P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
Bayern Munich	6	4	1	1	8	5	13
Arsenal		6	2	2	2	6	8	8
Lyon		6	2	2	2	8	4	8 
Spartak Moscow	6	1	1	4	5	10	4

Top two qualify for the Quarter Finals

14 MARCH 2001

BAYERN MUNICH			1-0			ARSENAL
Elber 10

Elber met Lizarazu's superb cross with a diving header while the Arsenal
defence, so wonderfully marshalled by Adams, stood appealing for offside.
Adams and Grimandi almost scored own goals. Bayern sprung Arsenal's offside
trap again but Semen saved. Jancker did a stunning Delvecchio impression - by
kicking fresh air and landing on his backside when attacking Scholl's cross,
the ball fell to Jeremies but he shot wide. Seaman made a brilliant save in
the final minutes from a Scholl free kick.

Arsenal were awful. Bayern didn't even need to break a sweat. Arsenal are the
weakest of the quarter-finalists.

Assist : Lizarazu


SPARTAK MOSCOW		1-1			LYON
Parfenov 4 (Pen)						Anderson 68 (Pen)

A clumsy challenge on Bulatov by Edmilson gave Spartak the lead inside 5
minutes. Dhorasoo tore a hole through Spartak's offside trap and sent
Anderson clean through but he panicked and Filimonov saved. Awful, awful
miss. More of those later. Anderson scored from the spot after throwing
himself over Filimonov's legs to win a penalty. Govou, who so wonderfully
tormented Bayern Munich last week, blew two 100% chances and sent Arsenal
into the quarter-finals.

Assist : Bulatov, Anderson


6 MARCH 2001

ARSENAL			1-0			SPARTAK MOSCOW
Henry 82

I know this is a cliché but this match was typical of Arsenal's season, both
domestically and in Europe. The London giants dominated the game but only
had one goal to show for their efforts. The best two chances fell to Bergkamp
and Henry. It was typical Bergkamp, an awesome touch to slip his marker but
he couldn't find the finish to match. A similar opportunity fell to Henry, he
received a pass and with an outrageous first touch got in front of Tchuisse
and the 'keeper but managed to miss an open goal. Wiltord dragged a shot
inches wide of the post. Henry settled the tie with a tremendous leap above
Robson to head in Cole's corner. 

Assist : Cole


LYON				3-0			BAYERN MUNICH
Govou 12, 20
Laigle 71

A breathtaking opening goal by Govou. He controlled Anderson's cross on his
chest and from a wicked angle lashed the ball into the roof of the net,
incredible finish. He second was equally impressive. Delmotte intercepted a
slack clearance and looked for a one-two with Govou, despite being surrounded
by Bayern players he took a couple of steps and whipped the ball past Kahn.
Khan made a finger-tip save to keep out Dhorasoo, brilliantly set-up by
Anderson. Govou came within inches of claiming a hat-trick following more
surprisingly charitable defending by Bayern. Bayern made a mess of a cross
and Laigle arrived to drive in Lyon's third.

Assists : Andersson, Delmotte

A shock result. Bayern must have thought they were already in the quarter
finals. They're still a risk they might not make it. Lyon need to better
whatever result Arsenal manage in Munich. Given Lyon's awful away form you'd
have to fancy Arsenal's chances of claming second place and Bayern of course
first.


21 FEBRUARY 2001

ARSENAL			1-1			LYON
Bergkamp 33						Edmilson 90


A poor clearance by Deflandre gifted Pires an opening but he blasted his
shot well wide. Bergkamp flicked on Dixon's cross, Parlour volleyed against
the post. Super counter attacking and a well placed elbow gave Arsenal the
lead. Pires and Bergkamp broke from their own penalty area, Pires released
Bergkamp, he floored Edmilson with an elbow to the ribs and then clipped the
ball into the top corner.

Wenger replaced Pires, Bergkamp and Henry in the second half. Coupet and
Violeau cleared Lauren's goal bound header off the line. Edmilson got his
revenge with the equaliser, a ridiculously powerful header from Dhorasoo's
corner.

After the match Whinger complained about the number of matches his team
have to play. Why doesn't he complain about the crap finishing?

Assists : Pires, Dhorasoo


SPARTAK MOSCOW		0-3			BAYERN MUNICH
							Scholl 17, 75 (Pen)
							P Sergio 87

Salihamidzic and Elber combined to create an opening for Scholl who finished
brilliantly with a perfectly placed first time shot. Kahn made a brilliant
low stop from Titov. Bayern were caught out with some quick passing on the
edge of the penalty box but Irismetov made horrid contact when through on
goal. Salihamidzic, who doesn't need a second invitation to go down in the
box, won a penalty, Scholl converted. Paolo Sergio headed in Effenberg's free
kick.

Spartak are still in it largely due to Arsenal's trademark, late equaliser
screw-up. For all intents and purposes Bayern are in the Quarter Finals,
can't see them screwing up against Lyon.

Assists : Elber, Salihamidzic, Effenberg


13 FEBRUARY 2001

BAYERN MUNICH			1-0			S MOSCOW
Elber 79

Yvgeny Kafelnikov was in the stands, more 'interesting' than anything in this
match. Titov was booked for diving in the box. Jancker flicked on midget
Lizarazu's throw-in and Elber nodded past Filimonov. The ref earned the
applause of Kuffour when he ignored another pathetic attempt to win a
penalty, this time Kovtun threw himself onto the ground.

Assist : Jancker


LYON				0-1			ARSENAL
							Henry 58

Muller? found Marlet with a perfect 50yd pass deep from defence, with a
phenomenal first touch he flicked the ball up, chipped the ball goalwards
but Seaman made a fantastic save. Lyon should have been awarded a penalty
when Cole handled Dhoraso's cross in the box. Kanu made one of his trademark
runs through the opponents defence but as he has done many times this season,
failed to finish. Grimandi made a fantastic tackle in the box to deny
Anderson a scoring chance, the Brazilian managed to touch the ball back to
Dhoraso but he hit the rebound straight at Seamen. Henry combined superbly
with the impressive Lauren but volleyed against the post. 
 
Pires and Cole pressed Dhoraso into losing the ball, Lauren played the ball
wide to Cole, Cole turned Deflandre inside out, floated a perfect cross into
the box and Henry headed past Coupet for the winning goal. Arsenal's only
other chance in the second half fell to Lauren who raced onto Henry's knock
down and seemed certain to score until Muller ripped the ball off his feet
with a World Class tackle. Donkey Ljunberg kept wasted great possession.
Govou played in Marlet with a great pass but a wretched first touch let him
down and he volleyed high over the bar. 

Great performance from fat boy Seaman. Ljunberg is hopeless.

Assist : Cole


6 DECEMBER 2000

ARSENAL			2-2			BAYERN
Henry 4							Tarnat 56
Kanu 55							Scholl 66

Henry gave his team a dream start and incredibly scored his first goal of the
competition. Kanu then played him in with a phenomenal disguised pass and
he shot first time past Kahn. Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty for
handball by Sforza. Linke made an excellent if somewhat fortunate clearance
from Adams' header. Scholl missed a great chance late in the first half.

In the second half Arsenal continued to waste chances, Viera and Ljunberg
guilty of horrendous misses. Kanu scored what should have been the killer
second goal with a great first time strike as Henry returned the favour. A
minute later Bayern got one back, Elber miss-controlled Effenberg's free
kick, the ball fell to Tarnat and he blasted past Manninger. Sforza won a
free kick on the box, Scholl stepped up and curled a superb shot into the
net.

Arsenal have had the same problem all season, they cannot finish off
games.

Assists : Kanu, Henry, Elber, Sforza


LYON				3-0			SPARTAK
Marlet 2
Anderson 31, 41

Spartak made a mess of dealing with a free kick, as they ran out to play
offside Laigle poked the ball to Marlet and he poked past Filimonov. Marlet
found Anderson with a superb pass, Filimonov flew out of his box, Anderson
flicked the ball over him and tapped into an empty net. Anderson scrambled
in a second late in the first half.

Assists : Anderson, Marlet


22 NOVEMBER 2000

SPARTAK MOSCOW		4-1			ARSENAL
Marcao 29, 51						Silvinho 2
Titov 77
Robson 82

Arsenal collapsed after a dream start. Silvinho started and finished a nice
move down the left, Henry picked out the Brazilian with a perfectly weighted
pass, he rounded Filimonov and tapped into the net. Kanu blew a glorious
chance on the break. Arsenal were punished for failing to clear a cross,
Silvinho headed straight to Marcao and he shot past Manninger.

Parfenov deflected Pires' header against his own post. Tchuisse found Robson
unmarked in front of goal, he got terrible contact but fortunately Marcao was
on hand to poke the ball home. Manninger made a phenomenal save from
Marcao's violent drive but was helpless as Spartak tore through the Arsenal
defence to score their third, the two Brazilians combining brilliantly before
Marcao laid the ball off to Titov who finished brilliantly. Bulatov took out
three defenders with a dummy leaving Robson to run onto Tchuisse's through
ball and round Manninger for the fourth.

Assists : Henry, Robson, Marcao, Tchuisse


BAYERN MUNICH			1-0			LYON

Surprisingly Lyon had the best chances. Kahn came to his teams rescue saving
from Foe and Laigle. Jeremies won the points with a deflected header from a
corner. Coupet denied Bayern a 2nd with a superb save from Elber.