Associated Press

London, February 24:

Barcelona rallied with second-half goals from Maxi Lopez and Samuel Eto’o to beat Chelsea 2-1 before 90,000 at Camp Nou stadium, capitalising on a 10-man Chelsea in Champions League.

Lopez scored in the 66th and Eto broke through in the 73rd following a controversial sending off in the 56th of Chelsea’s Didier Drogba. Chelsea, which had little possession in the first half, was lucky to be leading after 45 minutes following an own-goal from Barca’s Juliano Belletti.

It was a bad night for English clubs in the first leg of the round of 16. Manchester United lost 1-0 to AC Milan on Hernan Crespo’s goal late in the second half.

In Wednesday’s other first-leg games, defending champion Porto rallied for a 1-1 draw at home against Inter Milan on a strike in the 61st from Ricardo Costa, and French league leader Lyon won 3-0 at Werder Bremen on goals from Sylvain Wiltord, Mahamadou Diarra and Juninho Pernambucano.

In Tuesday’s matches, it was: Real Madrid 1, Juventus 0; Liverpool 3, Leverkusen 1; PSV 1, Mon-aco 0; Bayern Munich 3, Arsenal 1.

Seven of the eight return-leg games are in two weeks, with the survivors reaching the quarter-finals of Europe’s most prestigious club tournament. Inter and Porto will play on March 15.

Barca’s win was a personal victory for coach Frank Rijkaard. The game turned in the 56th when Swedish referee Anders Frisk ejected Drogba with his second yellow card. Drogba chased a loose ball in the area and raised his foot high, attempting to jar the ball loose from the hands of Barca keeper Victor Valdes. Rijkaard then made his move, sending on Lopez, who scored minutes later. Barca, which had most of the possession before the sending off, had almost all of it afterward.

Six-time winner AC Milan edged Man United by capitalising when United goalie Roy Carroll failed to hold a routine long-range shot. He dropped the ball, which Crespo prodded into an empty net 12 minutes from the end.

French champion Lyon will return home with a nearly insurmountable 3-0 lead over Werden Bremen. Even before the match, there was bad news for Bremen. Ivan Klasnic injured a tender thigh in warming up, forcing Miroslav Klose to take his place.

Defending champion FC Porto fell behind on a goal in the 24th by Inter Milan’s Obafemi Martins — his fifth in five Champions League games. Ricardo Costa equalised for the Portuguese in a goalmouth scramble in the 61st minute. Goalkeeper Francesco Toldo failed to grasp a high ball at the back post, allowing Francisco Costinha to pass inside to the central defender who bundled the ball into the net.