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Madrid Get Late Salvation: 25-02-2003
By James Ellaby
Manchester United travelled to Juventus expecting a much tougher challenge than the flu-stricken side they beat at Old Trafford last week. With Paul Scholes, Wes Brown and Mikael Silvestre all out injured and Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy rested, they were the understrength team rather than the Bianconeri.
When Diego Forlan was stretchered off early in the game, Giggs was brought on and the Welsh winger looked to be back to his best and scored after 15 minutes when United broke from a Juve corner and Juan Sebastian Veron crossed for Giggs to finish. Four minutes before half-time, he picked up the ball from a stray Antonio Conte pass and ran across the entire defence before slotting it past Gianluigi Buffon with his right foot.
He was then taken off soon after half-time with a nagging thigh injury and his replacement Ruud van Nistelrooy soon made it 3-0 when Gary Neville's cross was nearly knocked into his own net by Igor Tudor. The ball hit the post and rebounded back to the Dutch striker who tapped it in. That meant the game was all but up and shell-shocked Juventus had suffered a rare and damaging home defeat. They will now need to pick themselves up for this weekend's Derby D'Italia against Inter, while United have won Group D.
AC Milan had become the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow earlier in the evening. Pippo Inzaghi was fouled in the area in the 33rd minute and Rivaldo scored the resulting penalty. The home side had a number of chances, but could not finish them and now look likely to finish bottom of Group C with tough games against Madrid and Dortmund to come.
Carlo Ancelotti was delighted with the win and qualification: "We have done very well in this phase and sealed the passage into the next round early. That is extremely important. What is even better, we booked our ticket to the quarters with good play. Goal-fests are hardly easy in the Second Phase of this competition, and all games will be difficult from here on in. Milan are not only able to entertain, but we can make the most of matches when we take the lead."
Jan Koller scored to give Borussia Dortmund any early lead over Real Madrid in Germany, but they were denied by a last minute equaliser by Javier Portillo. That result gives them a good chance of joining Milan in the quarter-finals, but Dortmund will still also fancy their chances. Also gaining revenge for last week's defeat was Deportivo La Coruna, who beat FC Basle 1-0 thanks to a goal from Diego Tristan, adding to his weekend hat-trick. They are now level with Juventus on four points in Group D.
