zalayeta sends juventus through published: wednesday 23 april 2003, 0.42cet
fc barcelona 1-2 juventus fc (aet; juve win 3-2 on aggregate) marcelo zalayeta wins it for ten-man juventus.
an extra-time goal from substitute marcelo zalayeta sent ten-man juventus fc through to a uefa champions league semi-final against either manchester united fc or real madrid cf after a breathtaking quarter-final second leg at camp nou.
zalayeta winner juventus looked on their way out as they entered extra time a man down following edgar davids' 79th-minute dismissal, but after soaking up wave after wave of barcelona attacks, zalayeta struck, turning in alessandro birindelli's cross to give his side a 2-1 win on the night and a 3-2 aggregate victory.
attack-minded with goals at a premium, juventus coach marcello lippi made one change from the side that drew 1-1 in the first leg with striker marco di vaio coming in for igor tudor. the match was in stark contrast to the stalemate at the delle alpi with both sides playing expansively, and both came close in a free-flowing opening period. javier saviola headed over after only two minutes, while di vaio was unfortunate to slip after getting in behind the home side's defence.
bonano on form barcelona enjoyed much of the early possession but it was juventus who posed the greater threat with roberto bonano saving well from both alessandro del piero and davids from close range. in between, marc overmars tormented the juventus rearguard on the right and gianluca zambrotta and paolo montero both earned bookings for rash challenges on the dutch winger.
luis enrique miss with patrick kluivert, saviola and overmars all posing problems, the juventus defence was often stretched to the limit and kluivert shot narrowly wide after michael reiziger had worked an opening down the left four minutes before the break. but the home side's best chance fell to luis enrique two minutes after the restart. the barcelona captain skipped past montero, but with only gianluigi buffon to beat, curled his shot wide.
nedved strikes the game was flowing from end to end and six minutes later pavel nedved made no such mistake when he cut into the barcelona area on the left and shot low past bonano. moments later the czech international came close to adding to his side's advantage, but bonano stretched acrobatically to turn his shot away.
xavi hits back in response, barcelona coach radomir antic sent on gaizka mendieta and barcelona threw bodies forward. luis enrique saw another shot saved by buffon, but on 66 minutes the home side drew level, xavi hernández firing in low from the edge of the area as their pressure told.
davids sent off barcelona had the momentum and it swung still further their way when davids was dismissed for a second bookable offence after a foul on mendieta. but this time, marshalled superbly by centre-back lilian thuram, the juventus defence held firm.
zalayeta pounces having won through to extra time, juventus sat back, soaking endless barcelona attacks. the home side's best chance fell to kluivert with eight minutes to play, but buffon bravely saved his close-range bicycle kick. two minutes later, on virtually their only attack of extra time, zalayeta struck to end barcelona's remarkable unbeaten run in the competition in the most dramatic of circumstances.
