 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
Late goals lift Leverkusen over Juve Posted: Tuesday March 12, 2002 4:50 PMUpdated: Tuesday March 12, 2002 7:35 PM LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) -- Bayer Leverkusen got late goals from two rarely used players to beat Juventus Turin 3-1 on Tuesday and keep alive its hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Juventus is now left with nothing but theoretical chances of advancing from Group D. Leverkusen brought its tally to seven points with one round left, while Juventus is stuck at the bottom of the group with four. Thomas Brdaric, who usually comes off the bench for Leverkusen, and late substitute Marko Babic, a 21-year-old Croat who had never played in a Champions League match and has very limited Bundesliga experience, got the second-half goals that secured Leverkusen's victory. Juventus was weakened by the absence of Lilian Thuram, Alessandro del Piero and Paolo Montero because of injuries and Edgar Davids and Mark Iuliano because of suspensions Bayer Leverkusen also missed two starting forwards -- Oliver Neuville is suffering from flu while slumping Ulf Kirsten was left on the bench in favor of Brdaric. Dimitar Berbatov, the Bulgarian striker who replaced Kirsten, had his header from close range saved by a superb reflex move by Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in the third minute. After 10 minutes, Leverkusen lost experienced defender Jens Nowotny to an ankle injury. Still, the Bundesliga front-runner kept up the pressure and went ahead after 24 minutes Berbatov intercepted a careless pass by Antonio Conte and fed Brdaric, who was tripped by Cristian Zenoni and Leverkusen was awarded a penalty. Goalkeeper Joerg Butt converted the kick against colleague Buffon. Ten minutes into second half, German international defender Carsten Ramelow stretched his leg to block a dangerous shot by Pavel Nedved. On the other side, Yildiray Basturk broke through twice to trouble Buffon, but once the Juventus goalkeeper was well-positioned to stop the shot and the second time the Leverkusen midfielder shot just wide. Juventus stepped up the pressure and in the 61st got the equalizer, when second-half substitute Igor Tudor connected with a Zenoni cross to head past a helpless Butt. Leverkusen regained the lead in the 71st when Brdaric sneaked behind the Juventus defense to head home a Ze Roberto cross. Babic got the insurance goal when he scored the third in the last minute. He led a two-on-one Leverkusen counterattack, passed to Ze Roberto, the Brazilian rounded Buffon and then passed back to Babic, who slotted into the empty next. Juventus is now winless in its last 15 Champions League matches on the road.
Lippi eyes Italian title after defeatJuventus coach Marcello Lippi was left to concentrate on the Italian title battle after his side were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday following a 3-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. "The fact that we are eliminated will have no effect on our fight in Italy," said Lippi, whose side are second in the Serie A standings. "The Italian championship and the Champions League are two totally different competitions," he added, trying his best to put up a brave face after Juventus were soundly beaten by a determined Leverkusen side. Lippi worked out his sums and found out that Juventus -- last in group D with just four points from five games -- would not make the last eight even if they beat Arsenal and Leverkusen lost to Deportivo in the last round of matches. Juventus were hampered in their quest for victory by the absence of striker Alessandro Del Piero and France defender Lilian Thuram through injuries, while Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids was suspended. The Italian coach took a gamble by fielding French international striker David Trezeguet, who had a sore knee, from the start and by bringing on defender Igor Tudor only in the second half. Dismal week Although Tudor restored Juventus's hopes for a while by levelling the tie 1-1 in the 61st minute, goals from Thomas Brdaric and Marko Babic sealed victory for Leverkusen. The defeat completed a dismal few days for Juventus, who dropped one point behind Inter in the Serie A standings after a 2-2 draw in a top-of-the-table clash at the weekend. "We're out and that's awful but we were in a group with only top teams," Lippi said after watching Leverkusen gain revenge for their 4-0 thrashing by Juventus in Turin earlier in the second stage. "We played better in the second half after Igor came on. "He did us a lot of good but he was not fully fit and I could not take to risk to play him from the start. Leverkusen, third in the group on seven points, are far from being guaranteed a spot in the knockout stage but are at least still in the running. The victory also gave the Bundesliga leaders a morale boost as they look to secure their first ever German crown. "That was a great victory over one of the top teams in Europe," Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmoeller said. "There is now still a possibility that we must survive this very tough group. Congratulations to my players, who showed plenty of mental strength." SummaryBayer Leverkusen 3 Juventus 1 - result Champions League second stage, group D Scorers: Bayer Leverkusen - Joerg Butt 24pen, Thomas Brdaric 71, Marko Babic 90 Juventus - Igor Tudor 61 Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 22,500 Teams: Bayer Leverkusen: 1-Joerg Butt; 26-Zoltan Sebescen, 19-Lucio, 5-Jens Nowotny (15-Jurica Vranjes 12), 35-Diego Placente; 25-Bernd Schneider, 28-Carsten Ramelow, 10-Yildiray Basturk (47-Thomas Kleine 90), 8-Ze Roberto; 12-Dimitar Berbatov (3-Marko Babic 78), 23-Thomas Brdaric. Juventus: 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 7-Gianluca Pessoto (5-Igor Tudor 46), 2-Ciro Ferrara, 15-Alessandro Birindelli, 14-Cristian Zenoni; 8-Antonio Conte (16-Enzo Maresca 46), 11-Pavel Nedved, 19-Gianluca Zambrotta, 20-Alessio Tacchinardi; 17-David Trezeguet, 27-Nicola Amoruso (25-Marcelo Zalayeta 61) Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)
Reuters contributed to this report. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
