A Spanish armada has taken over European soccer.
Spain’s La Liga–with two of the world’s most prestigious clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona–usually doesn’t garner the kind of attention the English Premier League or Italy’s Serie A does. That is likely to change now that Spain has three teams among the final four of the European Champions League: Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
More Top Picks Ratings
Valencia will face Barcelona in one semifinal, and Madrid will meet German powerhouse Bayern Munich in the other. The semifinals will be May 2 and 3, with the return legs the following week. The final will be May 24 in Paris.
Spain is guaranteed to have one finalist and traditionalists are hoping for a final pitting the country’s archrivals: Madrid vs. Barcelona.
“This is proof that Spanish football is very strong at the European level,” Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque said. “I offer my congratulations to Barcelona and Valencia. We’ll certainly have one finalist, and let’s see if we can have two.”
Each of the three victories featured some sort of surprise. Valencia, the underdog of the final eight, thoroughly outclassed Italy’s Lazio with a 5-2 victory in the opening leg, then held on in Rome with a 1-0 defeat to advance 5-3 on an aggregate.
Barcelona dropped a 3-1 decision to England’s Chelsea in the first leg in London two weeks ago. But in a thrilling return leg at the Nou Camp, Barcelona quickly scored two goals to even the series at 3-3. Chelsea scored 15 minutes into the second half to go back in front 4-3 and tie the away-goals tiebreaker at 1-1. Dani Garcia evened the series for Barcelona with a goal with seven minutes remaining to force extra time.
After 180 minutes spread over two games, the teams were even at 4-4 and 1-1 in away goals. Barcelona then secured its semifinal spot with two goals in extra time, one from Patrick Klivert and a penalty-kick goal from world player of the year Rivaldo. In 90 minutes played at the Nou Camp, Barcelona won 5-1 and advanced 6-4 on aggregate.
“I think Barcelona [is] the favorite for the title, but it’ll be interesting to see them play against a Spanish side,” Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli said.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was Real Madrid’s convincing 3-2 victory over defending champion Manchester United at Old Trafford. It was the first loss Man U suffered to a Spanish team at home. The teams played to a 0-0 draw in Madrid in the opening leg.
“We can now start dreaming of an all-Spanish final in Paris,” said Madrid’s Raul Gonazalez, who scored two goals. “Over the two games against United we demonstrated that we were superior.”
An opening: Liverpool’s run of six straight wins came to an end with a goalless draw Friday at city rival Everton. That clears the way for Manchester United to clinch the Premier League title Saturday, its sixth in eight years. United will be crowned champion with four games to spare if it wins at Southampton.
Thankfully over: English club Leeds and Turkish side Galatasaray completed their UEFA Cup semifinal series with Galatasaray advancing 4-2 on aggregate after playing to a 2-2 draw Thursday at Elland Road.
The match was played against the backdrop of the deaths of two Leeds supporters in street clashes the night before the first leg in Istanbul.
Worried about repeated violence in England, UEFA banned Galatasaray supporters from buying tickets and traveling to the match. There was heavy security at the match.
The Turkish club distributed flowers when it came out for its warmups, but still heard derisive chants during the match. Some physical play early, which resulted in each team having a player sent off, put the match on even more of an edge.
Afterward, the Galatasaray bus reportedly was pelted with stones by Leeds fans as it pulled away from the stadium. Fourteen people are to appear in court May 4 on minor charges, but Leeds police said Friday that the disturbances were no different from a regular game’s.
In Istanbul, stray bullets fired by celebrating fans wounded five people during all-night partying by fans, police said Friday.
Turks poured into the streets, honking car horns and waving the red and yellow team flag.
Galatasaray is the first Turkish club to reach the final of an UEFA competition and will face London power Arsenal in the May 17 final in Copenhagen. Arsenal easily dispatched Lens of France, 2-1 in the second leg and 3-1 on aggregate.
Moving on: Algeria became the first African nation to advance to the second round of qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, beating the Cape Verde Islands 2-0 Friday.
United troubles: Things seem to be going from bad to worse for defending MLS champion D.C. United. After dropping its third match in four games last Saturday, star defender Eddie Pope underwent surgery on his left knee earlier in the week and will be out two to four weeks.
More Top Picks Best Pilates Reformers For Seniors