Little Closer

By: Adam | August 16th, 2007

Half of the 3rd qualifying round is over. As expected, all the 1st leg ties contained lots of ebullience and thrill. We have a rough picture of 32 teams which will be contesting the final rounds of Champions League. Once again it was proved that the Champions League qualification is never an easy task when 32 teams lined up for qualification.

Celtic traveled to Moscow for daunting task of Spartak Moscow what being called as “game of death” for Celtic. It looked as of both the squad and fans of Celtic were more concerned about artificial pitch of Luzhniki Stadium rather than result. Celtic started the game positively and Scott McDonald provided the cross which was headed powerfully home by Hartley just after 21 minutes. Spartak were never going to give up so easily and levelled when clock showed 41 minutes in 1st half. Roman Shishkin’s cross found Pavluchenko rising above Scott Brown at the back post and goalkeeper Mark Brown could not get enough of his hand on the ball to prevent it deflecting into the far corner of the net. Game ended with the same scoreline of 1-1 without any significant events in the 2nd half. It could well prove to be a vital draw for Celtic against Spartak Moscow given their invincibility on the home front.

Valencia mauled their Swedish opponents IF Elfsborg by winning 3-0 in Mestella. Vincente scored just after 6 minutes. Both Silva and Morientes got their names on sheet at 58th and 70th minute respectively. Scottish team Rangers also won by 1 goal to nil against Crvena Zvezda. Lazio had a tough time against their Romanian counterpart Dinamo Bucuresti in 1 -1 draw on Italian soil. Game was specially notorious since 3 players were sent off (2 Lazio and 1 Dinamo). Benfica also beat F.C. Copenhagen by 2 goals to 1. At halftime it looked like pendulum can swing on either directions when both the teams were squared at 1-1.

In other results SV Red Bull Salzburg beat Shakhtar Donetsk by 1-0. FK Sarajevo lost their home tie to Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kiev by 1-0. On the other hand Fenerbahce kept the things under control when they beat Belgian outfit Anderlecht by 1-0. There was sense of joy for Besiktas when they kept swiss team F.C.Zurich at bay. The game ended as 1-1 draw in Zurich. Steaua Bucuresti also drew 2-2 with Bate away from home. Rosenberg got to the headstart when they beat Tampere United by 3 goals to nil on foreign soil.

Werder Bremen rebuffed from goal down to 2-1 victory against Dinamo Zagreb on home pitch. Dinamo Zagreb took the 1st blood when they got 1-0 ahead in 1st half. Bremen are tough team on the home and bounced with goal by Hugo Almeida early in the second half to make the things level. Winner for Bermen will surely be one of the goals of this round when Jenson slotted screamer from more than 30 yards.

Ajax had a disappointed 1st leg when they lost to Slavia Prague in Amsterdam. Slavia Prague’s GK saved a penalty from Huntelaar which could have put Ajax in driver’s seat. On the contrary Slavia Prague also got the penalty afterwards which resulted in the only goal for Slavia Prague and eventually for the game. Ajax tried to get equalizer but none of their efforts could result into expected output.

Sevilla comfortably beat AEK Athens by 2 goals to nil. 1st half remained goalless and Luis Fabiano scored early in the 2nd half. Kanoute also scored on 65th minute. Sevilla is more in news for their defender Dani Alves rather than Champions League win.

English giants Arsenal won this leg by beating Sparta Prague 2-0. Arsenal struggled for fluency at times and almost conceded on nine minutes when Jan Rezek’s volley hit the post. Deadlock was broken when Arsenal player Clichy skipped past two challenges and laid the ball off to Fabregas, who finished smartly. Alex Hleb also got his name on score sheet when he scored late in the 2nd half.

Last year’s finalists Liverpool beat Toulouse in the first leg with a patient performance. The closest Toulouse came to a goal was a glancing Johan Elmander near-post shot which was saved by Pepe Reina. Toulouse were top class in defense and denied numerous opportunities to scousers. Voronin scored his first competitive goal for the club. Liverpool captain Gerrard suffered foot injury which might keep him out for few games.

European nights are always special and bring lots of footballing action around the Europe. There was joy for some and pain for others. Do tell us which of these teams you feel will make it to last 32. We are getting closer and closer to main event and I can hear Champions League anthem ringing in my ears.