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Spain savors berth in Champions League final |
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April 20, 2000 MADRID, APR 19 (AP) - Spanish fans on Wednesday relished an exciting Champions League comeback by FC Barcelona, one of two solid performances which guarantee Spain a presence in the final of Europe's top soccer tournament. "Spain will take Paris," the sports daily As touted in a frontpage headline. "We are Paris-bound," its rival Marca added. Barcelona's win over Chelsea came as Valencia also advanced to the semifinals on a 5-3 aggregate despite a 1-0 loss to Italian team Lazio. Barcelona and Valencia will face off in the semifinals in May. And if Real Madrid beats Manchester United in a quarterfinal game on Wednesday night, three Spanish teams will have made it to the final four. No country can boast such a feat. On Tuesday night Barcelona was trailing Chelsea 3-1 from the away leg of their quarterfinal tie and there were fears that its ugly streak of four straight lopsided losses would drag on. But Barcelona came out fighting from the outset and pulled off a dramatic 5-1 win that went into extra time before 85,000 ecstatic supporters at cavernous Camp Nou stadium. The front page of the Catalan sports daily Mundo Deportivo summed it up nicely with banner headline that screamed, "Delirium!" Under it was a photo of a smiling Patrick Kluivert, sprawled on the ground and hugging Dani Garcia, who scored one of Barcelona's goals. Inside the paper, a cartoon depicted coach Louis van Gaal, midfielder Luis Figo, who also scored, and team captain Josep Guardiola as saints marching in one of the many Easter processions that snake through Spanish streets this time of year. Van Gaal said the win might be just what Barcelona needed to regain momentum in the Spanish league and cup, where it gave up nine goals in its last three games. "This could turn things around," he said. Newspapers gleefully pointed out that frequent German and Italian domination of Europe's top tournament is over for at least a year. The final is to be played May 24 in Paris. Spain has won the European Cup eight times - seven by Real Madrid, the last of them in 1998, and once by FC Barcelona in 1995. This year's defending champion is Manchester United. And twice, Spanish teams have squared off in the semifinals: Real Madrid-Atletico Madrid in 1959 and Real Madrid-Barcelona in 1960. Both times, Real Madrid emerged victorious and went on to take the cup. |