Milito's dream ends as Racing go out of Libertadores

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Diego Milito's dream of adding the Libertadores Cup to his Champions League victory with Inter Milan in 2010 has ended with Racing Club's elimination by Guarani in the quarter-finals.





The Paraguayan side held 10-man Racing to a 0-0 draw in the second leg of their quarter-final in Buenos Aires on Thursday to go through 1-0 on aggregate and will face another Argentine side, River Plate, in the semi-finals.

The teams will have to wait for a month and a half with the semi-finals, including Internacional of Brazil against Mexico's UANL Tigres, scheduled for mid-July after the Copa America which kicks off in Chile on June 11.

Racing goalkeeper Sebastian Saja was sent off at the stroke of halftime for a foul on goal-bound midfielder Marcelo Palau but his understudy Nelson Ibanez saved Julian Benitez's penalty with his first touch of the ball.

Guarani keeper Alfredo Aguilar was the star of the night making a string of fine saves to shut out Racing, whose strike pair of Gustavo Bou and Milito had scored 12 goals between them in the competition.

"It's a huge sadness because we had big dreams in this Cup. I'm proud because we played a great match, but it wasn't to be," said Milito, who had reached the semi-finals with Racing in 2003 before his move to Europe.

"We haven't won anything yet," said Aguilar as a warning that the toughest matches were still to come. The first leg will be hosted by River at El Monumental on July 15.

It will be only Guarani's second appearance in the last four of South America's top club competition after 1966.





(Writing by Rex Gowar)


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