RONALDO kept embattled Barcelona coach Bobby Rob son's hopes of lifting the Cup Winners Cup trophy alive in Stockholm last night by scoring his fourth goal of the campaign against AIK Stockholm as the match ended 1-1, Barcelona going through 4-2 on aggregate.
The 20-year-old Brazilian hammered home the ball in the 12th minute after veteran Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov had broken down the left wing and put in a low cross.
Barcelona dominated the match, completely outplaying their Scandinavian hosts, but a moment of laziness in front of goal allowed in Pascal Simpson who netted his fourth goal of the competition, to bring the sides level in the 73rd minute.
For Robson it was welcome relief from the constant barracking from supporters and press alike who have been demanding he be sacked.
In Athens, Patrice Loko was Paris Saint Germain's hat trick hero as the French holders romped into the semi finals with a 3-0 demolition of AEK Athens.
PSG, who beat Rapid Vienna in last year's final, had been booed off following the goalless draw at the Parc des Princes two weeks ago, but they showed their pedigree in front of a vociferous Greek crowd to reach the last four in some style.
The 26 year old Loko lifted the ball home after 21 minutes to open the scoring, tapped in a second just before the interval and rounded the goalkeeper for his third nine minutes from time to send the 300 Parisian fans in the yellow and black bedecked stadium home happy.
In Florence, Fiorentina lost 1-0 to Benfica and had to face the whistles of their angry fans, despite reaching the semi finals 2-1 on aggregate.
The Italian club were whistled off the pitch at the end after a dismal performance in virtually every department.
Edgar scored for Benfica from close range after 22 minutes, but Fiorentina managed to cling on in defence, while their strikers were woefully short on creativity and finishing.
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