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Fenerbahce falls Lyon beats Bayer Leverkusen to make UEFA Cup
Updated: Thursday November 01, 2001 7:11 AM The result brought no change to the standings in Group F. Barcelona and Leverkusen advanced to the second stage, while Lyon finished third and will now join the UEFA Cup. A solo effort by Thomas Brdaric in the 11th was Bayer's best early opportunity. But the forward tried to slip the ball through the legs of Gregory Coupet and the Lyon goalkeeper stopped the shot. Both sides rested several starters but Lyon looked like the more polished team and scored twice within six minutes against a lethargic Leverkusen defense. Midfielder Carriere opened the scoring in the 32nd and then added the second in the 38th, blasting home from close range after forward Nee had flicked back a cross that had caught the Leverkusen defense flat-footed. Nee had also assisted on the first goal, providing the head pass to Carriere. They were Lyon's first goals in Germany in 38 years. Carriere could have made it three in the final minute of the first half after a dreadful mistake by Leverkusen's Bernd Schneider. Carriere took his time making the shot on the empty net and defender Lucio scrambled back to block it. Leverkusen defender Pascal Ojigwe then cleared off the line, charged forward and was brought down about 22 meters (yards) away from the Lyon goal. Zoltan Sebescen picked up the free kick and blasted the ball into the upper corner in injury time. Sebescen had a role in the equalizer as well, seven minutes into the second half. He sent a good cross to the far post, Coupet got his hands on Brdaric's header, the ball bounced off the bar back into the field and Dimitar Berbatov nodded it into the net. Only moments before, Brdaric had shot high above the net from five meters (yards) out. Coupet rushed out to foil Schneider shortly after Leverkusen's equalizer. In an action-packed second half, Lucio had another clearance off the line to deny Carriere once more, while Schneider shook Lyon's post with a free kick from just outside the area. In the 64th, Nee rose above Lucio at the far post to meet a Carriere cross and headed Lyon into a 3-2 lead. Brdaric could have equalized in the 69th, but Coupet was well positioned to stop the shot. Nee then beat an offside trap and fed the ball to Sydney Govou for Lyon's fourth in the 81st. Govou had just come in for Carriere. Rivaldo strike earns Barca 1-0 win over FenerbahceBARCELONA, Spain -- A fierce last-minute freekick from Rivaldo gave a below-par Barcelona a 1-0 win over Fenerbahce in the final-rotation match of Champions League Group F on Wednesday. The Catalan club wins the group with 15 points, three points ahead of second-place Bayer Leverkusen, which lost to Lyon. Bottom-place Fenerbahce finishes without a point from its six matches. Rivaldo's goal rescued a Barcelona side which gave a drab display and appeared to have an eye on Sunday's league visit to archrival Real Madrid. The home side never improved on its lackluster start which saw the Turkish underdog go close twice through striker Serhat Akin. Such was Fenerbahce's domination midway through the first half that defenders Carles Puyol and Michael Reiziger both received yellow cards for fouls close to the penalty area. Barcelona finally exploded into after 30 minutes when Javier Saviola broke swiftly before crossing to Rivaldo who adroitly flicked the ball on for his compatriot Geovanni to volley just wide. A minute later Geovanni was the provider, his cross met by Rivaldo's head which brought a stretching save from Turkish international goalkeeper Rustu Rencber. Fenerbahce battled back to almost take the lead with 10 minutes of the first half remaining when a Frank de Boer mistake let Serhat break through but the striker shot disappointingly wide. The second half began in the same way with an uninspired Barcelona struggling to trouble an industrious Fenerbahce. It was not until the 65th minute that the home team came close again when Rustu did well to parry a Saviola long shot. The Argentine international shot just wide in the 74th minute, seconds before he was replaced by striker Dani Garcia, making his first appearance of the season. With six minutes left, Rivaldo summed up Barcelona's off-key night when he put the ball just wide after chipping over Rustu. Yet the Brazilian ace once again proved his worth when he fired home the winner from a direct free kick at the edge of the area with 60 seconds of the match remaining. Rexach says team was too relaxed BARCELONA (Reuters) -- Barcelona coach Carles Rexach admitted his side had taken too relaxed an approach to their final Champions League group F clash with Fenerbahce on Wednesday. Barca, who went into the game already assured of a place in the second phase, produced some eye-catching build-up play but needed an injury-time freekick from Rivaldo to snatch a 1-0 win and hand the Turks their sixth successive defeat. "The players were too relaxed," said Rexach, whose team take on Real Madrid in the Spanish league on Sunday. "At times it looked like a friendly match. "The fans that stayed away hardly missed a classic but maybe if one of our chances had gone in in the first half it would have been a more spectacular game. "You can't doubt, though, that Rivaldo showed once again what a decisive player he can be." Fenerbahce coach Mustafa Denizli said his side did not deserve to have finished the opening group stage without a point -- a record only matched previously by Kosice of Slovakia in the 1997-98 season. "We're going to put this campaign behind us and make sure we see a very different Fenerbahce in the Champions League next year," he said. "That will be one of my main tasks. Possibly we couldn't have qualified from the group, but we didn't deserve to finish without a point." Reuters contributed to this report.
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