‘WE WERE TOO SLOW TO ACT’

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16, 2ND LEG Bayern Munich 2

that took place between 1970 and 2005, the QC said Gradi told him, “He did not consider a person putting their hands down another’s trousers to be assault.”

Gradi has been banned from football since 2016 and FA chief executive Mark Bullingham (above) said the ban “absolutely remains in place”.

Eight clubs – Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra, Stoke City, Peterborough and Southampton – were named in the report for failing to take action.

Crewe have refused to comment, and denied any knowledge of abuse at the time. Gradi refused to comment yesterday.

But Bullingham admitted the report was “shocking” and added: ”Today is a dark day for the beautiful game.”

He also said the report was a “critical moment” for English football, which he admitted had been “too slow to act”.

2001: Henrik Larsson scored a hat-trick as Celtic beat Kilmarnock 3-0 in the CIS Insurance Cup final, despite having Chris Sutton sent off.

2003: Liverpool striker El Hadji Diouf escaped with a two-match ban after spitting at Celtic spectators. He later faced legal action.

2005: Sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were cleared by the Greek Athletics Federation of deliberately missing drug tests on the eve of the 2004 Olympic Games.

2006: France’s 21-16 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium proved enough for Les Bleus to win the Six Nations title.

2007: Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer – a former England batsman – died after being found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica at the Cricket World Cup.

2008: Darrell Hair was reinstated as a Test umpire by the ICC, nearly two years after he officiated in the controversial Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval.

1 Bayern win 6-2 on aggregate BAYERN MUNICH cruised into the quarter-finals – thanks in part to a former Stoke City striker.

Eric Maxim Choupomoting played one season for the Potters in 2017 and last night put the finishing touches to the German side’s demolition of Lazio.

Bayern already had one foot in the last eight, having thrashed Lazio 4-1 last month.

And it took the hosts 33 minutes to extend their aggregate lead, when Lazio’s Vadat Muriqi fouled Leon Goretzka in the area, leaving Robert Lewandowski to rifle home the resulting penalty.

It means that, since the start of last season, Lewandowski (top) has been directly involved in more Champions League goals than any other player – with 20 goals and five assists.

He went close just after the restart too, seeing his shot from a tight angle saved by Lazio goalkeeper Pepe Reina.

But the former Liverpool goalkeeper was beaten again in the 73rd minute when Choupo-moting (below) found the bottom corner, after being put through by David Alaba.

Lazio did score a late consolation goal to make it 2-1 on the night when

Marco Parolo netted. And at 36 years and 51 days, he became the third oldest player to score in the knockout stages, after Paolo Maldini (36y 333d) and Ryan Giggs (37y 148d).