal's Thierry Henry (right) celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Juventus during the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final match at Highbury yesterday. Arsenal won 2-0. - REUTERS
LONDON (AP):
ARSENAL OVERCAME the emotional return of former captain Patrick Vieira to beat Juventus 2-0 yesterday in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
FC Barcelona, considered to be the best team left in the tournament, had to settle for a 0-0 draw at Benfica in the day's other match.
The last two quarter-final matches are scheduled for today with Inter Milan taking on Villarreal and Lyon hosting AC Milan.
Arsenal took the lead in the 40th minute when Robert Pires won the ball from Vieira, who had spent the previous nine years with the Gunners in London.
Pires then passed the ball to Thierry Henry, who fed Cesc Fabregas for a shot that went through the legs of Juventus defender Lilian Thuram.
Henry nearly scored another a minute later but his angled shot went wide. He then had an attempt thwarted by Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in the 60th.
The Frenchman made sure of his shot in the 69th, however, collecting a ball directly in front of the net and scoring while off-balance.
Two minutes later, Vieira was given a yellow card for kicking Jose Antonio Reyes. That card will keep Vieira from playing in the second leg in Turin on April 5.
Both Jonathan Zebina and Mauro Camoranesi were ejected late for getting their second yellow cards.
Barcelona controlled much of the match at the Stadium of Light, with Ronaldinho and Mark van Bommel both getting several good chances.
Barcelona were awarded an early indirect free kick inside the area after Benfica central defender Anderson stuck out his leg to cut off a pass to Samuel Eto'o and the ball rolled to Benfica's goalkeeper Moretto, who picked it up.
The referee deemed that a backpass and Moretto had to dive to keep out Ronaldinho's first strike on the indirect kick and the Brazilian hit the rebound over the bar.
In the 26th minute, Moretto moved to pick up a back pass but, with Ronaldinho bearing down, he skewed his clearance and had to scamper back to keep the ball from spinning to the Brazilian.
Benfica's best efforts came from long range.
Manuel Fernandes received the ball from winger Simao Sabrosa and fired a shot over the bar and Beto and Geovanni also tried their luck from far out.
In the second half, Fabrizio Miccoli replaced Laurent Robert and Benfica's attack immediately improved.
But Barcelona hit the post twice in two minutes - first from Henrik Larsson, running into the area to meet a Ronaldinho pass, and then Van Bommel with a header from a corner kick.
Benfica finally found a way through the Barcelona defence when Miccoli and Geovanni tested Victor Valdes from short range in quick succession.
