13 November 2002
MAN UNITED 2-0 LEVERKUSEN
Bradaric threw himself over Ricardo to win Leverkusen an early penalty. Simak sent the ball into outer space. Veron started and finished the move that gave
them the lead just before half time. He hit a phenomenal 50yd crossfield pass to Beckham, Beckham passed to O'Shea and he knocked the ball into Van Nistelrooy who in turn laid it off for Veron, with his first touch Veron flicked up the ball, with his second he sent it inside the post. Van Nistelrooy a second from close range following a clever back heel from ginger twat Scholes.
Assists : Van Nistelrooy, Scholes
OLYMPIAKOS 3-3 M HAIFA
Karembeu attempted to play a disguised pass, unfortunately it was too well disguised for any of his team-mates and he passed straight to Rosso, Badir swapped passes with Rosso before racing into the box and lifting the ball over the advancing Eleftheropoulos. Haifa added a second on a counter attack, Katan broke two tackles and passed to Ayegbini who left the Greek defence for dead before scoring. Alexandris pulled a goal back from a sublime Djordjevic pass. Harazi noticed that the Olympiakos defence forgot to mark Katan so he sent up a cross and he did the rest, 1-3. Giannakopoulos tapped forward a free kick from wide right on goal to Niniadis, the substitute cut inside before unleashing a fantastic left foot shot inside the post. Antzas headed in Djordjevic's corner but it wasn't enough to deny Haifa a UEFA Cup place.
Assists : Rosso, Katan, Harazi, Djordjevic, Giannakopoulos, Djordjevic (ck)
29 OCTOBER 2002
LEVERKUSEN 2-0 OLYMPIAKOS
Juan controlled a pass from Lucio on his chest, turned and fired a shot which deflected off Anatolakis past his own 'keeper. The ref awarded a penalty when
Berbatov fell challenging for a ball, he seemed as surprised as anyone when the decision was made. Schneider sent last seasons finalists into phase two with an emphatic strike.
Assist : Berbatov (won pen)
MACCABI HAIFA 3-0 MAN UNITED
Katan turned inside O'Shea before unleashing a sensational shot into the top corner. Speaking of which Zatatas' 30yd left foot shot was even better.
Zatatas won a penalty when going over Ricardo and Ayegbini coolly sent the Mancs reserve 'keeper the wrong way.
Assists : Zatatas, Ayegbini
Leverkusen are through irrespective of what happens next week due to their superior head to head record against Maccabi Haifa.
23 OCTOBER 2002
LEVERKUSEN 2-1 MACCABI HAIFA
Babic headed Leverkusen in front on the stroke of half time. Pralija equalised with a superb volley over a defender after Butt fell when punching out a cross.
Juan headed in the winner from Sebescen's awesome first time cross.
Assists : Sebescen (x2)
OLYMPIAKOS 2-3 MAN UNITED
Blankety Blanc headed the Mancs in front from Giggs corner. Veron made it 0-2 with a thumping right foot shot. Olympiakos hit back with two goals in four
minutes. Karembeu nicked the ball off Fortune and passed to Roma reject Choutos who ran 30yds before calmly slotting past Barthez. Olympiakos were
level after a quick counter attack. Djordjevic ran onto Choutos' header, dribbled past a couple of players then whipped the ball inside the post. Scholes hit the
winner, minutes after crashing a shot against the outside of the post, he let fly with another long range effort, Eleftheropoulos punched the ball into his own net.
Assists : Giggs (corner), Giggs, Karembeu, Choutos, Veron
1 OCTOBER 2002
MACCABI HAIFA 0-2 LEVERKUSEN
Babic headed Leverkusen into the lead with a great flick header from Schneider's free kick. For a second successive week Maccabi were awarded a penalty after
a shocking dive, this time by Rossi. Zano smashed the ball against the post and then ballooned the rebound over the bar. Babic scored a fluke second goal
when his cross looped over Awat and dropped into the far corner of the net.
Assists : Schneider (fk), Neuville
MAN UNITED 4-0 OLYMPIAKOS
Giggs punished sloppy defending by Amanatidis to give Man United an early lead. Veron added a scored with an exquisite first time lob. Ze Elias walked at the end
of the first half for a Duscher foul on Veron. Giggs was credited with the third when his cross deflected in off Amanatidis. Solskjaer scored a fourth to complete
a ridiculously easy victory.
Assists : Beckham, Scholes
Red Card : Ze Elias 45 (Olympiakos)
24 SEPTEMBER 2002
LEVERKUSEN 1-2 MAN UNITED
Van Nistelrooy handled a deep cross by Veron before drilling the ball under Juric. Ruud tapped in a second following some excellent approach play by Giggs and Butt. Berbatov gave last season's finalists hope when he finished off a super one touch passing move. Berbatov came within inches of salvaging a point when his header bounced off the inside of a post.
Assists : Veron, Butt, Basturk
MACCABI HAIFA 3-0 OLYMPIAKOS
Olympiakos conceded the first goal in this match as they had done last week but this time there was no way back. Ayegbeni converted a penalty won Badier with one of the most blatant dives ever. Ayegbeni scored a magnificent second. With his back to goal he juggled a hospital pass off thigh, then bounced the ball off his foot, flicked it around Patsatzoglou and gently rolled the ball inside the post. He completed his hat-trick with another terrific finish, he flicked Rosso's pass over the onrushing 'keeper before lobbing the ball high into the net.
According to rumours Derby have been watching Ayegbeni for some time and have all but signed him. They better complete the deal quickly.
Assists : Badier (won pen), Rosso
17 SEPTEMBER 2002
MAN UNITED 5-2 MACCABI HAIFA
Katan stunned the home crowd when he capitalised on a deflection off Ferdinand to give the Champions League virgins the lead. It didn't last long. Giggs
equalised with a rare header from a Phil Neville cross. Solskjaer put the Mancs front with a cheeky flick following good work by Veron, Giggs and Van
Nistelrooy. Veron ended the contest when he smashed a loose ball under Awat before making the fourth for Van Nistelrooy. Cohen pounced on a mistake by Rio Ferdinand to grab a late consolation goal. Ejiofor chopped down Beckham outside the box so the ref awarded a penalty. In keeping with the charity, Beckham handed the penalty over to charity case Forlan who duly converted scoring his first goal for the club after 20 or so games.
Assists : P Neville, Van Nistelrooy, Veron, Beckham (won pen)
OLYMPIAKOS 6-2 LEVERKUSEN
Eleftheropoulos punched Schneider's cross into his own net. Giannakopoulos' corner cannoned off Kleine's backside past his own 'keeper, 1-1. Anatolakis slipped when attempting to get on the end of a Venetidis cross, the ball fell to Giannakopoulos and he calmly lifted it over a lunging Juric. Patsatzoglou skinned Zivkovic down the right wing and Djordjevic met his centre with a volley, 3-1. Djordjevic took a tumble in the box under a challenge from Ballsitch and converted the penalty himself. Djordjevic pounced on an untimely slip by Ramelowvic, bombed forward, cut inside Luciovic with his left foot then slotted past Jurcicovic with his right. Luciovic won a penalty, was never a pen but the ref was probably feeling sorry for Leverkusen, Schneider converted. Zetterberg curled a free kick in off a post.
Assists : Venetidis, Patsatzoglou, Djordjevic (won pen), Lucio (won pen)
Alexandris (won fk)