19 March 2003
LEVERKUSEN 0-2 INTER
Placente and Kaluzny stood still admiring a poor back pass from Basturk, Conceicao ran onto the ball, passed to Martins and he calmly slotted past Butt. Butt saved a
penalty from Morfeo. Emre added a second following superb play down the left between Martins and Coco.
Assists : Conceicao, Coco
NEWCASTLE 0-2 BARCELONA
Valdes deflected a Bellamy effort onto a post. Bramble gifted Barca the lead with a horrific piece of defending. He tried to shepard a Riquelme pass back to Given,
Kluivert took the ball off him and helped himself to a goal. Bellamy almost scored an immediate equaliser but his lob bounced wide of a post. The chances kept falling to Bellamy and he kept missing. He headed wide from a Robert free kick and volleyed over a Shearer cross. Motta kneed in a Riquelme free kick.
Assist : Riquelme (fk)
11 March 2003
BARCELONA 2-0 LEVERKUSEN
Leverkusen should have been awarded a penalty when Andersson handled on the line. Berbatov blazed over following great work by Franca. Saviola put Barca in front with a well placed shot from Overmars cross. Awful misses by Riquelme and Kluivert only delayed the inevitable though typical of Leverkusen's luck this season it was
an own goal that finished them off.
Assist : Overmars
INTER 2-2 NEWCASTLE
Newcastle survived a shaky start, which should have seen Emre giving Inter the lead, to dominate the first half. Solano left the crossbar trembling with a ferocious half volley and forced Toldo to parry after Shearer rolled the ball into the box. Jenas couldn't find the finish to match a great run from midfield. Newcastle's goal arrived just before half time, Shearer with a simple tap in after good work by Bellamy on the left flank. Vieri headed Inter level at the start of the second half from a Conceicao cross. Two minutes later Toldo handed Inter the lead when he dropped a cross straight at Shearer's feet. Cordoba, who had a spectacular game, levelled when he leapt high over Speed to head in Emre's free kick. Bellamy blew an opportunity to score a later winner when he dived over Toldo in an attempt to win a free kick, he earned himself a yellow card.
Conceicao, who should have walked for a shocking foul on Robert, was a disgrace throughout, constantly whining and diving. Great game.
Assists : Bellamy, Conceicao, Emre (fk)
As long as Inter match whatever result Newcastle get in the Nou Camp they're through. Newcastle must beat Barcelona and hope Inter fail to beat Leverkusen.
26 FEBRUARY 2003
NEWCASTLE 3-1 LEVERKUSEN
Shearer took 5 minutes to get on the score sheet following his return from a two match ban. The former England striker scored his first Champions League goal from open play with a diving header. Brazilian defender Cris was punished twice just over five minutes later. He gave a hospital pass to Shearer and he played the ball wide to Ameobi, Ameobi muscled his way into the box and sent a cross to the back post, Cris' attempted clearance fell straight onto Shearer's head, 2-0. Neuville wasted a great chance to get Leverkusen back into the match when he hit a weak penalty, awarded when Franca took a dive over Given. Newcastle were awarded a penalty of their own after Kleine had pulled back Dyer. Shearer thumped the ball past Butt. Babic and Basturk combined to score a superb consolation goal.
Assists : Speed, Dyer (won pen), Basturk
Inter vs Newcastle will decide second place. Inter better get some of their players back quickly because if they play like they have been playing in recent weeks Newcastle will destroy them on the counter attack.
18 FEBRUARY 2003
BARCELONA 3-0 INTER
Xavi hit one of his 40yd passes to Saviola, he skipped away from Cannavaro with ridiculous ease before shooting past Toldo. Barca had penalty appeals turned down when Gamarra attempted to strangle Saviola. Kluivert met a Frank de Boer flick on, from a Xavi corner, brilliantly with a volley but Toldo parried only as far as Cocu, 2-0. Banana made a couple of good saves as Inter rallied but Barca reasserted their dominance in the second half. Overmars (save) and Cocu (post) both went close before fellow Dutchman Kluivert put Inter out of their misery. Dalmat failed to cut out Frank de Boer's hopeful long ball leaving Saviola free to charge down the left wing and continue tormenting Cannavaro, he turned inside the defender then hit a low cross which was met by Kluivert at the near post. Recoba was sent off for stamping on Puyol's hand.
Downright pathetic performance by Inter. They had a lot of injuries but really they should have put up more of a fight against a team that are having such a miserable season. Barca's 11th successive Champions League victory, breaking the record set by Milan in the 1992-1993 season. Christian 'Bozo' Vieri was once again AWOL.
Assists : Xavi, Saviola (x2)
Red Card : Recoba 80 (Inter)
LEVERKUSEN 1-3 NEWCASTLE
A 30 minute blitz by Robson's insanely quick team gave the Toon their first victory in phase two. Ameobi headed in after just five minutes following some cruel dribbling by Lua Lua. Ameobi caught Cris napping in possession 10 minutes later, ploughed his way through a tackle from Kleine and struck a low shot past Butt. Franca gave Leverkusen hope with a composed finish from an excellent Simak pass but Lua Lua killed off any hopes of a comeback less than 10 minutes later. Neuville chased down a ball and managed to keep it in play, unfortunately for him his momentum took him off the field and Bernard ran onto the ball before passing to Robert, Lua Lua thumped his cross into the net.
Assists : Lua Lua, Simak, Robert
11 DECEMBER 2002
BARCELONA 3-1 NEWCASTLE
Dani volleyed Xavi's outstanding cross past Given from an acute angle. Dyer rolled Solano's pass to Ameobi and he shot first time past Banana. Kluivert scored his 100th goal for Barca from Overmars pass. Ameobi headed wide of the post and had another header cleared off the line by Riquelme. Riquelme scored direct from a corner though UEFA have credited the goal to Motta.
Assists : Xavi, Dyer, Overmars
10 DECEMBER 2002
INTER 3-2 LEVERKUSEN
Di Biagio scored with a near post header from a Recoba corner then finished off a stunning passing move. Emre intercepted a ball in midfield and passed to Zanetti, Zanetti passed to Di Biagio, he controlled the ball on his chest and played it forward to Recoba, Recoba back heeled to Emre, Emre passed wide to Zanetti, Zanetti passed to Recoba and Di Biagio smashed his deflected cross high into the net. Zivkovic pulled a goal back from a corner. Butt scored the own goal of the season when he somehow managed to push Beati's speculative cross into his own net. Franca set up a very nervous finish when he headed in Bierofka's cross. Fortunately for Inter the ref/linesman spotted the most blatant handball of all time from Schneider deep, deep into injury time.
Assists : Recoba (ck), Neuville (ck), Bierofka
27 NOVEMBER 2002
LEVERKUSEN 1-2 BARCELONA
Berbatov headed in a corner. Placente must have been dreaming about playing for Argentina - he hit a pass straight to Saviola, he played a one two with Riquelme before finishing, 1-1. Butt saved an un-characteristically weak penalty from Riquelme awarded for a 'foul' on Kluivert. Barca were defending their own penalty area late in the match, four passes later they went back in front. Motta started the move and Overmars finished it with a tame shot which rolled past Butt, making
him look very, very stupid. As bad as his mistake in last season's final.
Barca are rubbish, Leverkusen are worse. I will be amazed if Inter have any problems with these two.
Assists : Babic (ck), Riquelme, Kluivert
NEWCASTLE 1-4 INTER
Zanetti played a one two with Emre, skipped a lunge by Dabizas and sent the ball into the box, Crespo stepped over it and Morfeo arrived at the back post to slam past Given. Bellamy was sent off for kicking and punching Materazzi as the big defender ran past him. Complete and utter diot. Dabizas missed a chance to level when he headed wide from a free kick. Shearer should have also been sent off for throwing an elbow at Cannavaro's head. Toldo made a stunning save from a Solano free kick. Crespo hit a spectacular, Van Basten style volley against the post, Griffin cleared only as far as Almeyda. He took one touch to pull the ball down and another to send it screaming into the net. Fantastic goal. Inter knocked the ball around in midfield then Zanetti hit a pass into Okan, he skipped over a poor tackle by Hughes, charged down the flank and centred for Crespo who shot first time past Given.
Dabizas and Shearer went close from corners. Robert ran onto a loose ball before brilliantly playing in Solano and he worked himself an opening before rolling the ball under Toldo. Recoba scored within 40 seconds of coming on as a substitute. Dalmat powered his was past Speed and Hughes and passed to Recoba who was standing wide right on the edge of the box, he took out Hughes with a brilliant dummy then from an improbable angle curled the ball into the top corner.
Easily Zanetti's best ever game for Inter. He was quite superb, like the rest of his team. In an interview a few days ago Robson was speaking about how excited he was at the prospect of facing his former team Barcelona, almost dismissing Inter as an afterthought. Big mistake. Robson has been cruelly exposed tactically in this competition.
Assists : Zanetti, Okan, Robert, Dalmat
Red Card : Bellamy 6 (Newcastle)