UEFA Cup, fourth round first leg

The good run of the Spanish teams in the UEFA cup looks like coming to an end, at least for three of the four. Results were as follows:

Atlético de Madrid 2 - Lens 2

Atlético: Molina; Santi, Ayala, Gamarra, Capdevila (Toni 85'); Aguilera, Bjebl (Baraja 36'), Hugo Leal, Valerón; Hasselbaink, Kiko. 4-4-2.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was once again (copy, paste) the saviour of Atlético Madrid, his two goals just keeping his side in the competition. It was a sad Atlético team that came out tonight, with the court case and the doubts about the future of key players weighing heavier every day. Things are only going to get worse however after unsettled manager Claudio Ranieri was forced to resign a couple of days after the match by legal administrator and acting managing director Luis Rubí. Lens took the lead on the quarter hour through ex Everton forward Oliver Dacourt, but Jimmy equalised eight minutes later with a low free kick which beat keeper Warmuz. Thirteen minutes from the end Dacourt put the French back in front with a well executed chip which left Molina stranded, but again Hasselbaink responded a minute later with a diving header from a cross by Aguilera. Radomir Antic, who watched the match from the stands, will once again be in charge of the team for the rest of the season, and realistically needs a victory in France to pull this one out of the fire. Maybe it would be better to concentrate on saving them from relegation, although a good cup run may help boost moral, which is currently sharing the boot locker with the players' footwear.

Arsenal 5 - Deportivo de La Coruña 1

Deportivo: Songo'o; Manuel Pablo, Donato, Naybet, Romero; Mauro Silva, Jokanovic (Víctor 52'), Flavio; Djalminha, Turu Flores (Fernando 68'); Makaay (Pauleta 73'). 4-3-2-1.

Deportivo can now concentrate on the league championship after their worst ever defeat in Europe at the hands of Arsenal. In a change of tactics from their league formation, Irureta left club captain Fran and Víctor on the bench, bringing in Jokanovic in a line of three in front of the back four, and Turu Flores behind Makaay up front. The game centred around the performance of Djalminha however, the controversial Brazilian putting his team back in the game with a penalty in the second half after Ljungberg had fouled Flavio, and then getting sent off for a silly push on Grimandi five minutes later. Although Grimandi made a meal of the incident, Djalminha's lack of composure in similar situations has cost him dearly over the years, and in this case left his side with ten men at a key stage in the game. Arsenal led 2-0 at half time with a headed goal from Dixon and another from Henri after Overmars had left Romero for dead. With Djalminha off the park, Henri headed his second from Petit's free kick, and then Kanu added the fourth after a simple dummy which left Songo'o rolling on the ground. Wenger opted to take off Bergkamp, but decided to leave the change for a minute to let the Dutch forward take a free kick from just outside the area. It turned out to be an inspired move, as Bergkamp's shot took a deflection off the defensive wall and sped past the Deportivo keeper. The 1,500 Coruña supporters had an unhappy journey home, although most of them didn't have to go far: over one thousand live in and around London, with two supporters clubs, Super Depor and the Peña Deportista Londinense both based in the capital city. . .

Juventus 1 - Celta 0

Celta: Pinto; Celades, Sergio, Cáceres, Juanfran; Makelele, Karpin, Gustavo López, Mostovoi, Revivo (Tomas 79'); McCarthy. 4-2-3-1.

Celta came out of their match at the Delle Alpi stadium with pride but little else after failing to score against Juventus. Only 10,000 people turned up for the game on a cold night, with the UEFA competition seen by supporters of the big clubs as a second rate championship. Víctor Fernández had most of his first choice players available, with the versatile Celades coming in at right back for the injured Velasco. Only the Juventus Dutch keeper Van der Sar kept the Gallicians at bay, saving from Mostovoi twice in the first half, and Revivo in the second amongst others. The only goal came from ex Real Sociedad striker Kovacevic, heading in Del Piero's free kick four minutes into the second half. Both Del Piero and Mostovoi hit the post from free kicks in the second half, Makelele failing to follow up on Mostovoi's kick with the goal at his mercy. They come back to Vigo next week, but the lack of an away goal could cost them the tie...

Mallorca 4 - Monaco 1

Mallorca: Leo Franco; Olaizola (Armando 84'), Nadal, Siviero, Miguel Soler; Lauren (Djokaj), Engonga, Chichi Soler, Stankovic; Carlos (Ibagaza 72'), Tristán. 4-4-2.

Having eliminated Ajax in the last round, Mallorca went on to leave Monaco groggy and virtually wrap up the tie with a 4-1 victory with a hat-trick from Stankovic. Fernando Vázquez has finally got virtually all of his first choice squad back from the medical centres and playing fields of Europe, and they are starting to roll again. They went behind early on however after Simone converted a cross from Gallardo in the second minute. Barthez saved twice from Stankovic before the Yugoslavian midfielder finally beat the French keeper from a free kick just before half time. Seven minutes into the second half Stankovic got his second from the penalty spot after Djetou brought down Carlos. Monaco's Márquez was sent off for a second bookable offence a couple of minutes later, and with ten men the visitors could do nothing as Italian referee Pier Luigi Collina awarded a second penalty for another foul on Carlos, this time by Barthez. Stankovic made it three, and Diego Tristán rounded things off with a goal from Lauren's cross in injury time. If they do go through next week, they will probably meet Galatasaray in the quarter finals the week after. They surprised Borussia Dortmund 0-2 in the first leg.