You Shall Not Pass!
By: Greg | April 13th, 2007
Okay, it’s relatively early and I’m hungover so a Lord of the Rings reference seems appropriate. Benfica got the Gandalf treatment yesterday from Espanyol and played to a 0-0 tie at the Luz, thus ending their hopes of winning the UEFA Cup this year by losing 3-2 on aggregate.
As they are prone to lately, Benfica looked lost during the majority of the first half. Most of their chances came in the second half and were down to poor luck(hitting the woodwork) or fantastic skill from Espanyol’s keeper Gorka.
Aside from a few spurts of effective attacking from Benfica and Espanyol’s occasional counter-attack, the game was relatively banal. Espanyol came to defend their 3-2 lead and their strategy almost came back to haunt them at times with Benfica able to build some pressure in the attacking half. Overall, an anticlimactic second leg which did not live up to the hype generated by the first leg thriller.
The semi finals of the UEFA Cup looks like a Spanish version of the Champions League Semis with Espanyol facing German side Werder Bremen and Sevilla squaring off against Osasuna.
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