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Last Italian club in trouble Galatasaray cruises past Milan 2-0 to quarterfinals
Updated: Wednesday March 07, 2001 6:59 PM
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Galatasaray cruised past a desperately disappointing AC Milan 2-0 on Wednesday to become the first Turkish team ever to secure a place in the Champions League knockout phase. Goals from the ageless Romanian Gheorghe Hagi and Brazilian striker Mario Jardel gave last season's UEFA Cup winners an easy home win over the Italians, who barely managed a shot on target. Neither side created many openings in an ill-tempered first half which saw four bookings. As early as the ninth minute, a scuffle involving nearly a dozen players ended in a booking for Milan's Brazilian forward Leonardo. Immediately after, Galatasaray had a strong penalty appeal turned down when feisty midfielder Emre appeared to be pushed in the box after an intricate passing move. Emre and Hagi were winning the midfield battle, and cutting off supply lines for the Milan forwards. The Italian club's only goal effort in the first half came when Federico Giunti drove a low shot wide in the 17th minute. The Turkish champions took the lead in the 20th minute when Hagi, sent clear on the right by a long ball from the back, lobbed the keeper Dida from a sharp angle on the right edge of the penalty area. Two minutes later the Romanian maestro went close again, striking a dipping free kick from 25 meters that Dida saved low to his left. Milan pushed more players forward after falling behind, and for a while the Turks were pegged inside their own half, but their Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel was never forced to make a save. Early in the second half, Milan brought on striker Olivier Bierhoff in place of the ineffective Leonardo. The German posed a greater aerial threat to the Galatasaray defense, sending a powerful header over the bar in the 60th minute. But on the ground Galatasaray looked more dangerous. A long-range effort from Emre in the 72nd minute forced a save from Dida. Six minutes later a cleverly worked free kick set up Hagi for a low shot which missed the left post. Galatasaray was pressing and the reward came after 85 minutes. Substitute Arif Erdem sent Jardel clear with a piercing through pass, and the Brazilian finished in style to send his team into the quarterfinals and its fans into the street.
Galatasaray coach wary of Man Utd, Real MadridGalatasaray coach Mircea Lucescu knows he is playing against the big boys of European soccer now that his team of Turks, Romanians and Brazilians has reached the last eight of the Champions League. "We've only just made it to the quarterfinals. There's a Manchester United and a Real Madrid out there to contend with," the Romanian told reporters. He was speaking after Galatasary's 2-0 win over AC Milan on Wednesday saw them clinch a place in the next round -- the first time a Turkish team has got so far in the Champions League. It was a 3-2 victory over Milan last season that earned the Istanbul side a place in the UEFA Cup, which they went on to win in a penalty shootout against Arsenal to become the first Turkish club to lift a European trophy. But Lucescu refused to be drawn on historical parallels. "Let's not mix up the UEFA Cup with the Champions League. There are much stronger teams here," he said, content to praise his side for battling to victory over their Italian visitors. "We won a big one, deservedly," he said, attributing the win to the hard running and tough tackling of midfielders Emre Belozoglu, Okan Buruk and Umit Davala. "This was a game we won in the midfield. We came up against a pressing team and turned their own pressure on them," he said. Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni agreed with his rival's analysis of a game dominated by hard tackling in midfield. "We tried to stick to a lot of the guys in the midfield, especially Emre," he said, speaking through an interpreter. "It did not always work, unfortunately. It was a very static effort and they basically handled us." Milan looked far from impressive for much of the game and now must look for a win at home in the San Siro against Spain's Deportivo Coruna to progress to the next stage. "It was exactly what we expected from Galatasaray," Zaccheroni said. "They're always very aggressive at home. On the whole it was not a stellar performance from us. We gave away a lot of balls in the midfield." Lucescu said he was relieved key players such as goalscorers Gheorghe Hagi and Mario Jardel had produced the goods despite injuries to midfielders Suat Kaya and Hakan Unsal. "Hagi and Jardel came up big when it mattered. The team was in a bad state physically, Suat among others couldn't play, but they all showed a lot of character," he said.
SummaryScorers - Gheorghe Hagi 19, Mario Jardel 86 Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 22,000 Teams: Galatasaray: 1-Claudio Tafarrel; 3-Bulent Korkmaz (26-Emre Asik 75), 4-Gheorghe Popescu, 35-Capone; 5-Emre Belozoglu, 6-Ahmet Yildirim, 7-Okan Buruk, 10-Gheorghe Hagi, 11-Hasan Sas; 22-Umit Davala (33-Arif Erdem 85), 9-Mario Jardel (21-Faruk Atalay 88) AC Milan: 32-Nelson Dida; 3-Paolo Maldini, 19-Jose Chamot, 33-Ibrahim Ba (11-Jose Mari 79), 26-Luigi Sala; 21-Federico Guinti, 55-Pablo Garcia, 77-Franceso Coco; 10-Zvonimir Boban (27-Serginho 69), 18-Leonardo (20-Oliver Bierhoff 53), 7-Andriy Shevchenko Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany)
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