Premiership: Liverpool out of Champions League

Liverpool have crashed out of this year’s Champions League after losing the second leg of their quarter-final against Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen last night.

The Merseysiders took a 1-0 aggregate lead into the game, but that was cancelled out when Michael Ballack scored for Leverkusen after 16 minutes last night.

Abel Xavier equalised for Liverpool, but the Germans pulled away in the second half and took a 3-1 lead with goals from Ballack and Dimitar Berbatov. Jari Litmanen then turned the tables again, leaving Liverpool trailing 3-2, but leading the tie on away goals.

However, Brazilian defender Lucio grabbed the decisive winner with just six minutes remaining to give Leverkusen a 4-3 aggregate win.

The German side, currently four points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, now face a semi-final clash with either Manchester United or Deportiva La Coruna, who meet at Old Trafford tonight.

United take a 2-0 lead into the game and are strong favourites to claim the semi-final berth.

In the other side of the draw, Barcelona have secured a semi-final place after beating Panathinaikos of Greece 3-1 in the Nou Camp last night and 3-2 on aggregate. Barcelona could end up facing their Spanish rivals Real Madrid, who meet Bayern Munich in the second leg of their quarter-final tonight.

The German’s take a 2-1 lead to the Bernebeu after winning last week’s first leg at home.