If he loses, Bertarelli will have kicked aside the last legal barrier to his own dream, an 18-team elimination series in Valencia, Spain, followed by the 33rd America's Cup regatta sometime next year.
Arsenal's elimination means that for the first time since 1996, there will not be a single English team in the quarterfinals -- a fact not lost on Wenger.
Recovering from a collapse two days earlier that sent them home on the brink of elimination instead of tied, the Nets battered the Bulls on the boards and forced Chicago into being the team that wilted down the stretch.