London, March 9:

AC Milan, Arsenal, Lyon and Benfica reached the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday. Defending champion Liverpool and nine-time champions Real Madrid are out, however.

Three other clubs advanced on Tuesday — FC Barcelona, Villarreal and Juventus. The eighth club will be decided next Tuesday in Milan with Ajax and Inter Milan level at 2-2 heading into the second leg.

AC Milan, a six-time champion and a finalist last year against Liverpool, ripped through Bayern Munich 4-1 to advance 5-2 on aggregate. Filippo Inzaghi scored two goals, including the opener in the eighth minute, with Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka getting the others. Valerien Ismael scored for Bayern, a four-time European champion.

Arsenal, which has yet to win Europe’s top club prize, reached the quarter-finals for the third time in six seasons and is the only English team left in the competition. The Gunners, who have never been beyond the final eight, held Real Madrid to a scoreless draw at Highbury and advanced 1-0.

Ousted from the quarter-finals last season by PSV Eindhoven, the French champions prevailed 4-0 — and 5-0 on aggregate.

Tiago scored two goals and Sylvain Wiltord and Fred added the others.

Liverpool was the shock winner in 2005. This time the surprise quarter-finalist is Benfica, which defeated the Reds 2-0 to advance 3-0. Simao Sabrosa scored the first goal and Fabrizio Miccoli added the other.

The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals is on Friday in Paris. The first leg of the semi-finals is set for March 28-29.