Beckham and Deschamps succeed where former clubs failed

England captain David Beckham and France's World Cup winning skipper Didier Deschamps progressed to the last eight of the Champions League with their respective clubs Real Madrid and Monaco.

It was in stark contrast to Manchester United, who Beckham left last summer, and Deschamps' former side Juventus, with whom they had won the Champions League in 1999 and 1996 respectively.

Both teams, Juve and United, crashed out of the competition on Tuesday.

Real and Monaco were joined by Arsenal - managed by former Monaco coach Arsene Wenger - and holders AC Milan, who saw off Celta Vigo and Sparta Prague respectively.

Real Madrid, without Brazilian stars Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, beat German champions Bayern Munich 1-0 for an aggregate score of 2-1 thanks to a goal from French master Zinedine Zidane.

Their coach Carlos Queiroz, also a former United man having been Alex Ferguson's assistant till last summer, said it had been a professional performance against the German side.

"That was hard out there even if it didn't seem it," said Queiroz.

"It could have been the Champions League final itself."

Beckham said he was disappointed he would not be able to cross swords with United and Ferguson, whose relationship with him declined to the extent that one of them had to go - and it wasn't going to be the fiery Scot.

"I'm disappointed obviously as a fan," said Beckham.

"As a United fan I would liked to have seen them go through."

"Its disappointing, I'd loved to have played them," he added without the slightest hint of it being tongue in cheek.

The Deschamps-managed Monaco edged Russian outfit Lokomotiv Moscow - who were reduced to ten men - also 1-0 on the night for an aggregate of 2-2 and went through on away goals.

"There's no suprises in Champions League," said Deschamps, who is proving quite a success in his first coaching post since quitting as a player.

"They were a solid team and all the matches are difficult, even with ten men."

"We should have scored earlier in the match. That would have given us a cushion."

"But we can forgive that, we've got a young team who are still learning and to make it to the quarter-finals is just extraordinary," added Deschamps, who played in the Juventus side that beat Monaco 6-4 on aggregate in the 1998 Champions League semi-finals.

Monaco's former manager Arsene Wenger saw his hopes of a treble kept alive as Arsenal eased past Spanish strugglers Celta Vigo 2-0 thanks to two goals from Thierry Henry - his first in 10 home Champions League matches - for a comfortable 5-2 victory on aggregate.

Wenger reflected more on how his side had come back from being virtually out of the competition in the group stage to being within two rounds of reaching the final.

"Overall I think what is remarkable tonight is not that we have won the game but that we have won at Celta Vigo and bounced back by being nearly out of the Champions League and now we are in the last eight."

"We enjoy it because we were nearly out," said the Frenchman, whose team are nine points clear in the Premiership and face an FA Cup semi-final with a demoralised United side.

Such is the fear that Wenger's side instils in their rivals now that AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, whose side beat Juventus on penalties in last season's final, said he was hoping to avoid them in the last eight.

"The most dangerous opponents would be Real Madrid or Arsenal, so I'd prefer not to play them. I'd say that Lyon are a dark horse and one to watch out for," he said after Milan's 4-1 victory over Sparta.

All will be revealed on Friday though it is doubtful Ferguson will be tuning in to see how his old boys Queiroz and Beckham fare in the draw.