Manchester United and FC Barcelona won first leg road games in the quarterfinals of the Champions League putting them in excellent position to advance next week when they play the second legs at home. Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney scored as United defeated AS Roma 2-0 while Bojan Krkic scored for Barcelona in a 1-0 win over Schalke.

"We can't take anything for granted, but we definitely feel like we can reach the semifinals,” United manager Alex Ferguson said. Wednesday’s other two quarterfinal first legs have Arsenal hosting Liverpool and Fenerbahce home against Chelsea. Soccer Betting at SBG Global.
 
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brilliant goal to give United the lead against Roma in the 39th minute as he jumped over Marco Cassetti and headed in a cross from Paul Scholes. Roma put on some pressure in the second half but couldn’t get the equalizer and Rooney scored in the 66th minute to put the game away.

"Ronaldo's goal changed the game for us," Ferguson said. "I thought Roma had some good chances the first 15 minutes of the second half. But there are breaks in a football match and I think they were with us today." Roma was missing injured captain Francesco Totti and his absence hurt their offense. "We deserved more. The result penalized us more than the way the game went," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. "Now qualifying will be very difficult, but we can't commit the error of thinking it's already over." The second leg will be at Manchester United where Roma has virtually no chance to overcome a two goal deficit.  Last year they were routed by a score of 7-1 at Old Trafford.
 
Barcelona is still unbeaten in the Soccer Betting Champions League after getting a 12th minute goal from Krkic.  The goal came after Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had saved a shot from Thierry Henry but Henry was able to get the rebound and pass to Krkic who put it in. "We played well on the flanks, we won the ball, we controlled most of the game," Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said. "Bojan made all the right decisions on the field and behaved like an experienced player."   Barcelona was playing without Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Deco but it didn’t matter as Schalke was outclassed from the start. "We should have put them under more pressure from the start," Schalke coach Mirko Slomka said. "It's not going to be easy in Barcelona but we wouldn't be going there if we didn't have any hope."
 
Receive up to 105% in Total Bonuses from SBG Global!
50% Casino Match Play Bonus
Up to 30% Initial Deposit Bonus
10% Buddy Referral
$250,000 NBA Match up Contest

---