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Forget league titles Champions League overshadows domestic races
Updated: Sunday April 15, 2001 6:31 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Manchester United has already won England's Premier League. Real Madrid is set to win its 28th Spanish league title. And Bayern Munich is trying to win a third straight Bundesliga. But what really matter for Europe's top clubs is winning is the big prize -- the Champions League, where play resumes Tuesday and Wednesday with the critical second-leg quarterfinals. In the heavily weighted Spain vs. England quarterfinals, English clubs hold the upper hand. On Tuesday, Leeds takes a dominating 3-0 lead to Deportivo's Riazor stadium, where the Galicians are extremely difficult to beat. Across the Iberian peninsula in Valencia, London-based Arsenal takes at slim 2-1 lead to the 55,000-seat Mestalla stadium. On Wednesday, three of the biggest names in world soccer will be fighting for survival. Manchester United goes to Bayern Munich with the Germans holding a 1-0 lead and the home-field advantage. Defending champion Real Madrid, which let a 2-0 lead slip away in the first leg and seeks a record ninth title, is home in 100,000-seat Santiago Bernabeu stadium trailing UEFA Cup champions Galatasaray 3-2. The survivor of Tuesday's quarterfinals will face off in the semifinals, guaranteeing there will be a Spanish or English side in the May 23 final in Milan, Italy. English fans are clearly expecting both Arsene Wenger's Arsenal and David O'Leary's Leeds to advance with newspaper ads for television coverage of this week's games heralding "Spanish Lessons with Mr. O'Leary and Mr. Wenger." Arsenal, though it holds a slim one-goal lead on Ray Parlour's winner, can't afford to simply defend. Valencia has an away goal and one of Europe's best passing and scoring sides. Valencia, unbeaten at home in Europe, will be without injured Kily Gonzalez, but will counter with Spanish teen-age international Vicente Rodriguez, Argentine striker Pablo Cesar Aimar, and Gaizka Mendieta. "I always believe winning inspires confidence for the next game and we know it is going to be tough in Spain with us defending only a 2-1 lead from the first leg," Wenger said. "But maybe it will also serve to keep us on our toes because we know we cannot go there and only defend." The Gunners are the perennial runners-up in England, and few hardcore Arsenal fans will forget the 1980 loss to Valencia on penalties in the finals of the Cup Winner Cup. Leeds cannot relax despite leading 3-0. Both clubs are in the Champions League for the first time. Earlier this season in the competition, Deportivo trailed Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 after 55 minutes and won 4-3. Knowing they have nothing to lose, Deportivo will attack with top-scorer Walter Pandiani, Diego Tristan and Brazilian midfielder Djalminha. "If someone had said to me at the start of the season that we would be in touching distance of the Champions League semifinals, I would have locked them up," said Leeds manager O'Leary, who has consistently downplayed his team's chances. Defender Jonathan Woodgate could be in the squad. Leeds players Woodgate, Lee Bowyer and Michael Duberry faced a nine-week trial for allegedly beating up a student outside a nightclub. Woodgate has not played since January. He had been saying he was injured, but O'Leary admitted he was out because of the pressure of the trial. The trial, which collapsed earlier this month when the judge said prejudicial information had appeared in The Mirror newspaper, will be reconvened Oct. 8. On Wednesday, Bayern Munich has a 1-0 lead and tries to complete its revenge after being beaten 2-1 in the 1999 final in Barcelona on a second-half injury time goal by Man United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. United won its third straight league title Saturday -- also its seventh in nine seasons -- but defender Gary Neville knows what really matters. "I think this [league title string] is something that won't be fully recognized for 15 to 20 years," he said. "I think at the moment, the way that everyone is working we are being judged on our European performances. The domestic championship seems to have been put on a backburner." The final quarterfinal could produce a shock with Galatasaray leading 3-2 going to Madrid. Galatasaray, which got the winner in Istanbul from Brazilian striker Mario Jardel, is bidding for its first Champions League semifinal berth. Real Madrid, looking weary lately, could be without Raul, who is nursing an injury. On the plus side, Real hammered Villarreal 4-0 Saturday on three goals by Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez.
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