Spanish rivals Villarreal and Valencia had to settle for a goalless draw after an entertaining, high-tempo first leg of their UEFA Cup semifinal on Thursday.
Home side Villarreal, enjoying a dream debut in the competition after qualifying via the Intertoto Cup, had the better of a frenetic first half, matching Primera Liga leaders Valencia in midfield and creating a hatful of scoring chances.
PHOTO: REUTERS
But they were unable to cash in on their early domination and began to flag after the break, while Valencia stepped up a gear and came within a whisker of grabbing the winner when midfielder Ruben Baraja slammed a header against the crossbar in the 65th minute.
Villarreal, though, will remain hopeful of completing an upset against their more illustrious neighbors after they preserved their perfect home defensive record in European matches, keeping a clean sheet for a remarkable ninth time at their El Madrigal stadium.
Valencia will lose veteran Italian defender Amedeo Carboni for the second leg after he picked up a booking in the second half.
Newcastle united 0, Olympique Marseille 0
Newcastle United and Olympique Marseille also fought out a 0-0 draw in the other semifinal at St James Park earlier on Thursday.
"It was one of the most intense games we have played in the UEFA Cup this season," said Valencia coach Rafa Benitez. "It was played at a very high pace and I didn't enjoy the first half because Villarreal had too much of the play.
"We improved after the break but should have made more of our chances. Now it is up to us to try to complete the job in front of our own fans."
Opposite number Francisco "Paquito" Garcia said: "My players had a great game but we just lacked the finishing touch in front of goal."
Villarreal, who knocked out experienced European campaigners Galatasaray, Roma and Celtic on their way to the semis, signalled their attacking intentions from the kick-off and could have taken an early lead when Sonny Anderson shot over the bar.
Valencia were quick to reply and live-wire winger Vicente was denied in the 12th minute when Villarreal keeper Pepe Reina diverted his point-blank shot.
There was no respite as the two sides constantly traded attacks and wasted little time in midfield as they sought to catch each other out on the break.
Villarreal's Juan Roman Riquelme sent dipping a free kick over the bar and Valencia keeper Santiago Canizares had to react quickly to tip two in-swinging corners from Roger over the bar.
Valencia took control after the break as Miguel Angel Angulo and Vicente went close and Baraja rattled the bar.
Villarreal had to weather some intense pressure in the final 10 minutes as Valencia peppered the goal with a succession of shots from the edge of the area, but they held firm to leave the tie wide open.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier