Kiev consolation is UEFA Cup place

DYNAMO KIEV were within an ace of qualifying along with Juventus FC for the second phase of the Champions League, only to be denied by Craig Bellamy’s last-gasp strike for Newcastle.

Thu, 14 Nov, 2002 - 00:00

James Whelan

Nonetheless, the Russians had fate in their own hands and would have qualified themselves with a victory, but goals after the interval from Marcelo Salas and Marcelo Zalayeta saw Juve win 2-1 and finish on 13 points, four clear of the second-placed Premiership side.

In Group H, Barcelona brushed aside Galatasaray 3-1 to complete the opening phase of the Champions League with a perfect record and dash the Turkish side’s hopes of making progress in the competition.

The Spaniards rarely-used striker Dani burst through their defence after 10 minutes and poked a shot past Faryd Mondragon. Cihan Haspolatli beat a static defence to head the equaliser 10 minutes later, but the home side went in front again in the final minute of the first half, Gerard turning in from a corner.

Geovanni’s flashing drive made it 3-1, 11 minutes after the break to complete affairs as the Turks finished bottom of the group and missed out on a UEFA Cup spot, which went to Club Bruges instead.

Lokomotiv Moscow beat the Belgians 2-0 at home to reach the second phase of the Champions League in only their second attempt after a scrappy game on a pitch almost white with snow.

Julio Cesar put Lokomotiv in front barely a minute before half-time by calmly rounding goalkeeper Dany Verlinden and slotting home. Dimitry Loskov made the points safe on the stroke of full-time when his long shot was deflected by a defender to wrongfoot Verlinden.

In Group G Deportivo Coruna qualified for the second phase after coming from behind to secure a 2-1 win over AC Milan at the San Siro.

Danish striker Jon Dahl Tomasson put Milan in front with a 34th minute header but the Spaniards, who knew they had to win to be sure of progressing, equalised in the 58th minute with a spectacular long-range strike from Diego Tristan. Roy Makaay then grabbed the winner in the 70th minute with a clinical finish.

Lens will have to be satisfied with a place in the third round of the UEFA Cup despite holding FC

Bayern Munich to a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Olympiastadion. Bayern raced into a two-goal lead inside 20 minutes but Lens drew level through Dagui Bakari and a Thorsten Fink own goal. Markus Feulner restored the hosts’ advantage but Jocelyn Blanchard struck late to level matters.

In Manchester United’s group Maccabi Haifa booked their place in the UEFA Cup third round after a 3-3 draw against Olympiakos. Two soft goals from Walid Badir and Yaakubo Ayegbeni in the opening 11 minutes gave the hosts a mountain to climb as they needed to win by a three-goal margin to take third place in Group F.

Alekos Alexandris scored a 37th minute goal to reduce the deficit for the Greeks but Yaniv Katan made it 3-1 three minutes later.

Qualifiers for the second phase of the Champions League Qualifiers

Group A: Arsenal (Eng), Borussia Dortmund (Ger)

Group B: Valencia (Spa), FC Basel (Swi)

Group C: Real Madrid (Spa), AS Roma (Ita)

Group D: Inter Milan (Ita), Ajax (Neth)

Group E: Juventus (Ita) Newcastle (Eng)

Group F: Manchester United (Eng), Bayer Leverkusen (Ger)

Group G: AC Milan (Ita) Deportivo La Coruna (Spain)

Group H: Barcelona (Spa) Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)

Qualified for UEFA Cup

Group A: Auxerre (Fra)