Alavés 0 - Barcelona 1

Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Eggen, Téllez, Geli; Astudillo, Desio (Azkoitia 75'), Magno (Iván Alonso 46'), Ibon Begoña; Vucko (Jordi Cruyff 62'), Javi Moreno. 4-4-2.
Barcelona: Dutruel; Reiziger (Kluivert 62'), Frank De Boer, Puyol; Gabri (Petit 40'), Guardiola, Cocu, Sergi; Luis Enrique, Rivaldo, Overmars (Zenden 78'). 3-4-3.

Team changes: Alavés: Téllez, Geli, Magno, Vucko for Karmona, Brandán, Pablo, Tomic / Barcelona: Sergi, Gabri for Zenden, Kluivert.

Goals:
0-1. 18. Overmars. Shot wide of Herrera after De Boer cross from left wing.

Alavés paid the price for their epic UEFA cup final, losing to Barcelona on the only game brought forward to Saturday night. The Vitoria based side had asked for the fixture to be postponed to Monday to give them time to recover, but television schedules had already been set and could not be altered, and Barcelona in any case refused to budge. Matters were not helped either by the additional physical and mental effort needed to play the extra 30 minutes or so against Liverpool, and Nané was forced to rest some of his players, with Karmona, Tomic and Jordi Cruyff left on the bench at the start. Barcelona's week was dominated by the Kluivert story after the hostile reception he got from his own fans last week and his controversial substitution at half time. After scoring four times in the second half without him, Rexach decided to start without him in a line which was anything from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-1-2 depending on which paper you read.

The other talking point of the week (other than whether De Boer will be suspended for a positive drug test) was whether the Barcelona players should applauding the Alavés players on to the pitch with a "pasadilla", traditionally reserved for competition winners. In the end though they decided on halfway house, clapping them on but not lining up to do so. It didn't matter that much in the end as the 19,000 crowd made enough noise as their heroes came on , with blue and white balloons drifting on to the pitch making play difficult at first. The game itself though was not an attractive affair, with both sides not giving many opportunities to their opponents. In the whole of the first half there were only five goal chances, four to Alavés, the best of which was a Javi Moreno shot which Dutruel saved, and only one to Barcelona. That one counted though, Overmars winning the ball off Desio after Frank De Boer crossed in from the left and driving the ball low into the corner of the net. It was his fifth goal in seven matches, and was to prove the winner once again for Barcelona.

Petit came on before half time for Gabri who twisted a knee in a tackle with Astudillo, and Mané brought on Iván Alonso at half time for Magno to strengthen his attack. Referee Medina Cantalejo upset local supporters turning down two fairly valid penalty appeals either side of half time for fouls on Vucko by Luis Enrique and then Petit, but he also disallowed a goal by Rivaldo just after the restart for a borderline offside. Herrera made a fingertip save from a Rivaldo free kick, and the Brazilian star also missed an easy chance later on in front of goal. With just over an hour gone Rexach brought on Kluivert for a limping Reiziger, with Cocu and Petit dropping back, and Mané substituted Vucko with Jordi Cruyff. Neither made much impact though in the half an hour they were on the pitch.

With two minutes to go Medina Cantalejo upset the locals again sending off Contra for a second bookable offence for a fairly innocuous foul on Zenden, and he was met by a hail of objects as he left the pitch. The fans were not happy either that their side had been forced to play so soon after the final, and their defeat makes qualification for the UEFA cup next season more difficult as they lose ground on their nearest rivals. Barcelona move level with fourth placed Mallorca pending Sunday's games, and still need to win most if not all of their remaining games to have a chance of a Champions League place next year. With a new team to buy, they need the money for new players.