Match day One: 1999/2000 SS Lazio 2 2012/2013 Bayern Munich 2

1999/2000 SS Lazio  2              2012/2013  Bayern Munich 2
(Nedved 31', Salas 42')              (Muller 70', Gomez 85')


A stirring late comeback saw the German giants Bayern haul themselves back into a tie that appeared at half time to be getting away from them.

Bayern had actually started the brighter of the two sides but Lazio showed how dangerous they could be on 20 minutes when they launched a counter attack and their mercurial playmaker Juan Sebastian Veron put Roberto Mancini clean through. Neuer saved well.

Eleven minutes later however, and Neuer was left rooted to the spot as Pavel Nedved guided a header from Marcelo Salas's whipped cross into the top corner of the Bayern goal. Bayern nearly equalised from a Manzukic shot on 38 minutes but conceded again right on half time when Marcelo Salas slid the ball under Neuer having rolled around Dante's tight marking and onto a neat Nedved pass inside the box.

In the dressing room the Germans perhaps took comfort from the fact the shot tally in the first half had been level and possession slightly in their favour but it seemed that luck had deserted them when on 57 minutes Muller was put in by Javi Martinez only to slide his shot across the face of goal and worse was to follow on the hour when Alaba was clearly hauled down inside the box without a penalty being given.

Mario Gomez came on as the Germans threw everything forward. The tall striker was immediately onto a cross but his header looped wide. Then came the goal that pulled them back into things on seventy minutes. Muller, the master predator seized on a blocked clearance and blasted the ball past Marchegiani. Going back to Munich only 1 goal down and with the away goal in hand might have seemed a good return but Bayern continued to press and on eighty five minutes got their second to stun the Olympico crowd. Gomez again towered over his markers to send a bullet header goalwards. Although Marchegiani clawed it out he could do nothing to prevent Gomez bundling home the rebound.

2-2 and with all the momentum, Bayern may not have welcomed the final whistle but they will feel confident of ending the Italian threat at home. Lazio must regroup and focus on what worked in the first half. With Salas, Veron and Nedved, goals will always be possible.

Match Day 2: 1993/1994 Paris St Germain 0 1993/1994 Barcelona 2

1993/1994 Paris St Germain 0          1993/1994 Barcelona  2
                                                           (Stoichkov 36', Stoichkov 42')


The first leg of this tie had been a pulsating 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp with Paris twice shocking the Dream Team on the break. They entered the second leg needing only a low score draw to advance on away goals and with history on their side to a degree - the post-Athens defeat Barcelona side of 1995 had lost 1-0 against PSG with very close to the same line ups.

Paris should have gone ahead as early as the 13th minute when a Ronald Koeman handball gifted them a penalty. However Rai crashed the shot off the bar and over.

Barcelona pushed forward and Lama made his first save from Guardiola on 24 minutes, shortly before 3 minutes later another bullocking run from George Weah put Rai into a good position but Zubizarreta saved well. The home side threatened again on the half hour with a dangerous cross by Colleter was cut out by Koeman.

On 36 minutes Barcelona took control. A flowing move put Beguiristain into the box. His pullback to Bakero was brilliantly saved by Lama but the ball dropped to Stoichkov who could not miss and didn't. Just six minutes later, the Bulgarian maestro made the tie safe with his second. It was another long passage of crisp passing that eventually rolled the ball into Stoichkov's path on the edge of the box and he drove a venomous low shot at an angle under Lama's body and into the far corner of the net.

After the initial flurry of PSG chances, the half ended with Barcelona enjoying 67% of possession and having cancelled out the two away goals, in a commanding lead. There was no hubristic meltdown in the second half. Laudrup came on just before the hour but again had little impact. Weah should have halved the deficit shortly after when again his power had the Barcelona defense in trouble. His initial shot was parried by Zubizarreta but Weah could only steer the rebound inches wide.

PSG threw on more forwards as time ran down. Xavier Gravelaine forced another good save from the Barcelona keeper on 88 minutes but time ran down with Barcelona never looking too troubled.

Match Day Preview: 2012/2013 Bayern Munich vs 1999/2000 SS Lazio

The 2012/2013 Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB Pokal treble winners Bayern Munich take on the 1999/2000 Serie A and Copa Italia double winning Lazio side. 

Lazio in 1999/2000 were at the peak of the Cragnotti years and celebrating their centenary as a club. The prior season they had won the European Cup Winners cup and been pipped on the final day by Milan to the title. That summer Lazio swapped their top scorer, Christian Vieri to Inter for midfielder Diego Simone and a wheelbarrow of cash which was soon parlayed into additional Argentinians Juan Sebastian Veron, Roberto Sensini and additional striking options in the aging Fabrizio Ravanelli and the younger Inazghi brother, Simone. But the core of the team was already in place: Marchegiani in goal, Nesta, Couto and Mihaijlovic in defense, Almeyda, Nedved, Conceicao and Stankovic in midfield and the swashbuckling brilliance of Marcelo Salas up front. They were a side capable of some thrilling football. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpI6DlKATFg

There was an epic 4-4 draw with title rivals Milan early in the season, a brutal Rome derby win and after a great run of form they pulled a 9 point deficit back in the final months of the season so that history repeated and just as 12 months before, Lazio won their last game and had to wait to see if Perugia could do them a favour again a title rival (this time Juventus instead of Milan). This in an era when Juventus match fixing was all but an open secret (Parma had a ghost goal disallowed weeks earlier in highly suspicious circumstances). Unexpectedly Perugia scored the only goal of their game and Lazio were champions of a crazy season, the first club in 9 years not called Milan or Juventus to win the title. They added the Copa to complete a unique double for their centenary celebrations. It was a brief moment on top of the Italian football world: Erickson soon departed for the England job, Veron headed for an ill fated spell at Manchester, Nedved to Juventus, Nesta to Milan and with Cragnotti's finances fading the replacements mainly proving busts, the club has finished between 3rd and 12th place ever since. 

That Lazio side's European credentials are interesting and yet another to mark in the "what might have been" draw. They beat the 1999 Man United Champions League winners in the pre-season UEFA SuperCup, won their initial Champions League group without defeat, topped the second group stage on the back of a 5-1 win against Marseilles and an away win at Chelsea and were heavy favourites in their quarter final against Valencia. The first leg was at La Mestalla, Lazio were without their goalkeeper Marchegiani and captain Alessandro Nesta and their absence proved crucial. After a nightmare start, they found themselves 2-0 after only four minutes. A hat-trick on the night from Gerard and one each for Angulo and future Lazio signing Claudio Lopez were partly offset by away goals from Inzaghi and Salas. 5-2 down, shell shocked, they managed to win the return leg in Rome but not by enough to overcome that disastrous first half. Lazio fans must wonder if things might have been quite different had Marchegiani and Nesta been available. Valencia went on to pull off another La Mestalla blitzkrieg in the first leg against Barcelona and make the final. The two teams that bookended this Lazio side's European campaign, 1999 United and 2000 Valencia both lurk in this competition. Might their paths cross again? Of course to set up a revenge meeting with either they will need to get past one of the greatest Bayern sides ever put together. 

Bayern Munich in 2013 won literally every competition they entered. They lost 3 games (drew 5) in all competition all season.  They broke or equalled 30 German football records during the season. Their all competition goal difference was +118, translating to an average winning margin of more than 2 goals. Yet what this side is remembered for above any of these things is that this was the team that slew the Barcelona dragon that had terrorised Europe for the previous 5 years. Between 2008 and 2013 Barcelona had lost matches, even Champions League semi-finals, but it was consensus that they were not only the best team in the world but possibly in history. As late as April 2013 Messi and his men were the gold standard, whom other contenders hoped to sneak past with a bit of luck- as Chelsea had 12 months prior before beating Bayern on penalties in the final. By the time the 2013 semi-final was over, the Barcelona aura was in tatters and Bayern, 7-0 aggregate winners and hardly flattered by that score, marched imperiously on towards victory at Wembley in the final against domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund and a place in history. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13BFTOU4Fis

The following two years would see more Bundesliga titles tempered by Champions league semi-final defeats but the German core of this side, led by captain Philip Lahm, would lift the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. 

It's worth reflecting that even sides as dominant as this Bayern team can stumble. In the last 16 round of the champions league the Germans beat Arsenal 3-1 in London only to perhaps take their foot off the pedal in the return leg and record one of those 3 defeats, 2-0 at home and thus only made the quarter finals on away goals. A crazy few minutes and their season is not so dissimilar to that of Lazio's.   

Match Day One: 1993/1994 Barcelona 2 1993/1994 PSG 2

1993/1994 Barcelona 2             1993/1994 PSG 2
(Romario 62', Bakero 67')         (Weah 30', Rai 76')

An absolute classic at the Camp Nou. The Dream Team were heavy favourites and at times they showcased the brilliance that would make them a match for any side in the competition but they also betrayed the hubris that undermined them in their European Final in Athens. Bernard Lama had a busy afternoon and Barcelona could have been ahead on 8 minutes when Stoichkov found Romario with a whipped in cross but a rare poor first touch from the Brazilian meant the chance went begging. PSG gave Barcelona a warning on 22 minutes with a dangerous attack. Ginola's shot was blocked by Nadal and the ball shot down the other end of the field through some slick passing. Amor found Beguiristain but Lama's athletic save tipped the header over. And then came the first disaster for Barcelona. On half an hour, on yet another attack there seemed little danger but Paris cleared, Weah was quicker to the ball than Nadal and broke clear to run forty yards with the ball in on Zubizarreta. He made no mistake with his finish and Paris were ahead. The Nou Camp fell silent.

The final fifteen minutes of the half were one long siege of the Paris goal. Roche blocked a Romario shot, Lama made another spectacular save from Amor and finally Guardiola raked a shot across the face of goal.

Barcelona found another gear in the second half and for a while they were unplayable. On the hour, Romario levelled the match, powering home a header from Beguiristain's cross and just five minutes later a pass and move between Bakero and Amor put the Catalan captain in on goal. He drilled his shot past Lama and the favourites appeared well on their way to securing a lead for the return leg.

 Michael Laudrup replaced Amor but failed to get into the game a great deal and four minutes after the change the second Paris goal came. Again it began with Barcelona on the attack with a corner. Paris cleared and moved the ball swiftly down the field. Ginola showed his brilliance with the ball at his feet. He took the ball down the edge of the box, shot low across looking for Weah. Nadal got a boot intercept it but the deflection fell kindly for Rai and the Paris captain fired in the equaliser. So the match heads to Paris, poised at 2-2 and Paris will feel renewed confidence that they might complete the upset. Barcelona for their part must guard against the sucker punch if the hope to progress.

Match day 2: 1999/2000 Monaco 1 1994/1995 Parma 1

1999/2000 Monaco 1      1994/1995 Parma 1
(Simone '39)                         (Aprilla '13)


Parma progressed 2-1 on aggregate after the two sides shared an even draw at the Stade Louis II. Parma effectively settled the tie with the first attacking move of the game. Zola threaded a pass to Aprilla inside the box and the Columbian fired a powerful shot past the despairing Barthez. 2-0 and an away goal in the bag.

Parma duly sat back and allowed Monaco the running of the rest of the half. On 18 minutes a deft Lamouchi chip over the Parma defense found Gallardo but his stretched volley was just wide. Parma were still dangerous on the break, Benarrivo pulling a shot across the face of goal on 33 minutes. As halftime approached, Monaco got back into the tie. Philippe Leonard, pushing forward from fullback, on 39 minutes pumped a cross into the box and Marco Simone sprang to volley spectacularly past Luca Bucchi. Each side managed another chance before the break. Djetou cleared a dangerous ball from Pin and minutes later Trezeguet combined with Simone to put the Italian in on goal but a linesman's flag pulled the move up.


The second half was less frenetic. An injury to Marcelo Gallardo on 50 minutes slowed Monaco's charge and Parma never looked in danger of conceding the two goals that would put them out. Ludovic Giuly came closest with a slaloming run and shot wide but the closest chance fell to Nestor Sensini right on full time but Barthez made a double save. Marco Simone was named man of the match.

1994/1995 Parma 1 1999/2000 Monaco 0

1994/1995 Parma 1   1999/2000 Monaco 0
(Brolin '82)

This was classic 90s Italian two-leg cup performance from Parma and they would be well pleased to be heading to the Stade Louis II with a goal lead and no away goal dilemma. They dominated possession at a steady 60/40 ratio throughout the match and although the final shot count was level, all of their efforts were on goal, whilst Monaco were reduced to long range efforts that didn't come close to worrying Luca Bucci.

On 9 minutes Gabriele Pin stung the gloves of Barthez. Zola was buzzing between the lines of the Monaco defense and Da Costa in midfield, well supported by Baggio, Sensini and the attacking fullbacks. Monaco's tactics were to sit back, let Parma come onto them and play for a draw or unlikely win via a Trezeguet break away. That pattern continued for most of the match with most of the action taking place in the middle of the park.

Late on, Parma pushed a little more, taking off the solid Pin for the more attacking Brolin and reaped immediate reward. Eight minutes remained when Asprilla broke forward, paused and slid the ball on for the overlapping Sensini to run onto. The Argentine sent a driving shot past Barthez and off the inside of the post. The ball rolled across the goal mouth and Brolin slid in ahead of Djetou to poke the ball home and seal the contest.  

Dino Baggio was man of the match.

Match Day 2: Real Madrid 2013/2014 vs AS Roma 2000/2001

Real Madrid 2013/14  1         AS Roma 2000/2001  1
                        (Bale 76')                                (Totti 64')


Roma went to the Bernabeu knowing nothing short of a win would do and for a dozen minutes it seemed they might repeat the heroics of October 2002 when a Totti inspired Roma team (boasting 10 of the same starting lineup) won 1-0. That would have been enough to take the tie to extra time and who knows, but it was not to be. Instead the final score was the same as 2001's Champions League fixture in Madrid, 1-1, and Roma were out.

There's a sense of disappointment in that. A sense that neither fixture saw the true Roma. They had been dreadful in Rome - a post and a number of blocked shots keeping the score decent- and truth be told they were not much better in the second leg. There was much huff and puff but very little sense that the Madrid defense was in danger of being blown down. In the final statistical wash-up it's damning that Roma had 62% of possession and yet lost the shot count 11-2.

On 26 minutes there was an attack that encapsulated the frustrations of this Roma performance. A good move, built over many passes from Candela to Cafu via Emerson and Tomassi managed to work the ball to Totti. He in turn found Batistuta and instead of firing a shot at goal, he slid the ball inside Sergio Ramos into the path of Montella inside the box. Rather than cut back and shoot, Montella tried to take the ball on and instead only walked it out for a goal kick.

When a chance presented itself to Real, by contrast, they were not too shy to pepper Antonioli with shots. On 35 minutes Tomassi made a bad error and his pass went straight to Ronaldo. Although he was some way out, the Portuguese striker did not hesitate and his powerful drive had the Roma defense scrambling to secure the deflection as their keeper palmed the shot away.

Half time came and Roma seemed no closer to being in the match. Casillas had a pair of untouched gloves. Then on 64 minutes came Totti time. Another good move as before but this time the maestro did not look to slide one of his shot-shy strikers in. He made a half space for himself and curled a beautiful shot from the edge of the box past Casillas. Roma were suddenly level.

Madrid did not panic and Ronaldo as so often, came to the rescue. After a mazey, forty yard run that showed off both strength and magic control he pulled a ball back into the Roma box from the byline. Roma had men back but Ronaldo's pass was accurate, finding Gareth Bale who from six yards was never going to miss. The Welshman flicked out a boot and sent the ball flashing past Antonioli.

That still left nearly a quarter of the match for Roma to find the second away goal that would likely put them through but disappointingly they were unable to assert lasting pressure on the Madrid goal. A rasping Cafu shot on 78 minutes was the closest they came but Casillas had that well covered. The game petered out. Khedira and later Isco were solid for Madrid in closing down space and Sergio Ramos was a shadow Batistuta could never shake. He managed not one shot on goal in either match.