Barcelona slips into Champions League semifinals
BARCELONA – Barcelona edged past Panathinaikos and into the semi-finals of the Champions League on a 3-2 aggregate on Tuesday, a Luis Enrique double and a cool Javier Saviola finish earning the Catalans a memorable comeback win. Barcelona, trailing 1-0 from the first leg, had their task further complicated in the eighth minute when Michalis Constantinou muscled past Frank de Boer and powered a 25-meter shot low past Roberto Bonano. But Saviola’s chip forward set up Luis Enrique for an equalizer after 23 minutes and the Spanish international midfielder headed in from a Rivaldo free kick five minutes into the second half to make it 2-2 on aggregate. Rivaldo was just wide with two long-range efforts before Saviola got what proved to be the winner just past the hour mark, taking a through ball from Xavi and sweeping his shot past Antonis Nikopolidis. «We got there by the skin of our teeth,» said a relieved Luis Enrique. «It was uphill all the way but in the end we managed it, even though they created a lot of chances towards the end.» Saviola hit the bar a minute after he scored, but Barca could not find a fourth goal to give themselves some breathing space and Panathinaikos gradually started to threaten more. Carles Puyol was forced to clear off the line from Constantinou eight minutes from time as play was allowed to carry on after Bonano was injured in a challenge with substitute Emmanuel Olisadebe. Bonano was taken off on a stretcher with his neck in a collar, leaving substitute goalkeeper Pepe Reina to withstand an agonizing seven minutes of injury time, in which there were several close calls for the nervous Barca defense. Olisadebe and Goran Vlaovic went close, but defender Sotiris Kyriakos went closest, shooting just wide with Reina stranded in no man’s land. Barcelona coach Carles Rexach said that his team’s nail-biting victory showed that this season’s Champions League was more evenly balanced than ever. «It is obvious that in modern football there are no easy opponents left anymore,» Rexach told reporters. «Once again Panathinaikos showed that they are a very good side and very tough opponents. They had quality players in attack who provided a serious threat to us at the end of the game.» «What I liked was that despite going down 2-0 on aggregate so early on in the game, we never panicked and were able to turn the game around,» said Rexach. «In the second half we had a very impressive 30 minutes, but as we were playing with five natural front men it was hardly surprising that they tired towards the end and that’s why we suffered so much in injury time.» Panathinaikos coach Sergio Markarian, who was able to take his place on the bench after he was given a last-minute reprieve from his 40-day touchline ban, was philosophical despite his obvious disappointment at his side’s defeat. «We went very close and missed a great opportunity to get through to the semis,» he said. «But if we can take anything from this game it is that we made one of the great European teams suffer and it was they who were calling for the whistle at the end. That is the only satisfaction we can get from the game.» «I was very pleased with the effort of my players,» added Markarian. «And I am happy for them because it is a major achievement to reach this stage of a competition like the Champions League.» The game took its toll on both teams. Barcelona President Joan Gaspart was forced to leave his seat at halftime owing to dizziness as the suspense of the game brought on a sudden drop in his blood pressure. Goalkeeper Bonano was kept in a hospital, suffering from concussion and a split lip. Panathinaikos’s doctor Nikos Tzuridis had to be taken away, strapped to a stretcher, after collapsing a few minutes from the end of the match. Spanish newspapers said yesterday that the Greek side had complained that he had been hit by a projectile thrown from the crowd. However, Tzuridis’s Barcelona counterpart, Ricardo Pruna, said that the doctor had banged his head on the roof above the bench and on falling had swallowed his tongue, dislocated his shoulder and suffered convulsions. Tzuridis was also kept in hospital for observation. Barcelona may face punishment from UEFA after Panathinaikos goalkeeper Nikopolidis was hit on his shoulder by a metal firework case thrown from behind his goal in the first minute of the match. (Reuters, AP)
