The Hindu : Sport / Football : Apt gift at an appropriate time

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 25, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Apt gift at an appropriate time

LONDON, NOV. 24. Manchester United gave Alex Ferguson a 1,000th game anniversary present by reaching the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday while four-time winner Bayern Munich romped into the second round with a 5-1 beating of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Nine-time champion Real Madrid is still struggling, however, held 1-1 at home by Bayer Leverkusen. The Spanish football giant, which had almost made the European Cup its own, has to win its final group game at AS Roma to get through.

Two-time European champion United and Bayern join Chelsea, Inter Milan, Juventus and Lyon in the last 16. AC Milan and Barcelona are expected to join them on Wednesday.

United beat already qualified Olympique Lyon 2-1 at Old Trafford with Ferguson in charge of the team for the 1,000th time in 18 years.

Gary Neville scored one of his rare goals while Van Nistelrooy netted his 34th in his 35th Champions League game. In between, goalkeeper Roy Carroll let a 35m shot by Mahamadou Diarra through his arms for a blunder that may mean a return for American 'keeper Tim Howard.

In the other Group D game, Fenerbahce won 1-0 at Sparta Prague thanks to an own goal by Radoslav Kovac but it was not enough for the Turkish club to catch United and Lyon.

Dutch striker Roy Makaay scored two second half goals after Claudio Pizarro, Hasan Salihamidzic and Torsten Frings had put Bayern in charge in Munich. Barukh Dego converted a penalty in the 56th to pull one back for Maccabi.

Juventus made sure of finishing at the top of Group C by beating four-time European champion Ajax Amsterdam 1-0 in Turin. A 15th minute goal by Uruguayan forward Marcelo Zalayeta gave the Italian league leader its fifth victory in five games.

Beaten 3-0 by traditional rival Barcelona on Saturday, Madrid fell behind against Bayer Leverkusen its Bernabeu Stadium when Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov gave the Germans a first half lead in a repeat of the 2002 final.

Raul Gonzalez levelled for Madrid, which has a chance to advance by winning in Rome in the eerie atmosphere of a silent stadium. Roma, which lost 2-0 at Dynamo Kiev, is already out and still serving a punishment after a fan threw something from the stands and hit referee Anders Frisk in a Champions League game against Kiev on September 15.

More misery

There was more misery for Roma on Tuesday when Traianos Dellas, one of the heroes of Greece's Euro 2004 triumph in Portugal, headed in an own goal and Maksim Shatskikh scored with 10 minutes to go to give Kiev a routine triumph.

Kiev leads the Group B standings with 10 points while Leverkusen and Madrid have eight and Roma one.

Qualification from Group A is also open after Olympiakos edged Deportivo de La Coruna 1-0 thanks to a 68th minute goal by Predrag Djordjevic and Javier Saviola netted Monaco's goal in a 1-0 beating of Liverpool.

Liverpool was furious that the Argentine's goal counted, however, as its players were convinced Saviola handled the ball on the way to scoring.

The results mean that Olympiakos remains on top with 10 points, Monaco has nine and Liverpool seven. Liverpool can still make it, however, by beating the Greek club by at least two goals at Anfield in two weeks time while Monaco, last season's runner up to FC Porto, goes to La Coruna.

The results:

Group A: Monaco 1 (Javier Saviola) bt Liverpool 0; Olympiakos 1 (Predrag Djordjevic) bt Deportivo La Coruna 0.

Group B: Dynamo Kiev 2 (Traianos Dellas (own goal), Maksim Shatskikh) bt AS Roma 0; Real Madrid 1 (Raul Gonzalez) drew with Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Dimitar Berbatov).

Group C: Bayern Munich 5 (Claudio Pizarro, Hasan Salihamidzic, Torsten Frings, Roy Makaay - 2) bt Maccabi Tel Aviv 1 (Barukh Dego 56 — penalty); Juventus 1 (Marcelo Zalayeta) bt Ajax 0.

Group D: Manchester United 2 (Gary Neville, Ruud van Nistelrooy) bt Lyon 1 (Mahamadou Diarra); Sparta Prague 0 lost to Fenerbache 1 (Radoslav Kovac 20 — own goal). — AP

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