P W D L F A PTS
Barcelona 6 2 3 1 7 7 9
Liverpool 6 1 4 1 4 4 7
Roma 6 1 4 1 6 5 7
Galatasaray 6 0 5 1 5 6 5
Qualify for Quarter Finals
19 MARCH 2002
GALATASARAY 0-1 BARCELONA
Luis Enrique 58
Mondragon made a fantastic save from Rochemback's incredible 35yd free
kick. Gala tried to break from the corner but Abelardo intercepted then
played a hospital pass to Bonano, Umit stole the ball and centred for
Erdem but he slipped and Cocu cleared. Mondragon, who have given several
World Class displays in recent games, fumbled what should have been a
routine catch from Rochemback's speculative effort and Luis Enrique
flicked the ball into the corner. Coco cleared Umit's goal bound header
off the line.
LIVERPOOL 2-0 ROMA
Litmanen 7 (Pen)
Heskey 63
Houllier was back on the bench and, understandably, despite the drama less
animated than in the past. Antonioli parried a well struck effort from Smicer.
From the resulting corner Liverpool were awarded a penalty for Assuncao's
clumsy challenge on Murphy. Litmanen checked his run, noticed Antonioli
about to move and sent the ball into the opposite corner. Antonioli spilled
Riise's fiercely struck free kick and Candela charged down Heskey's follow up.
Henchoz, who has been AWESOME in recent weeks, made a phenomenal
interception as Batistuta seemed certain to head Assuncao's cross past
Dudek.
Montella and Delvecchio came on for Lima and the lethargic Batistuta at
the start of the second half. Dudek saved with his feet to deny Totti
following good work by Assuncao. Antonioli, who is rarely as busy as he
was tonight, denied Riise again as he ran onto Litmanen's pass and shot
through Samuel's legs. Heskey got tremendous height as he towered above
Aldair and powerfully headed Murhpy's free kick past Antonioli. Hyppia
made a fantastic block to keep out Montella's volley. European Footballer
of the year elect (in his mind) Cassano came on for Assuncao and if
Totti and Montella couldn't get any change out of Hyppia and Henchoz,
Cassano had no chance.
It's taken Liverpool five games to put in the type of performance many of
us had expected throughout their European campaign. Message to the teams
that finished top in their groups - avoid Liverpool like the plague.
Assists : Murphy x2 (pen, fk)
13 MARCH 2002
BARCELONA 0-0 LIVERPOOL
Gerrard wasted two great chances from free kicks. His first effort a miss-timed
volley from Riise's free kick and the second a header from a superb Murphy
delivery. Luis Enrique missed an absolute sitter following superb work by
Kluivert and Saviola. Riise sent Heskey away down the left, he left Christanval
trailing but once he got into the box didn't know what to do and ran straight
into Bonano. Christanval headed Saviola's cross against the post and Heskey
made a fantastic tackle to deny Cocu on the rebound.
ROMA 1-1 GALATASARAY
Cafu 52 Umit 45
Antonioli made one of the saves of the season when he tipped Victoria's free
kick onto the post. Zebina's terrible clearance smacked off Ergun's face and
bounced towards goal, Umit flicked the ball forward away from Samuel, stuck
it between his legs then drilled it into the corner. Outstanding goal.
I cannot remember anyone ever dummying Samuel. Victoria failed to cut out
Aldair's 50yd cross to Cafu, he spotted the 'keeper off his line and stuck out a
boot, the ball looped over Mondragon into the net. Excellent finish.
A massive brawl erupted Emre and Lima got into a fight. The Galatasaray
players and police fought on the pitch.
"I don't know how it started as all I was trying to do was send my players into
the locker rooms" - Fabio Capello
"I just want to talk about the match. The problem with what happened after
the game is that there were too many policemen that thought they were
fans." - Mircea Lucescu.
"Gala players were beaten and hit by Italian police, this is a scandal. We came
here to play football not to be beaten. Three of our players have been hardly
hit by police (not in the sense that they were barely touched he means hit
hard)." - Galatasaray team manager Albayrak.
Assists : Ergun, Aldair
26 FEBRUARY 2002
GALATASARAY 1-1 LIVERPOOL
Niculescu 71 Heskey 79
Henchoz should have earned at least a yellow card for a shocking foul on
Ergun in the first half. As in their first encounter there were some great saves
and awful finishing before two rare moments of quality. The first from
Niculescu who stole a yard on Hyppia and from a standing position powerfully
headed Arif's cross past Kirkland. Substitute Litmanen touched the ball onto
Heskey from a Riise throw in and the big donkey lashed home the equaliser.
Assists : Arif, Litmanen
ROMA 3-0 BARCELONA
Emerson 61
Montella 74
Tommasi 92
Christanval had a large chunk of Totti's shirt right in front of the ref, in the
box. I didn't realise FIFA had given the Danish ref permission to pull the
rules of out his arse but then it was Kim Milton Neilsen. Totti knocked the
ball back to Candela and his ferocious first time strike took a wicked
deflection off Emerson leaving Reina helpless in the Barca goal. Montella
took out Christanval with quick turn and whipped the ball inside Reina's
post. Panucci punted an 80yd free kick to Montella, he sprayed the ball
wide right to Candela who in turn pulled the ball back and from the edge
of the box and Tommasi hit a first time shot into the corner. Great goal.
Assists : Candela, Totti, Cafu
20 FEBRUARY 2002
BARCELONA 1-1 ROMA
Kluivert 82 Panucci 57
A marvellous goal by Panucci! With his back to goal he took the pace off
Candelas free kick, turned and shot past Bonano. A rare mistake by Candela
lead to the equaliser. As he tried to shepard a ball out of play Puyol
stole the ball off his feet and pulled it back for Kluivert who hit an
awesome volley high into the net. Brilliant finish.
Assists : Candela, Puyol
LIVERPOOL 0-0 GALATASARY
Liverpool got a taste of their own medicine when they ran into a
disciplined, determined Galatasaray that starved Owen of any space by
defending deep. Mondragon made a hat-trick of great saves from Hamann,
tipped a goal bound Hyppia header onto the post. Heskey wasted
Liverpool's best two chances, hitting a shot against a defender and also
headed onto the crossbar from Riise's corner. Fellow donkey Murphy shot
wide with an open goal at his mercy.
In terms of football this is the worst group I have ever seen since the
competition was renamed the Champions league. Barca are the only team
that provide any entertainment.
5 DECEMBER 2001
BARCELONA 2-2 GALATASARAY
Saviola 49, 66 Umit 5
Fleurquin 41
Ergun clipped a beautiful ball into the box with the outside of his foot and
Umit volleyed into an empty net as Andersson and Bonano got in each
others way. Mondragon made the first of many spectacular saves from
Rivaldo's free kick. Umit met Unsal's sent evil cross with a spectacular
diving header, Bonano saved but Fleurquin put away the rebound.
Rivaldo appeared to help on Overamrs' cross with his hand and as the Gala
defenders stood appealing Saviola volleyed past Mondragon. Mondragon
made a fantastic save from Cocu and from the resulting corner Overmars
wasted a great chance. Overmars knocked on Gerard's cross and Saviola
scored from close range and got Emre sent off with a cheating scumbag roll.
Hermaphrodite Merk sent off Unsal for what can only loosely be described as
an elbow. Merk was abysmal.
Assists : Ergun, Rivaldo, Overmars
ROMA 0-0 LIVERPOOL
The Roma defence shut out Owen and the Liverpool defence did likewise
on Totti.
Unfortunately for Liverpool their best two chances didn't fall to Owen.
Heskey shot wide after Hyppia made a nuisance of himself in the box and
Smicer volleyed straight at Antonioli from Carragher's long ball. Roma's
best chance came when Dudek spilled Assuncao's shot but Henchoz cleared.
20 NOVEMBER 2001
GALATASARAY 1-1 ROMA
Perez 22 Emerson 92
Not surprisingly this match was plagued with fouls. Probably close to
40. Hakan Unsal did a Candela in the box, cutting the ball back from
the touchline for Perez to tap home while 8 Roma players stood
watching. Shocking defending. Antonioli flew out of the box to clear
Sas' through pass, missed the ball but fortunately Umit was slow to
react and Tommasi cleared.
Cassano started the second half in place of Tommasi and created a
glorious chance for Cafu with a superb run down the left but Cafu
shot wide. Cassano and Aldair blew decent chances as Roma pressed
for an equaliser. Mondragon, who looked shaky all night then pissed
the three points away. He rushed off line to punch out a Totti free kick
which a team-mate had already cleared, Assuncao volleyed the ball
into the ground, it bounced up into the air and Emerson sent an
overhead kick into an empty net.
Assists : Akman, Assuncao
LIVERPOOL 1-3 BARCELONA
Owen 27 Kluivert 43
Rochemback 65
Overmars 84
Owen gave Liverpool the lead with a typically cool finish, lifting Smicer's
through pass over Bonano. Cocu cleared Heskey's shot off the line and
of nowhere Barca equalised. Rivaldo miss controlled Overmars pass, the
ball ballooned up into the air and Kluivert smashed a right foot volley past
Dudek. Great finish.
On the hour mark Owen missed a glorious chance to put Liverpool back in
the lead. Bonano dropped Smicer's cross and Owen, despite standing inches
from goal, somehow managed to poke the ball wide. Minutes later 'the
Brazilian Gerrard' Rochemback scored an outstanding goal following a 14
pass move started by Barca in their own box. The final two touches were
from man of the match Kluivert and Rivaldo, Rochemback hit a sensational
first time shot into the top corner. Overmars scored a well deserved third
for the visitors when he latched onto Xavi's through ball, rounded Dudek and
tapped into an empty net.
Probably the best performance by Barcelona in Europe that I have ever seen.
Andersson and Christanval defended brilliantly, totally nullifying Liverpool's
naive tactics (hit the ball up to Heskey) and in Bonano they have a very solid
keeper thought liability Frank De Boer still plays in defence. Liverpool were
chasing shadows for long periods of the game. Kluivert was once again
outstanding, totally outshining Rivaldo. Marvellous performance.
Assists : Smicer, Rivaldo (x2), Xavi
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