Bayern and Villarreal reach group phase
Reuters - Tuesday 23 August 2011, 22:45
ZURICH - Bayern Munich sailed into the
Champions League group stages with a 1-0 win at FC Zurich on
Tuesday while two goals from Giuseppe Rossi rescued Villarreal
in their play-off against Odense.
Danes Odense were one of three teams who failed in their bid
to qualify for the first time, along with Wisla Krakow and
Malmo.
Polish side Krakow fell at the final qualifying hurdle for
the seventh time, losing 3-1 at APOEL Nicosia who scored the
decisive goal in the 87th minute to win 3-2 on aggregate.
Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia progressed 4-3 overall despite
losing 2-0 to Malmo in Sweden.
Racing Genk, who are without a coach, beat Maccabi Haifa on
penalties to become the fifth team in the hat for Friday's draw
in Monaco where they will be joined by Europe's elite.
Another five clubs will go through on Wednesday, the pick of
the matches being troubled Arsenal's visit to Udinese.
Bayern, who have played in 13 of the last 14 group stages,
were haunted by the prospect of failing to qualify in the season
their Allianz Arena will host the final in May.
However, their tie with Zurich was little more than a minor
inconvenience and they effectively booked their place when Mario
Gomez scored in the seventh minute of the second leg at the
Letzigrund.
NOISY FANS
After that most of the fireworks came off the pitch as
Bayern's noisy contingent of fans ignored the stadium announcer
and let off firecrackers throughout the game while lightning
flashed around the ground on a sticky evening.
Swiss Super League runners-up Zurich were lively but rarely
threatening while Bayern forward Franck Ribery was given the
freedom of the pitch.
Bayern, though, will be concerned they did not take
advantage of the many openings created by the France playmaker's
trickery.
"It's a shame the goal came so early," said Zurich coach Urs
Fischer. "We saw the difference between domestic and
international football."
Villarreal, facing a 1-0 first leg deficit against Odense,
struggled to break the deadlock until Rossi struck twice in 16
minutes in the second half.
The Italian, linked with Juventus in the close season, got
in front of his marker to open the scoring five minutes after
half-time and then rifled in a brilliant volley in the 66th
minute. Carlos Marchena added the third goal.
Brazilian Ailton netted twice as APOEL produced more
heartbreak for Wisla who had a 1-0 lead from the first leg.
Ailton's second goal came in the 87th minute just as the
Poles appeared set to end their jinx.
Dinamo, national champions for the last six seasons, took a
4-1 lead to Malmo but were made to suffer after Sime Vrsaljko
was sent off in the 50th minute.
Wilton Figueiredo put Malmo ahead from a 69th-minute free-kick. Pontus Jansson then scored to set up a tense finale and
the visitors held on thanks to some fine saves from goalkeeper
Ivan Kelava.
Genk beat Israelis Maccabi 4-1 on penalties, after winning
the second leg 2-1 to record a 3-3 aggregate draw.
The Belgians were playing under stand-in coach Pierre Denier
after Frank Vercauteren quit following last week's first leg.