P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
	Barcelona	6	5	1	0	12	2	16 **
	Inter		6	3	2	1	11	8	11 *
	Newcastle	6	2	1	3	10	13	7
	Leverkusen	6	0	0	6	5	15	0

** Qualify for Quarter Finals as first group winners
* Qualify for Quarter Finals


19 March 2003

LEVERKUSEN				0-2			INTER
								Martins 36
								Emre 90

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
								Kluivert 60
								Motta 74

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
Saviola 17
Kleine 47 (og)

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
Vieri 47								Shearer 42, 49
Cordoba 61

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

INTER					0-0			BARCELONA

Vieri scored a tremendous goal, a swerving half volley but it was disallowed for a clear
offside. Rochemback and Gabri missed absolute sitters when on two occasions Barca
broke through Inter's left side. In an act of cowardice and monumental stupidity
Morfeo sidestepped a challenge from Gabri then threw himself down in the box with
the goal in his sights. Cuper should string him up by his balls. Vieri made one of those
misses, somehow managing to head wide from close range after young fullback Pasquale
sent a beautiful cross into the box. Dalmat joined the Inter injured list when he
pulled up with what looked like a thigh injury. His substitute Martins missed an open goal.
Paddy Kluivert wasted Barca's best chance with a trademark sissy finish.


NEWCASTLE 				3-1			LEVERKUSEN
Shearer 5, 11, 36 (Pen)						Babic 73

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
Saviola 7
Cocu 29
Kluivert 66

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
Franca 25							Ameobi 5, 15
								Lua Lua 32

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 7								Ameobi 24
Kluivert 35
Riquelme 58

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 15, 28							Zivkovic 63
Butt 80 og							Franca 91

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 39							Saviola 48
								Overmars 88

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
Solano 72							Morfeo 65 secs
								Almeyda 35
								Crespo 46
								Recoba 81

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)