Donetsk science fiction "Seville"
Shakhtar (Ukraine) - Sevilla (Spain) - 2: 3 (extra time) (first match - 2: 2)
Shakhtar, the last of the European Cup representatives of the former Union, nearly knocked out its last year's triumph. “Seville” was saved by goalkeeper Andres Palop. It was his header in the final moments of the second half that turned the match into overtime! The cunning goalkeeper, without attracting much attention, sneaked into someone else's penalty area, located right in its center, patiently waited for the corner, and skillfully landed the ball in the lower corner.
A draw in the main time completely paid what he deserved to both teams. At least the Spaniards did not deserve defeat. Their coach Juande Ramos did not shake when he promised on the eve of the game that his players would attack a lot and varied. Preantractic zeros are deceptive. “Seville” could come forward more than once, but Adriano Correier, Canute, Luis Fabiano and Maresca lacked composure.
But it was abundantly enough for Matuzalem. Shortly after the break, the Donetsk Brazilian (attention!), With a stunning heel through himself in a plastic jump forward, arranged a silent scene in the camp of Palop and a hurricane of applause in the stands. After that, the Sevilles needed to score twice. Maresk quickly fulfilled half the saving norm, who upset goalkeeper Bogdan Shust with a header. In the context of the total result of two matches, Elano’s goal, which brought Shakhtar ahead - 2: 1, added little.
The injuries of Matuzalem and Shust had a much greater impact on the course of events. The home team captain left the field after Elano's ball. And immediately the central zone was lost. In addition, Shust was injured, and Mircea Lucescu has already exhausted the substitution limit. And when Shakhtar missed a decisive goal from Chevanton, it seemed that the injury prevented the goalkeeper to work one hundred percent.
Pandiani had time
Espanyol (Spain) - Maccabi (Haifa, Israel) - 4: 0 (0: 0)
The offender of the Moscow army rested in Barcelona a little more than half. In the end, the Israeli bastion cracked, but what! Within 9 minutes, Espanyol celebrated success three times and, of course, removed all questions. Goals were a sight for sore eyes. At first, the gun of Ivan de la Peigny recalled itself. From 30 meters he drove a shell into the far "nine". Then it was kindly expensive to look at the dissecting longitudinal gears, which allowed Tamudo and Luis Garcia to bring the score to a large one. And in the third minute added, the line was drawn by Walter Pandiani, who managed to add his name to the snipers column. This is the 9th goal of the Uruguayan in the tournament, where he single-handedly led the scorer race.
And for the “Maccabi” it all ended as badly as the last two-round dispute with the Spanish opponent. In the second round of the UEFA Cup-2003/04, the Israeli club after the away world with “Valencia” (0: 0) in the native walls was torn to pieces by “bats” - 0: 4.
AZ invincible
AZ Alkmaar (Holland) - Newcastle (England) - 2: 0 (2: 4)
In the Dutch Alkmaar, a local club once again proved its home perfection. After all, Alkmarans in European competition never lost in their field. And the match with “Newcastle” was the 29th such a fight! A good touch of the “forty” following the results of the first duel was leveled by the mastery hits of Shota Arveladze and Danny Kuvermans. In general, the wishes of the midfielder of AZ Demi de Zeuva have fully come true. After all, even before the match, the midfielder reasoned: “The main thing is not to miss, and there will certainly be moments at the gates of others. If we take the first opportunity, everything can end very beautifully.”
Simau vs Paulets
Benfica (Portugal) - PSG (France) - 3: 1 (1: 2)
The reciprocal meeting between Benfica and PSG again turned into a confrontation between captains - Simau Sabroza and Pedro Pauleta, compatriots and partners in the national team of Portugal. In the first match, in Paris, each of them scored a ball. Now the advantage is on the side of Simau (2: 1) and Benfica. It is important to note: the decisive episode was by no means an obvious penalty - apparently, Yussuf Mulumbu did not foul on Leo. The decoration of the match was the productive shot of Petit, who sent the ball for the “ribbon” with a rebound from the crossbar with a soft parachute from outside the penalty area.
The British blundered
Note the pattern: seven out of eight quarter-finalists (in addition to Sevilla, Espanyol, AZ and Benfica, these are Bayer, Werder Bremen, Tottenham Hotspur and Osasuna) returned games 1/8 finals in their native walls . Out of the general row, only Sevilla escaped on the flag.
Thus, the top eight were formed by three Spanish, two German, as well as one English, Portuguese and Dutch club. In addition to the preserved Pyrenean pressure, a noticeable loss of position by the British (English teams plus the Scottish Rangers), which stood out in the group stage, attracts attention.
The draw for the quarter finals and semifinals will take place on Friday in Glasgow. There will be no “seeded" teams, and clubs from one country may become rivals for the first time in this draw.
Denis ORLOV