Madrid pay the price for missed chances

Real Madrid's dreams of a Champions League final at their Bernabeu home were crushed by Lyon as the Spanish giants were knocked out at the last-16 stage for the sixth successive season.

By The Newsroom

Published 11th Mar 2010, 09:04 BST

Updated 11th Mar 2010, 09:05 BST

Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh Champions League goal of the season gave Madrid the perfect early start as he netted after just six minutes to level up the aggregate scores at 1-1.

However, Madrid failed to make the most of their chances and they paid the price as Miralem Pjanic smashed home a 75th-minute equaliser for Lyon to send Manuel Pellegrini's men crashing out.

Arsenal centre-back Thomas Vermaelen is hoping to have the last laugh on the club's critics after being written off in the both the Champions League and Premier League title races.

Arsene Wenger's men have rallied to within two points of the Premier League summit and on Tuesday overcame a first-leg deficit to beat Porto and qualify for the last eight of the Champions League.

"We've been written off twice already I think," said Vermaelen. "But we're still in the race for both things."