Nervous Bayern edge past Arsenal
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| | QUARTERFINALISTS | AC Milan (Italy)
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Chelsea (England)
Juventus (Italy)
Liverpool (England)
Lyon (France)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
*Inter Milan (Italy) or Porto (Portugal)
*Second leg to be played March 15 in Milan. First leg 1-1
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LONDON, England -- Bayern Munich edged into the Champions League last eight despite a 1-0 defeat by Arsenal at Highbury.
The German side's 3-1 first leg advantage proved enough to earn them a 3-2 win on aggregate but Thierry Henry's 66th-minute strike for English champions Arsenal ensured a nervous finish for the visitors.
France striker Henry controlled a long ball forward neatly and fired home to crack the resistance of the German Bundesliga leaders who had barely been troubled until then.
Arsenal have never progressed beyond the quarterfinals of Europe's elite club competition and again came up short following a dismal first leg performance in Munich.
"We're obviously all delighted," Bayern coach Felix Magath said. "It was tense until the final whistle. Things got tight after Arsenal got the goal. It's a tremendous relief that we made it through.
"We controlled the match and only made the one mistake that led to their goal. Arsenal are a team that could have made it to the finals and won the Champions League."
Four-times European champions Bayern outplayed Arsenal in the first leg a fortnight ago and picked up where they had left off.
Felix Magath's side were missing top scorer Roy Makaay through injury but had Germany midfielder Michael Ballack back to bolster the midfield.
The Germans' all-Peruvian strike force of Paolo Guerrero and Claudio Pizarro, who scored twice in Munich, carried more of a threat than Arsenal's attack in a tense first half.
The home side's only real effort of note came at the end of a frustrating opening period. Bayern's German international goalkeeper Oliver Kahn stood his ground, however, when Henry escaped down the left and blocked the France striker's shot with his legs.
Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira dragged a volley wide at the start of the second period as the English side desperately sought a goal to get back into the tie.
With 25 minutes left Wenger threw on a barely match-fit Robert Pires and almost immediately Arsenal scored.
Left back Ashley Cole chipped diagonally towards Henry and he controlled the ball in an instant before slamming it low across Kahn and into the corner of the net.
Ballack clattered Vieira soon after as the temperature rose on a chilly north London night and the German then dribbled through before drawing a brilliant save from Kahn's rival for the Germany shirt, Arsenal's Jens Lehmann.
Kolo Toure, scorer of Arsenal's goal in the first leg, forced Kahn to push over a late header but the visitors looked more likely to score in the final stages and, over the two legs, thoroughly deserved to progress to the last eight.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted the better team had won.
"It's frustrating of course but I feel we lost against a good side who are a strong team and full of confidence at the moment," he said.
"They slowly took over. We scored at the right moment but we never got in there and got the chance to score the second goal.
"We gave everything but we lost to a very good side and over the two legs you cannot say that they did not deserve to go through."
