P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
Barcelona	6	4	2	0	13	3	14
Fiorentina	6	2	1	3	8	8	7
Arsenal		6	1	4	1	7	7	7
Aik Stockholm	6	1	1	4	2	12	4

Top two qualify for Phase 2, third placed team for the UEFA Cup

2 NOVEMBER 1999

AIK STOCKHOLM			2-3			ARSENAL
Andersson 41, 68						Overmars 17, 52
Suker 56

Overmars first was a superb low volley from Petit's awesome cross. Andersson ran
onto Novakovic's through pass, skinned Upson, rounded Manninger and tapped
into an empty net. Kanu rescued Arsenal by laying on goals for Overmars and
Suker. Ole Andersson picked out his namesake with a beautiful clipped pass and
he once again abused Manninger before rolling the ball into the net.

Attendance : 33,005


FIORENTINA			3-3			BARCELONA
Bressan 14						Figo 20
Balbo 56, 69						Rivaldo 43, 74

Bressan set the game alight with a stunning 30yd overhead kick. Figo danced
through the Fiorentina defence to beat Toldo and Rivaldo gave Barca the lead
from a free kick. Fiorentina hit back with two Balbo goals, Bressan laid on both.
Rivaldo equalised with a close range strike from Kluivert's pass.

Attendance : 28,000


27 OCTOBER 1999

BARCELONA			5-0			AIK STOCKHOLM
Kluivert 15, 33
Zenden 43
Gabbri 55
Dehu 56

Kluivert volleyed in Simao's cross and both players combined for the second
Kluivert scored with an outrageous back heel volley and then swapped passes to
send in Zenden for Barca's 3rd , Gabbri headed in Barca's fourth and Asper made
a horrendous blunder as his attempted block from Dehu's speculative shot ending
up in his own net.

Attendance : 60,000


ARSENAL			0-1			FIORENTINA
Batistuta 75

Chiesa somehow managed to head wide from Di Livio's cross on the goal-line.
Bergkamp's fresh air shot from a similar range was equally embarrassing and both
Kanu and Petit contrived to miss his centre again from close range, Adams was left
with a free header from a corner but hit the ball wide. Kanu blazed a volley over
the bar from a beautiful Bergkamp pass and repeated the trick in the second half
but Kanu's awful first touch prevented him from a run on goal. It was Bergkamp's
turn to miss next, from Kanu's pass he shot agonisingly wide. Heinrich broke from
midfield and charged towards the box but was forced wide, he passed to Batistuta
who ripped a shot past Seamen from an acute angle. Viera's shot deflected off
Kanu to Suker who saw his shot rebound off a post, the ball fell to Kanu and he
was denied by one of the greatest saves you'll ever see by Toldo.

Arsenal's Wembley misery continued in a game they dominated. Arsenal created
enough chances to win 3 games. Fiorentina are one of the poorest teams to make
the last 16.

Attendance : 73,236


19 OCTOBER 1999

ARSENAL			2-4			BARCELONA
Bergkamp 44						Rivaldo 15 (Pen)
Overmars 85						Luis Enrique 16
							Figo 56
							Cocu 70

Cocu's dive over Adams's outstretched leg convinced the ref to award a penalty.
Rivaldo converted and Luis Enrique made it 2-0 when Adams slipped and gifted him
a route to goal. Arnau, chosen in goal ahead of Hesp, pulled off a great save to
deny Ljunberg, then blocked a shot from Overmars and miraculously clawed over
Adams effort from the rebound. Seamen saved brilliantly to deny Figo. Bergkamp
briefly got Arsenal back in the match with a fabulous strike, Kanu crossed,
Bergkamp wrong footed Abelardo with a deft flick and stuck the ball under Arnau's
legs. Arnau made another miraculous save to deny Ljunberg and Figo restored
Barca's two goal lead when he duly punished Dixon's hospital pass and Cocu raced
onto a breathtaking through pass by Guardiola to end any hope of a comeback.
Overmars grabbed a consolation from Suker's back heel.

There were shades of Abbiati in Arnau's performance. He looks a great prospect.
Guardiola was off the charts awesome but there can be little doubt the ref hugely
influenced the income, he turned down several Arsenal penalty claims, including a
blatant shirt tug on Kanu by Sergi, a claim for handball and a blatant obstruction
on Ljunberg? Rivaldo scored from the spot but did little else. Barcelona were
extremely efficient in their finishing.

Attendance : 73,091


FIORENTINA			3-0			AIK STOCKHOLM
Batistuta 5
Chiesa 36
Balbo 86

A deflected Batistuta free kick began the rout. Chiesa beat Asper with a great low
strike and Rui Costa fed old man Balbo for Fiorentina's third.

Attendance : 30,000


29 SEPTEMBER 1999

BARCELONA			1-1			ARSENAL
Luis Enrique						15 Kanu 80

Luis Enrique couldn't believe his luck as he caught Viera performing circus
tricks on the goal-line after Manninger punched out a shot. Arsenal scored
immediately after Grimandi's sending off, Suker stung Hesp's arms with a
shot from the edge of the box, Kanu volleyed in the rebound.

The glamour tie of the week failed to live up to expectations. A game littered
with fouls, over 40 and 7 yellow cards, most of them to Arsenal. Barca
created two good chances in the match, Dixon cleared off his line from a
corner and Manninger made a great save to deny a powerful Rivaldo strike.
Grimandi was sent off for elbowing Guardiola, one of the many dirty fouls
committed by Arsenal. Poor Rivaldo never really got going but given the
kicking he received it's hardly surprising. Ugly performance by Arsenal,
surely there is a better way to prevent the opposition from playing than by
simply kicking the shit out of them? Imagine if Petit had played!

Red Card : Grimandi 79 (Arsenal)
Attendance : 80,000


22 SEPTEMBER 1999

ARSENAL			3-1			AIK STOCKHOLM
Ljunberg 28						Nordin 53
Henry 90
Suker 93

Ljunberg ran onto a Bergkamp pass and poked the ball past the 'keeper. Nordin
equalised as the Arsenal defence stood still appealing for offside. Arsenal wasted
numerous chances to make the game safe before Henry shot into the corner from
Kanu's pass and laid a chance on a plate for Suker on the counter attack.

Attendance : 71,227


BARCELONA			4-2			FIORENTINA
Figo 7							Amoroso 50
Luis Enrique 10						Chiesa 79
Rivaldo 68 (Pen), 70

Figo and Luis Enrique blasted Barca into an early lead before Batistuta's free kick
deflected off Amoroso. Then it was time for the Rivaldo show. He put away a
penalty won by Figo and exchanged passes with Luis Enrique before shooting low
past Toldo. Chiesa pulled a goal back when running onto a long punt upfield.

Attendance : 75,000


14 SEPTEMBER 1999

FIORENTINA			0-0			ARSENAL

Ljunberg shot straight at Toldo from close range following great work by Overmars.
Manninger pulled off one of his trademark reflex saves to deny Mijatovic from a
header, Fiorentina's best chance of the entire match. Fiorentina should have been
awarded a penalty for handball by Luzhny. Adams blew a great chance when the
ball broke to him in the box and he lifted his shot over the crossbar. Ljunberg was
brought down by Toldo in the area, escaped with a yellow card and got up to save
Kanu's lame spot kick.

Arsenal controlled the game and dropped 2 easy points against a poor Fiorentina
side. The game was marred by inept refereeing. He turned down penalty appeals
by Mijatovic (surprise, surprise) and Bergkamp (ditto) yet failed to book both them
for diving and according to the letter of the law should have sent off Toldo for
bringing down an opponent in the box.

Attendance : 37,000


AIK STOCKHOLM			1-2			BARCELONA
Novakovic 72						Abelardo 86
Dani 90

A shock was on the cards until two headed goals from set pieces sparred Barca's
blushes. Abelardo from a corner and Dani from a free kick. Novakovic opening the
scoring finishing off a great move with a deft chip over Hesp.

Attendance : 30,543