levski sofya (teknik direktör: stanimir stoilov) georgi petkov, zhivko milanov, elin topuzakov, igor tomasiç, lucio wagner freitas de souza, daniel borimirov, richard eromoigbe, stanislav angelov (dimitar telkijski 58'), cedric bardon, khristo yovov (marijan ognjanov 73'), valeri domovchijski (georgi ivanov 57')
barcelona (teknik direktör: frank rijkaard) victor valdes, gianluca zambrotta, carles puyol, rafael marquez (oleguer presas 63'), sylvio mendes “sylvinho”, thiago motta, andres iniesta (santi ezquerro 81'), anderson de souza “deco”, ludovic giuly (xavier hernandez “xavi” 58'), ronaldo de assis “ronaldinho”, eidur gudjohnsen
yardımcı hakemler: alexey monahov (rus), lev antonov (rus)
4. hakem: stanislav sukhina (rus)
levski: georgi petkov (gk), zhivko milanov, igor tomašić, richard eromoigbe, daniel borimirov, hristo yovov (dk. 73 marian ognyanov), elin topuzakov (c), valeri domovchiyski (dk. 57 georgi ivanov), stanislav angelov (dk. 58 dimitar telkiyski), lucio wagner, cédric bardon
yedekler: bozhidar mitrev (gk), veselin minev, miroslav ivanov, nikolay dimitrov
barça set up bremen showdown published: thursday 23 november 2006, 0.50cet
pfc levski sofia 0-2 fc barcelona ludovic giuly set the holders on their way to a vital victory which guarantees a dramatic finish to group a.
by trevor haylett from vasil levski national stadium
fc barcelona ended a three-game uefa champions league sequence without a victory by inflicting a fifth successive defeat on pfc levski sofia to enhance their chances of qualifying for the knockout rounds. bremen meeting to do that the holders will have to beat werder bremen, 1-0 winners against chelsea fc tonight, at home in their final group a fixture on matchday 6. a loss or even a draw here would have made the spanish club the first defending champions to fail to progress through a group stage in the uefa champions league era, but an early strike from ludovic giuly and a second-half goal from andrés iniesta made sure there would be no shock in sofia.
champions graveyard levski's home ground enjoyed a period when it regularly sounded the death knell for the aspirations of the european champion clubs' cup holders. both afc ajax (1973/74) and liverpool fc (1981/82) lost their crowns here while nottingham forest fc (1980/81) suffered a 1-0 reverse in their first-round first leg before losing the return in england by a similar scoreline. if history suggested another surprise result, barcelona were determined to pay no heed. an early breakthrough was their aim and it arrived as swiftly as the fifth minute, though seconds before the holders had to survive a scare in their own goalmouth when hristo yovov beat gianluca zambrotta only to elect to shoot from a difficult angle, his effort clipping the outside of the near post.
opportunist giuly undeterred, zambrotta advanced down the right and while eidur gudjohnsen could not connect properly with the cross, the ball fell kindly for giuly to open the scoring with a controlled drive. at camp nou, levski had held out for two minutes more before falling behind, and it would have been easy for their heads to drop but having seen ronaldinho loop a free-kick too high, they gathered their spirit and resources and proceeded to push barça back. the bulgarian champions engineered a number of promising situations but lacked the composure and good fortune to take advantage. stanislav angelov was unlucky to see a fierce drive blocked and the same player was then only just beaten to the ball by goalkeeper víctor valdés following cédric bardon's clever back-heel.
gudjohnsen openings barcelona had two great opportunities to put the issue beyond doubt at the start of the second half. in each case gudjohnsen was the man scenting glory, but after first slashing at his shot he was then denied by the legs of georgi petkov, the goalkeeper also blocking giuly's follow-up in the same way. it enabled levski to believe they could still get a significant result from their night's work. they remained true to their adventurous instincts and it required a last-ditch tackle from rafael márquez to prevent valeri domovchiyski latching on to a loose ball inside the penalty area.
iniesta clincher then, in the 65th minute, barça were finally able to relax. deco finished a smart break with a rasping shot that petkov failed to hold and iniesta popped up to give the holders breathing space and set up a decisive final fixture in a fortnight's time. levski, meanwhile, are guaranteed to end their first group-stage campaign in fourth position ahead of their concluding tie at chelsea.
avrupa şampiyonlar ligi'ne yarın ve 22 kasım çarşamba günü gruplarda yapılacak 5'inci maçlarla devam edilecek.
avrupa'nın kulüpler bazında en büyük futbol mücadelesi olan şampiyonlar ligi'nde 8 grupta 32 takımdan bazıları üst tura çıkmayı garantilerken, bazıları 16 takım arasına girmek için bu hafta yapılacak maçlardan galibiyetle ayrılmak istiyor.
şampiyonlar ligi'nde fransa'dan olimpique lyon, yaptığı 4 maçtan da galibiyetle ayrılarak ligin şimdiye kadar en başarılı takımı olurken, bulgar takımı levski sofya, ukrayna'dan dinamo kiev ve almanya'dan hamburg puanla tanışamayarak ligden elenen ekipler.
(c) grubu'nda liverpol, psv eindhoven, bordeaux ile birlikte yer alan galatasaray, şu ana kadar sadece kendi sahasında yaptığı bordeaux maçından beraberlikle ayrılarak 4 maçta 1 puan toplayabildi. ilk 16 takım arasına girme şansını yitiren galatasaray, 22 kasım çarşamba günü deplasmanda yapacağı bordeaux maçından alacağı muhtemel bir 3 puanla uefa kupasına katılmayı ümit ediyor.ligde galatasaray ile aynı grupta bulunan fc liverpool ve psv eindhoven'in yanı sıra valencia, olimpique lyon ve ac milan avrupa'nın en iyi 16 takımı arasına daha şimdiden adını yazdırmış durumda.
öte yandan, şampiyonlar ligi'nde büyük bir çekişmeye sahne olan gol krallığı yarışında ise fc chelsea'nin fildişi sahilleri'nden golcüsü didier drogba ile ac milan'ın brezilyalı orta alan oyuncusu kaka attıkları 5'er golle ön sırada bulunuyorlar.
ligde yarın ve 22 kasım çarşamba günü yapılacak maçlar şöyle:
yarın: real madrid-olimpique lyon steaua bükreş-dinamo kiev celtic-manchester united benfica-fc kopenhag cska moskova-porto arsenal-hamburg lille-anderlecht aek atina-ac milan
22 kasım çarşamba: bordeaux-galatasaray werder beremen-chelsea levski sofya-barcelona spartak moskova-bayern münih inter milan-sporting lizbon liverpool-psv eindhoven valencia-olimpiacos shakthar donetsk-roma
