Bayern Munich on Wednesday took a giant step towards the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 1-0 victory at title holders Inter Milan, dpa reported.
Germany striker Mario Gomez scored the only goal of the game in second-half injury time.
The other game on the night saw a disappointing goalless draw between Olympique Marseille and Manchester United.
In Milan, Bayern had more of the chances against the team that beat them in the final last year.
Franck Ribery had a good chance midway through the first half but saw his header hit the crossbar, while Dutch international Arjen Robben came close with a powerful shot that crashed against the upright before bouncing out of play shortly after the break.
Bayern goalkeeper Thomas Kraft managed to pull off two fantastic saves, keeping a close-range effort from Samuel Eto'o out in the first half and then diving to deny substitute Houssine Kharja with ten minutes to go.
The home side pushed forward in search of a winner in the final minutes and Eto'o saw a powerful effort blocked for a corner with just four minutes to go.
Ironically Bayern's goal came at a time when Inter were pushing when goalkeeper Julio Cesar failed to hold onto a Robben shot from 30 metres and Gomez was on hand to push the ball past the sprawling goalkeeper.
Robben said even though they had watched a replay of last year's final, it was not the thing that drove them. "You have to move forward, but I would have preferred to win the other one.
"Inter is still very much in the game and we cannot rest. We have to play very concentrated in Munich and then we can go through."
Sneijder said that he thought his side did not deserve to lose the game. "We know they have a very good side and I think we played a good game, but we simply failed to get the goal.
"It will be very difficult in Munich, but all we can do is try," he said.
In Marseille Manchester United failed to find a way through a compact defence of the French club.
Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov tried gainfully to find a breakthrough, but could simply not find the space that he needed to launch a serious shot.
For the home side the son of former Marseille striker Abedi Pele, Andre Ayew, had a number of attempts at goal, but either missed the target or failed to beat Edwin van der Sar.
The result sees Manchester in the driving seat ahead of the return match in England on March 15.
"It was a bit of a disappointing game for me," Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. "They made sure they played so they didn't lose a goal.
"We got into some good positions but not enough. But for us if we win (the second leg) then we're through. I think we've a (good) chance."
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