French battle highlights UEFA Cup
Monaco, Marseille meet in 3rd-round match
Posted: Monday November 23, 1998 02:50 PM
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Patrick Blondeau (right) and Marseille will face off against Monaco in an historic UEFA Cup match AP |
LONDON (AP) -- Monaco's Stade Louis II stadium will be packed
Tuesday for the UEFA Cup's first all-French match in history.
But most will be from visiting Marseille, France's most
passionate fans. Monaco rarely attracts more than 5,000 for home
matches.
With four teams apiece, France and Spain dominate Tuesday's
eight UEFA Cup third-round, first-leg matches. Spain has its own
domestic dispute with Atletico Madrid going to league rival Real
Sociedad.
Three Italian and two Swiss clubs are still alive with the other
berths going to Belgium, Scotland and England.
The games: Monaco vs. Olympique Marseille, Roma vs. FC Zurich,
Grasshoppers vs. Bordeaux, Real Sociedad vs. Atletico Madrid, Lyon
vs. Club Brugges, Rangers vs. Parma, Celta vs. Liverpool, Bologna
vs Real Betis.
England's Liverpool, twice UEFA Cup champions and a four-time
Champions Cup winners but mired at mid-table in the domestic
standings, will be playing its first European match under coach
Gerald Houllier now that co-manager Roy Evans has quit.
The Reds are fresh from a 4-2 weekend win over English league
leader Aston Villa. Celta, Spain's hottest team -- which eliminated
Villa from the second round -- stumbled over the weekend with a 2-0
loss to lowly Alaves.
"I think it is the best possible matchup because both teams are
coming into this round in good shape. It will be a historic game,"
said Celta coach Victor Fernandez.
Asked about the weekend loss, he replied, "It's already
forgotten."
A sellout crowd of 32,000 -- the first in four years -- is expected in
Spain's northwester port of Vigo with 500 police deployed to deter
any English hooligans. It will be only Celta's seventh European
game in history. One English newspaper calculated Liverpool played
its seventh back in 1965.
Celta's strike force of Lubo Penev, Alexandre Mostovoi and Valery
Karpin will attack a porous Liverpool defense with Robbie Fowler --
a hat trick against Villa -- and Michael Owen keying the Reds.
In the French showdown, Marseille striker Fabrizio Ravanelli and
defender Cyril Domoraud are injured and defender William Gallas in
suspended. In-form Florian Maurice and the burly Titi Camara are
likely to form Marseille's strikeforce.
Monaco, in a run of poor form that has seen it slump to fifth
place in the standings, is emerging from an early season injury
crisis with only long-term victim Japhet N'Doram remains
unavailable.
"The problem with playing against Marseille is that we are not
going to play a single home match," grumbled Monaco striker David
Trezeguet.
In the all-Spanish affair in San Sebastian, Atletico de Madrid
may be without the services of Juninho. The Brazilian star sat out
a 6-1 weekend rout of Valladolid on a red card. His replacement
Fernando Correa scored a goal and coach Arrigo Sacchi is
considering keeping Correa in the lineup.
Atletico beat Real Sociedad 4-1 earlier this season in Madrid.
AS Roma, hosting Swiss side Zurich, is tied for second in Serie
A with a wide-open style of play revolving around captain Francesco
Totti, the 22-year-old striker who made his first national team
start last week.
Italy international midfielder Eusebio Di Francesco and Cameroon
defender Pierre Wome are both suspended, while Brazilian defender
Cafu is out with a muscle strain.
AC Parma, fifth in Italy after a 1-0 loss Saturday to Cagliari,
goes to Glasgow Rangers with a slew of injury problems. Strikers
Enrico Chiesa, Colomia's Faustino Asprilla and Argentina's Abel
Balbo are all out, as are midfielders Diego Fuser, Raffaele Longo
and Pierluigi Orlandini and Argentine defender Nestor Sensini.
Rangers, on top in Scotland, are also reeling after 5-1 loss
over the weekend to bitter rival Celtic.
In Zurich, Bordeaux -- second in the French standings -- is
without suspended midfielder Ali Benarbia, who has been one the
team's key players since moving from Monaco in pre-season.
Grasshoppers are still alive only because Italian club Fiorentina
was suspended from the competition because of a firework thrown in
Italy during the second round, second leg.
In Bologna, Italy, visiting Betis could face sub-zero (Celsius)
temperatures with a chance of snow. Bologna will be without
defender Amedeo Mangone (suspended), and midfielders Carlo Nervo,
defender Massimo Paganin and French striker Cristophe Sanchez (all
injured). Four others are not eligible for UEFA Cup action until
the new year: defender Giovanni Bia, midfielders Jonathan Binotto
and Giampiero Maini, and Russian striker Igor Simutenkov.
Brazilian star Denilson is doubtful for Betis after a long
flight back from Brazil for a friendly. He played only the last 15
minutes of Saturday's win over Oviedo for coach Javier Clemente,
who has three wins for the team since taking over.
In Lyon, France, Lyon will be without suspended defender David
Linares and Christian Bassila, and Brugges will miss suspended
defender Tjorven de Brul.
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