It was a mixed night for former European Cup winners as Liverpool, AC Milan, Hamburg and Benfica progressed to the Champions League group stages but Red Star Belgrade bit the dust.
The 1991 champions will have to settle for Uefa Cup football this season after they went down 2-1 at home to Milan, to lose 3-1 on aggregate.
Liverpool were far from convincing in their 1-1 draw against Israel’s Maccabi Haifa in a match that was played in Kiev due to security concerns. Liverpool scraped through 3-2 over the two legs.
Benfica thrashed Austria Vienna 3-0 at home to win 4-1 on aggregate while Hamburg snatched a 1-1 draw at Spain’s Osasuna to progress on the away-goals rule.
Twice runners-up Valencia ensured Spain did have some success on the night, beating the Giovanni Trappatoni- and Lothar Matthaeus-led Salzburg 3-0 for a 3-1 overall victory.
Milan made the most of the reprieve they received in being allowed to compete in this season’s competition after an original sentence for match-fixing had seen them barred from the Champions League.
But after an appeal, Milan were allowed back into the qualifying stages and goals from veteran pair Filippo Inzaghi and Clarence Seedorf were enough to see them past the Serbians, who scored through Dusan Djokic.
Inzaghi popped up in the 29th minute to nod home Gennaro Gattuso’s pinpoint cross for the 37th goal in the Champions League from the 33-year-old, who also scored in the first leg.
Inzaghi’s lively display contrasted sharply to that of his younger strike partner Antonio Gilardino, who was continually caught offside or whose first touch let him down, making it all the more likely that Milan will pursue their interest in Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Ronaldo, even if the Spanish club say they do not want to sell him.
Inzaghi, though, stuck by his misfiring partner.
”Even if he did not score, he was really good because he worked hard for me, like the rest of the team,”
Those with a superstitious penchant may take a bet on AC Milan winning the trophy as the last time they landed the title in 2003 they again started in the third preliminary round with Inzaghi scoring twice as he did in this tie.
In Kiev, 2005 champions Liverpool were much the better side, particularly in a largely one-sided first half, but still suffered several late scares as Maccabi came close to snatching a shock result.
Beanpole striker Peter Crouch opened the scoring on 54 minutes with a near post header from Jermaine Pennant’s cross after the former Arsenal and Birmingham winger had beaten defender Haim Magralishvili.
But nine minutes later Roberto Colautti tapped home the equaliser after Xavier Anderson made a storming run from midfield right at the heart of the Liverpool defence.
Pepe Reina kept out his shot at full stretch but was powerless to prevent Colautti mopping up the rebound.
Crouch admitted it had not been a pretty game to watch but paid credit to stubborn opponents.
”That was a difficult game. They proved over the two legs that they were a difficult side to play against,” he said. ”It wasn’t pretty but at least we got through.”
Former AC Milan midfielder Rui Costa opened the scoring for Benfica after 21 minutes before his fellow Portuguese international Nuno Gomes doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Vienna were dead and buried 12 minutes after the break as Armando Petit wrapped up the scoring for the 1961 and 1962 winners.
Osasuna were off to a flyer against Hamburg in Pamplona as defender Carlos Cuellar scored on six minutes. But Dutch international midfielder Nigel De Jong levelled with a quarter of an hour left to see the German 1983 champions through.
Former Liverpool flop Fernando Morientes, who won the Champions League with the English team and Real Madrid, opened the scoring for Valencia, against whom he was on the winning Madrid side in the 2000 final.
Spain striker David Villa scored a second and youngster David Silva rounded off the scoring in the last minute.
Other former winners Ajax and Steaua Bucharest, as well as English giants Arsenal, were due to continue their quests for the group stages on Wednesday. — AFP
