Deadly Deportivo spring shock on Milan

Deportivo La Coruna 4 AC Milan 0 (Deportivo win 5-4 on agg)

Having lost the first leg 4-1 in the San Siro stadium, few pundits gave Deportivo any chance of making it to the semi-finals but Milan looked a shadow of the side that lead the Italian Serie A and took the title last season.

In the semi-finals, Deportivo come up against FC Porto.

Walter Pandiani ignited the most phenomenal fight back in the Champions League in recent seasons with a goal after just five minutes.

Inspired by the Uruguayan’s early strike, with the ball going between the legs of Paolo Maldini before Pandiani sent a low shot past Milan keeper Dida, Deportivo then decided to throw everything at the Italian visitors.

Deportivo nearly went two up after 25 minutes when Juan Carlos Valeron blasted the ball from the edge of the area, requiring an instinctive save from Dida to stop the goal.

However Valeron was not to be denied.

The Spanish international playmaker found the net 10 minutes later, heading home an Albert Luque cross from wide on the left and taking advantage of Dida being out of position.

The Galicians then took the lead over the two legs just a minute before half-time when Maldini and Cafu were caught too far forward, allowing Luque to run on to a deep clearance by keeper Jose Molina.

Luque then showed why he will be one of Spain’s men-to-watch at Euro 2004 by calmly taking the ball into the area before sending a left foot shot past the hapless Dida.

Dida’s miserable night continued when Fran Gonzalez confirmed Deportivo’s victory after 76 minutes with a thunderbolt from the edge of the area on the left, which took a slight deflection.

The result left the Deportivo fans delirious, having never gone so far in the Champions League before, despite having made it to the quarter-finals twice in three previous seasons.

It also leaves Deportivo coach Javier Irureta facing the prospect of having to fulfil his promise to do the 500-mile Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in the north of Spain, which he said he would do on his knees if Deportivo beat Milan.

In the summer of 2000, Irureta walked the route after Deportivo won the league.

Irureta also said before the game that he had regularly been praying to the patron saint of La Coruna since the first leg.

DEP LA CORUNA: Molina, Manuel Pablo, Romero, Naybet, Andrade, Mauro Silva, Sergio (Duscher 87), Victor, Luque (Fran 66), Valeron (Djalminha 90), Pandiani.

AC Milan: Dida, Cafu, Pancaro (Rui Costa 77), Nesta, Maldini, Pirlo (Serginho 59), Seedorf, Gattuso, Kaka, Tomasson (Inzaghi 67), Shevchenko.

Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland).