7 April 2004

LYON					2-2			PORTO
Luyindula 14							Maniche 6, 47
Elber 90

Luyindula had a goal incorrectly dissalowed for offside just before Maniche ended Lyon's
hopes when Deco split the Lyon defence with an outrageous pass. Malouda tore down the
left before whipping a cross into Luyindula, the ball bounced off his thigh but he reacted
quickly to beat Baia to the ball and volley in the equaliser. Essien should have put Lyon in
front but skyed his shot after Baia came off his line and ended up on his backside after
getting nowhere near a cross. Baia maybe famous for his blunders but he is also capable of
making spetacualr saves as he showed when he leapt accross goal and tipped Eleber's
goalbound effort one handed out for a corner. Having round Coupet Carlos Alberto decided
to take a dive in the box in an obvious attempt to get the 'keeper sent off but Frisk wasn't
buying it.

Seconds after Coupet had denied McCarthy he was picking the ball out of his net. A beautiful
passing move on the left wing ended with Deco hitting a sublime volleyed pass to the back
post and once again Maniche rammed the ball into the net. Edmilson earned a second yellow
for pulling back Paulo Ferreira. Elber headed in a late consolation goal.

Porto win 4-2 on aggregate.

Assists : Deco, Malouda, Deco, Malouda
Red Card : Edmilson 74 (Lyon)


DEPORTIVO				4-0			MILAN
Pandiani 5
Valeron 35
Luque 44
Cafu 76 (og)

Milan could have settled this inside the first five minutes. Shevchenko's header was
scrmabled to safety and Tomasson hit a tame volley at Mollina from Cafu's deflected cross.
Maldini gave Pandiani time and space to turn in the box and his well placed low shot beat
Dida. Minutes later Victor's deflected effort bounced off a post. Kaka' wasted a great chance
on the break, finding himself in space on the left after a slip by Andrade he ran straight at
Mollina and the 'keeper blocked his shot allowing his defence to clear. Depor were unfazed
and cotinued to lay siege to the Milan goal. Dida made one of his wonder saves to deny
Valeron and had to the post to thank for 'keeping out Victor's effort. Dida went missing on
Luque's cross and Valeron headed into an empty net. Netsa completed a hat-trick of
amatuer hour mistakes when his awful, awful attempt at controlling a long ball from
Mollina's goal kick was pounced on by Luque and he raced into the box before slamming
the ball into the roof of the net.

The Champions failed to turn the tide in the second half and meekly surrened their crown
when Gattuso's slip allowed substitute Fran to get on the end of a deep cross and his shot
flew in off Cafu. Within minutes of coming on as a substute Rui Costa established himself
as Milan's best player, forcing Mollina into a great save with a shot from distance then saw
a second effort take a deflection into the welcomings arms of Depor 'keeper.

Easily the biggest choke job of the season. The Milan defence gifted Depor all four goals. Depor,
suprisingly, battered Milan physically and panic set in very quickly after Pandiani's early opener.
Milan's defence has been very poor in recent weeks and the return of Nesta did little to stem the tide.
Depor must be congratulated for showing incredible spirit and not giving up after a heavy first leg loss.
One of the best comebacks of all time and one of the biggest choke jobs.

"We certainly didn’t expect this and something happened that is beyond explanation. There were
all the signs that the team was concentrated and we had that early warning from Real Madrid’s exit.
We came up against a team that was having an incredible night where everything went in its favour.
There were also some errors, but the rest is inexplicable."

"Deportivo were certainly determined and kept that up from the opening whistle to the closing one,
while a goal after just five minutes gave them that extra conviction. It has to be said that their
performance must be praised."

Deportivo win 5-4 on aggregate.

Assists : Romero, Luque


6 April 2004

ARSENAL				1-2			CHELSEA
Reyes 46							Lampard 52
								Bridge 87

Henry wasted two early chances. He ran onto an Edu through pass but shot far too early,
far from goal. Reyes sent him clear with a peach of a pass and this time his shot was nearer
to the corner flag then to goal. A delicious step over from Gudjohnsen allowed Duff to
burst forward from midfield, an exquisite first touch left Toure sprawled on the turf and
he did the same to Campbell with a sharp turn but just as he shot Edu slid in with a
brilliant tackle. It was a rare Chelsea counter as Arsenal continued to create and waste
chances, Pires guilty, and not for the first time this week, of a shocking miss. As Jimmy
protested over the none award of a none foul Pires sprayed the ball wide to Ralph, Henry
headed his cross against Ljungberg and Reyes volleyed past Ambrosia creamed rice to give
Arsenal a deserved lead. Incredibly the first goal Chelsea have conceded away from home in
Europe all season.

Makelele latched onto a loose ball and tried his luck from distance, Lemon should have cleared
the ball for a corner but parried back into play gifting Lampard the equaliser. Lampard, who is
now one of the finest midfielders in Europe, hit one of his trademark piledrivers just wide of a
post. Ambrosia creamed rice saved a well struck effort from Reyes, one of the few saves he had
to make in the match (though that was largely down to poor finishing). Both coaches made late
substitutions, Wenger incredibly taking off Henry (for Bergkamp) and Ranieri threw on Cole for
Duff. Tinkerman's gamble paid off as Cole had an immediate impact. With his back to goal he
received a ball from Bridge and his sharp turn and pass took out Lemon leaving Gudjohnsen with
what appeared to be a certain goal but Ashley Cole made a sensational 'goal-line' clearance though
the ball may have actually crossed the line. With Henry watching from the bench Arsenal wilted
and it was no surprise when Chelsea hit the winner minutes from time. Bridge played a one-two
with Gudjohnsen before showing the poise Henry lacked in the first half and calmly stroking the
ball into the corner.

The Beatles once sang 'Money can't buy you love' yes it can. It was surprising to see Arsenal send
so many crosses into the box given their forwards lack of prowess in the air. Having seemingly
overcome their European stage fright Wenger is no nearer to winning the Champions League
then he was last season. Arsenal still lack variation in attack, are still too dependent on Henry
and still need a new goalkeeper, it's not as if several of us didn't warn Wenger before he signed
Lemon. One of the three will be addressed in the summer with Frey's arrival, I'm not so sure about
the other two.

Chelsea win 3-2 on aggregate

Assists : Ljungberg, Gudjohnsen


MONACO				3-1			REAL MADRID
Giuly 45, 66							Raul 36
Morientes 48

Monaco appeared to be suffering from stage fright as Real immediately took control and as
early as the fifth minute Raul, who was to have what can only be described as a dramatic match,
just failed to connect with Bobby Carlos' teasing cross. Zidane then nonchalantly skipped a
tackle before forcing Roma to save his audacious lob. Monaco's first chance fell to Giuly but
having had his initial effort from a corner charged down he shot wide on the rebound. Morientes
stung former team-mate Casillas' palms after Rothen laid off a free kick. Just as the French leaders
were beginning to build momentum Real scored a wonderful goal. There were at least 18 passes
in a move which stretched the length of the field. Real were confidently stroking the ball
around before a Zidane flick sent away Ronaldo, his centre was cleverly dummied by Guti
and Raul curled first time into the top corner . Unfazed, Monaco hit back on the stroke of
half time. Morientes headed down Evra's hopeful cross and Giuly struck the ball on the
volley, sending it bouncing beyond Casillas.

Monaco maintained the momentum immediately into the second half start. Evra swung a deep
cross into the box and Mejia was no match for master predator Morientes who easily rose above
the young defender to send a header looping over Casillas. He certainly showed little restraint
in celebrating against the club that had so foolishly cast him aside like he was a piece of garbage
after giving him less then a paltry 450 minutes of playing time in the previous season following
the arrival of the latest so called Galactico - Ronaldo. Morientes should have scored a second
minutes later but having got goal side of what can only loosely be described as his marker he
weakly shot straight at Casillas. Monaco didn't have to wait long for the crucial third goal. Cisse
carried the ball forward then played wide to Ibarra who, confronted by Bobby Carlos, did what
everyone should do in that situation i.e. ran straight at him before sending a speculative shot
goalwards, Cisse let the ball run between his legs and the irrepressible Giuly back heeled
past Casillas. Salgado became the second Real played to take a well earned shot to the puds
when Rothen inadvertently kicked the ball at his nether regions. From the resulting corner Nonda,
having returned from a long, long injury lay off, headed against the post. Roma presented the
visitors with a free pass into the semi-finals when he sent a goalkick straight at Zidane, Zidane
threaded the ball through to Raul who controlled and turned in one, majestic motion - before
hitting an Inzaghi finish. Real's spectacular failure at playing offside (basic defending is beyond
them let alone anything as complex as holding a line) presented Monaco with another chance
and Nonda skinned the unfortunate Borja before centring for Adebayor and the giant striker
volleyed against the post. Deep, deep into injury time Raul wasted another glorious chance after
Zidane dropped a near 40 yard cross onto his feet.

There was only one Galactico on the pitch today and he wasn't playing for Real Madrid. Giuly
outshone everyone, even Morientes who had a fairytale revenge match.

5-5 on aggregate, Monaco win on away goals

Assists : Ronaldo, Morientes, Evra, Ibarra


24 March 2004

REAL MADRID				4-2			MONACO
Helguera 51							Squillaci 43
Zidane 70							Morientes 83
Figo 77
Ronaldo 81

Giuly was having his way with the Real Madrid defence, taking full advantage of Bobby
Carlos' absence. Raul and Ronaldo were guilty of some awful finishing, Ronaldo managed
to head wide 2 feet from goal. Zidane struck the post and Casillas saved brilliantly from
Giuly twice. Monaco took a shock lead when Real failed to clear a corner. Giuly attempted
to shoot but slipped as he turned, the ball broke for Squillaci, he was fouled by jobber
Mejia but got enough on the ball to beat Casillas.

Having threatened on the break in the first half Monaco couldn't get a grip in the second
and kept cheaply conceding possession on the rare occasions they had the ball. Helguera
punished Roma for going missing on a corner. There was some confusion as if the goal 
ad been given as a Monaco player cleared after the ball had crossed the line. Zidane scored
on a rebound after Roma parried Figo's shot at him. Squillaci chopped down Ronaldo to
concede a penalty. Figo's kick was brilliantly saved by Roma, Rodriguez failed to punish
Figo for his initial hesitancy as the ball bounced back into play. Zidane found Ronaldo
unmarked on the edge of the box and he swept the ball into the corner. Despite having
returned from injury (and still being fat) he looked sharp all night. Immediately after
scoring he was substituted and surprise, surprise, Morientes headed in less then 2 minutes
later.

Monaco need to win by a 2 goal margin and keep the score below this (i.e. 4-2) in order to
preserve their away goal advantage. They are more than capable of scoring two but given
how they defended in this match there's no way they'll keep Real out at the other end.

Assists : Giuly, Beckham (ck), Zidane, Bernardi


CHELSEA				1-1			ARSENAL
Gudjohnsen 53							Pires 59

Campbell, who is normally very good in the air, headed a Bergkamp free kick wide of the
post. Lemon rushed out of the box to intercept a Terry longball but only got as far as
Gudjohnsen's shins and he calmly steered the ball into the bottom corner of an empty net.
Arsenal levelled from a cross(!!!) Pires beating Ambrosia creamed rice with a low header.

A predictable stalemate in this battle of the food giants, Campbell's meat balls (he'll always
clear the table but not his lines) and Ambrosia creamed rice. Arsenal should spare Chelsea
embarrassment against Real Madrid by finishing off their rich neighbours at Highbury.

Assist : Cole


23 March 2004

MILAN					4-1			DEPORTIVO
Kaka' 45, 49							Pandiani 11
Shevchenko 46
Pirlo 53

Depor did what Juve and Parma recently failed to do in the league, punish Milan for some
sloppy early defending. Having cheaply gave away a corner, the European Champions ball
watching a short as Pandiani headed in Capdevila's cross. Kaka', Seedorf, Shevchenko and
Inzaghi all wasted chances as Milan's thirty something defenders, Pancaro and Cafu, served
up some glorious crosses. Costacurta pressed Mauro Silva into losing possession deep in his
half and fed Cafu who again delivered an inviting cross but this time Kaka' took his chance
brilliantly. He bounced the ball off his left knee before smashing a right foot volley into the
bottom corner.

Having been hit by a killer late goal Shevchenko crushed Depor's spirits further seconds into
the restart. A clever flick on the turn took him past Andrade, he, predictably, left Mauro Silva
for dead, then a drop of the shoulder wrong footed Naybet leaving him with the simple task of
picking his spot. Having won the ball Mauro Silva foolishly tried a back heel in his own penalty
area, Seedorf stripped him of possession then fed Kaka' who took one touch to control, one to
shoot, 3-1. Pirlo completed the rout with a brilliant free kick. Some terrible offside calls spared
Depor further humiliation.

This is how Milan have been playing in the league since the turn of the year and if this is how
Mauro Silva has been playing that explains Depor's league performances. I decided to watch
this on ITV just to see what they had to say. McCoist is great, he really is. He took Des to task
over his criticism of the defending in last years final. Everyone kept referring to Milan as 'AC'
which is as stupid as calling a club FC. My heart sank when I heard Des hand over to Peter Drury
but for the first time EVER I actually enjoyed his work. What he needs to learn is his usual
pretentious, over elaborate, eulogizing shtick isn't appropriate for a run of the mill EPL match.

Assists : Capdevila, Cafu, Pancaro, Seedorf, Shevchenko (won fk)


PORTO					2-0			LYON
Deco 44
Ricardo Carvalho 71

Coupet flung himself across goal to tip away Costina's goal bound header. A fantastic
block prevented Govou from giving Lyon a crucial away goal. Deco gave Porto the lead
with a somewhat fortuitous goal on half time. Porto broke from defence, Carlos Alberto
sent a cross from the left and McCarthy's volley deflected in off Deco. Ricardo Carvalho
lifted the tedium in this niggly match with a header from Deco's free kick. 

2-0 in not an insurmountable lead. You couldn't pay me enough money to watch the return
leg, this was dreadful.

Assists : McCarthy, Deco (fk)