Tale of woe for former British European champs

PARIS: Two former British European Cup winners, Liverpool and Celtic, suffered another blow to staying in the competition after both lost in the latest round of Champions League matches on Wednesday.

Liverpool has just a point after three matches having gone down 2-1 to Besiktas in Istanbul - the scene of its epic win in 2005 over AC Milan - while Celtic has three points following a 1-0 reverse away to Benfica.

Other former winners enjoyed better fortunes as AC Milan showed some return to form in beating Shakthar Donetsk 4-1 to go top of its group while Real Madrid also scored four in downing Greek side Olympiakos.

Chelsea's search for a first-ever European Cup title also stayed in healthy condition after a 2-0 win at home to German outfit Schalke 04, with Didier Drogba showing little sign of his despair at Jose Mourinho leaving the club as he netted its second.

Schalke's German rival Werder Bremen stayed in the hunt with a 2-1 home win over Italian side Lazio while Marseille and the side Mourinho coached to Champions League glory in 2004, Porto, stayed ahead of Liverpool with a 1-1 draw in France.

Liverpool may have gone down to Besiktas but there was still an upbeat feeling in the team camp from both manager Rafael Benitez and captain Steven Gerrard.

"We can still make it with 10 points," said Benitez, who had seen off Besiktas when he was coaching Valencia on its way to UEFA Cup glory prior to taking over at the English club.

"We had a lot of shots on target and just didn't manage to put them away.

"However, the fans will understand if they saw the match that we were unlucky."

Gerrard too was optimistic.

"It was frustrating but sometimes that happens.

"However, I am still confident we can turn it around and make the knockout stages."

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was gutted by the manner of his side's latest Champions League defeat on the road and admitted he thought they were going to hang on for the draw.

He said: "Sometimes football can be nasty and I thought tonight we were going to hang on and get the point.

"When the player hit the post I thought to myself that it was going to be our night but it wasn't to be.

"We had a couple of chances, although they had better ones. But on a really good night we could have had a really good result."

While Strachan was left frustrated, there were opposite emotions from Real Madrid handler Bernd Schuster as he saw his club not only take a big step towards the second round but also that the faith he had shown in Brazilian star Robinho was repaid as the striker - who had returned late from last week's World Cup qualifier over Ecuador after some apparent over-zealous celebrations - scored twice.

"He's (Robinho) a player who knows how to win games," said Schuster.

"I'm not going to go back to the other subject. He started hesitantly but after he got his first goal, he was outstanding, playing with much more confidence," praised Schuster.

For AC Milan there was sheer relief that it managed a win after a rocky start to its Serie A campaign, and it was clear from Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf, who scored two of its goals, how much the win meant.

"This evening the fact that we were able to finish off our victory meant a lot," said the veteran.

"There was a fair amount of relief out there after the tension of the last few days.

"However, we know that in Europe, the game is not played in the same way as it is in Italy, but that cannot be an alibi for us."

Benitez will also realize that when judgement day comes on Liverpool's European campaign, he cannot rely on an alibi of being unlucky.

AFP

(China Daily 10/26/2007 page24)