| "Yellow Submarine" heads for the finale The 2005/06 Champions League will end only in mid-May. But she already has her own triumphant. The Spanish Villarreal, in the year of its debut in the main European Cup tournament in Europe, made it to the semi-finals, beating Lille, Benfica, Rangers along the way and Inter in the quarter-finals - 1:0.
After Villarreal lost the first match in Milan, Inter's task of taking the lead in a two-round confrontation looked more than feasible. However, Spain had its own opinion on this matter. “I didn’t doubt for a second that we would play in the semi-finals, even after the undeserved defeat in the first meeting,” Villarreal head coach Manuel Pellegrini said after the match. “I know my players very well and I saw that they do not consider themselves defeated.”
On Tuesday, everyone else saw it too. If in the first half the hosts, as well as the guests, played the game practically without a goal and did not create a single dangerous moment, then after the break the players of the “yellow submarine” - that’s what Villarreal is called - finally became bolder and led a systematic attacks on the goal of a famous opponent. Just look at Jose Mari's shot into the top corner; it took a lot of effort for Inter goalkeeper Toldo to catch the ball. But soon the goalkeeper was unable to help his team out after a free kick: Riquelme made a well-calibrated pass to Arruabarrena, and the Argentinean, jumping in front of Toldo, hit the goal with the back of his head.
This goal turned out to be the only one in this match. Although Inter still had enough time left to equalize the score, the Black and Blues never recovered from the shock. Moreover, Villarreal could have scored more, but Forlan was unlucky. “This is a historic moment for us. We have to enjoy these minutes,” said Forlán after the match, whose goal in the first minute of the away game turned out to be decisive and allowed the Spanish team to achieve a sensational overall victory over Inter.
Milan can also enjoy the victory. The Rossonieri, having achieved a decisive advantage in the last minutes, beat Lyon 3:1. “We played very well, better than Milan,” French champion coach Gerard Houllier did not hide his disappointment. - We played poorly for only nine minutes, and Milan took advantage of it. They had three chances and they converted all three.”
We can agree with Houllier. Lyon really didn't deserve to lose. Having conceded to Inzaghi in the first half, the French team almost completely seized the advantage and not only equalized the score through the efforts of Diarra, but simply had to take the lead - just before the break, Fred sent the ball into the post.
As they say, the bar is generally a goalkeeper's best friend. However, Lyon goalkeeper Coupe is unlikely to agree with this statement. When there were two minutes left before the final whistle, which in theory was supposed to take the French to the semifinals, Milan, which had practically defended the entire game, snapped. The ball, sent by Andrei Shevchenko, first hit one post, rolled along the goal, hit another post and was ready to fly into the field, if Inzaghi had not managed to finish off - 2:1. And soon Andrei Shevchenko himself managed to distinguish himself - by scoring his 52nd goal in the Champions League, the Ukrainian became the tournament record holder for this indicator.
“Now we are rejoicing at this incredible result, which we achieved with great difficulty,” Milan head coach Carlo Ancelotti was able to catch his breath only after the match. “Lyon are a great team, but we were a little better and deservedly reached the semi-finals.”
Champions League. 1/4 finals. Return matches. “Milan” – “Lyon” – 3:1 (first match – 0:0) – Inzaghi 25, 88, Shevchenko 90 – Diarra 31; Villarreal - Inter - 1:0 (1:2) - Arruabarrena 58.
Andrey VDOVIN |
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