Manchester United and Bayern Munich play out draws

HAMBURG, APRIL 5. Holder Manchester United and Bayern Munich are one match away from meeting again after the memorable 1999 final when both played to draws on the road in the European champions league quarterfinals on Tuesday . United got a scoreless draw at record seven-times winner Real Madrid after a thrilling encounter between the last two years' winner in front of a 65,000-strong Bernabeu crowd.

The English champion is favoured to wrap up the tie on April 18 at Old Trafford and has history on its side as it also beat Real in their last meeting en route to the 1968 crown.

Munich also has an excellent chance to advance after a lucky and undeserved 1-1 draw at Porto. An 80th-minute strike by Munich's Paulo Sergio shocked the 25,000 fans and cancelled out a competition-high ninth strike from Jardel in the 47th minute. The winner of the two ties meets in the May 2-3 and 9-10 semifinals and the final is played on May 24 in Paris' Stade de France.

Despite the impression offered by the scoreline, the much-vaunted clash between Madrid and Manchester was a compelling match with plenty of chances at either end and excellent displays of keepers Mark Bosnich and Iker Casillas.

Real made an aggressive start as Michel Salgado, Steve McManaman and Fernando Morientes all forced sharp saves from the elastic Bosnich. United took control before the interval, and would have taken the lead had it not been for the wastefulness of Andy Cole. Their domination continued into the second half before Real made a late surge in the final twenty minutes. Roberto Carlos went close with three characteristically powerful but poorly directed free-kicks and the pressure also led to clear chances for substitute Elvir Balic and McManaman, both of whom were unable to beat the magnificent Bosnich.

Manchester is favoured in a fortnight at Old Trafford. But a Spanish surprise should not be ruled out as Real has the best away form in the Spanish league, and expect captain Fernando Hierro and Nicolas Anelka back from injury and a club suspension respectively.

Coming off domestic league weekend disappointments (Porto fell four points behind leader Sporting after losing 1-0 to Benfica, Munich lost the Bundesliga lead to Bayer Leverkusen), the match in Porto started in slow fashion.

Jens Jeremies had an early chance for Munich, but from then on it was all one-way traffic towards the Germans' goal with Capucho (29th), Jardel (41st) and Esquerdinha (44th) close to scoring. Porto was finally awarded for its attacking efforts 80 seconds into the second half. Stefan Effenberg only half- heartedly tackled Ljubimko Drulovic which allowed the Yugoslav international an accurate cross to the unmarked Jardel, who headed high into the net. Aloisio in the 49th and Jardel's header in the 78th almost doubled Porto's lead. But the host was then shocked in the 80th when Effenberg had his only moment with a defence-splitting pass to Sergio, who fired a low drive past Hilario for a surprise equaliser.

- DPA.

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Section  : Sport
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