CONTINENTAL TRAVELS – THE 1997-98
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
A SEASON THAT WILL BE FOREVER
REMEMBERED FOR THAT ONE NIGHT
AGAINST BARCELONA. A SEASON THAT
WILL FOREVER BEG THE QUESTION OF –
WHERE WERE YOU THE NIGHT THE
MAGPIES, AND WOR TINO, BEAT THE
MIGHTY BARCELONA AT ST. JAMES’ PARK?
Having finished as Premier League runners-up to
Manchester United for the second successive season,
the Magpies would be granted their first ever assault
on Europe’s top table, the elite, and the crème de la
crème. First though they had to overcome a tricky, a
very tricky, final qualifying round double header, their
opponents were to be an Eastern European outfit in
NK Croatia Zagreb.
An unlikely hero would see the Magpies through what
was to be a testing qualifier, both at home (winning
2-1) and abroad (drew 2-2). Defender John Beresford
would finish this season with more goals to
his name than in his previous five seasons
combined with four coming in Europe, and a
brace in this opening group game. A goal in
each half from the rampaging full-back
would give the Magpies a slender lead to take to
Zagreb two weeks later.
30
The second leg was to be even harder though, the
Croatians taking the tie into extra-time when, after
Asprilla had scored from the penalty spot just before
the interval, two second half strikes, including
Cvitanovic’s second of the tie in the last minute of
normal time, warranted an extra half hour to settle
matters.
Dalglish had made his final substitution during the
extra period of play, bringing on the Georgian
International, Temuri Ketsbaia, for the Dane, Jon Dahl
Tomasson. It would be the Georgian whom would
send the travelling Magpies into raptures, levelling on
the night in the last minute and putting the seal on an
incredible 4-3 aggregate victory.
Newcastle United was through to the Group Stages of
the Champions League for the first time in their long
and illustrious history. Their reward though could not
have been much greater – Dynamo Kiev of the
Ukraine, Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, and
continental heavyweights in the form of Spain’s
Barcelona, were pitted against Newcastle in Group C.
Nobody though could have predicted the outcome of
the opening group match on the night of September
17th as the mighty Barcelona swaggered into Toon and
were beaten. Not only did wing-master Keith
Gillespie play an absolute blinder, but his innovative
play created two of hat-trick hero, Faustino Asprilla’s
three goals; his first coming from the penalty spot.
From back to front United were magnificent,
incredible, for the opening seventy minutes, before
late strikes from Luis Enrique and Luis Figo saw the
game finish 3-2 in United’s favour.
The win over Barcelona was followed up with a 2-2
draw in the Ukraine as two of the games goal scoring
giants, Sergei Rebrov and Andrei Shevchenko had
Kiev two goals up inside half an hour before the
Toon’s own goal scoring giant popped up with a late,
second half brace. The first would arrive from ten
yards and the second, deflected home from a thirty
yard pile driver as that man John Beresford struck
again and, as the Official Club Magazine stated “a
veritable squadron of flying pigs passed overhead.”
Then things would get decidedly difficult, losing both
home and away to the Dutch side PSV Eindhoven,
and in the Camp Nou against Barcelona, all three
without scoring. Only 26,000 ‘packed’ the Catalonian
Citadel on November 26th as an early Giovanni goal
sealed a 1-0 for Barcelona, but for one United player
the night will always be remembered.
A very raw, 18 year old defender from Cookstown,
Northern Ireland, would make his debut, young Aaron
Hughes replacing Philippe Albert at the interval. In
fact Hughes’ first two appearances for United would
be in the Champions League, playing in the second
half of the final group game, a 2-0 home win over
Dynamo Kiev. This time he replaced Alessandro
Pistone; not bad for a teenager, replacing a Belgian
and an Italian International in your first two, matches.
United’s scorers against Kiev would be two of the
British games stalwarts in John Barnes and Stuart
Pearce.
And that was that, the Champions League dream was
over, until 2002 anyway.
For more by Peter Mann, visit his website
www.pmannsportswriter.wordpress.com
!