Midweek Euro Round-Up

It was a highly exciting and ultimately a mixed bag of emotions for the British clubs involved in European action this week. Blackburn, who have looked so solid recently were inexplicably felled by minnows Larissa, of Greece. Chelsea finally returned to winning, and scoring, ways with a hugely impressive away win (2-1) at Valencia, while it was business as usual for Arsenal and Man Utd against Steaua and Roma, both recording 1-0 wins. Things didn’t go so well for Liverpool and their exasperated manager, as they were beaten at Anfield 1-0 by Marseille and a stunning effort by youngster Mathieu Valbuena. Neighbours Everton saved their own potential embarrassment when they recovered from a 1-1 draw in their home leg (Andrew Johnson missed 2 penalties) to beat Metalist Kharkiv 3-2 away in typically determined style. Tottenham stuttered to a 1-1 draw with Famagusta, although the damage had already been done in the first leg’s 6-1 victory. It had meant a chance for Bent and Defoe to prove a point but they failed to make any real impression. Sammy Lee may have saved himself from being the first managerial casualty of the season when he decided to bring from the bench the clinical Nicolas Anelka who steered Bolton past Rabotnicki.

The most incredible news came from north of the border where Rangers beat mighty Lyon 3-0 away and Celtic beat the cup holders Milan 2-1 at Hampden Park, with a last minute goal from Scott McDonald. Unfortunately the Celtic game will probably be best remembered for the incident involving a Scottish fan, Dida the AC Milan keeper and the worst acting performance since Escape to Victory. Following a playful tap by a fan that had broken onto the pitch, Dida chased the hooligan to get his revenge, before having a change of heart, and deciding to go down feigning a serious head injury. He was eventually stretchered off, clutching an ice pack to his face, accompanied by a chorus of boos and jeers from the crowd and the awkward embarrassment of even his own team mates, ‘He made his choice and we will support him even though what he did was wrong. It was a difficult moment for him.’ conceded Kaka.

Here are the results of the games involving the British clubs in European competition last week…

Uefa Champions League Uefa Cup
Celtic 2-1 AC Milan Anorthosis Famagusta 1-1 Tottenham (agg. 2-7)
Liverpool 0-1 Marseille Blackburn 2-1 Larissa (agg. 2-3)
Lyon 0-3 Rangers Bolton 1-0 Rabotnicki Kometal (agg. 2-1)
Man Utd 1-0 Roma Dnipro 1-1 Aberdeen (agg 1-1)
Steaua Bucharest 0-1 Arsenal Metalist Kharkiv 2-3 Everton (agg. 3-4)
Valencia 1-2 Chelsea