Liverpool gets to defend Champions League title By ROBERT MILLWARD, AP Soccer Writer August 23, 2005 Liverpool gained a chance to defend its European Champions League title, beating CSK Sofia on 3-2 aggregate in the third round of qualifying despite a 1-0 loss at home to the Bulgarians on Tuesday night.
Liverpool overcame a three-goal deficit to win last May's final against AC Milan on penalty kicks but originally did not qualify for the tournament because it failed to finish among the top four in England's Premier League. The Union of European Football Associations then placed it in the first round of qualifying. FC Thun, a small Swiss club, also advanced to the 32-team field for the first round, beating Sweden's Malmo 3-0 to win the home-and-home, total-goals series on 4-0 aggregate. ADVERTISEMENT Panathinaikos, which lost the first leg 3-1, beat Wisla Krakow 4-1 on Ilias Kotsios' goal with six minutes left in overtime to advance. Rapid Vienna defeated Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0 as Jozef Valachovic scored with six minutes remaining to advance on 2-1 aggregate. Artmedia Bratislava of Slovakia beat Partizan Belgrade 4-3 on penalty kicks after 210 scoreless minutes over two games. Italy's Udinese, Spain's Real Betis and Norway's Rosenborg also advanced. Eight more teams will qualify Wednesday and join 16 teams that advanced directly to the first round, a group that includes Chelsea, Arsenal, AC Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. On Wednesday, Manchester United goes to Hungarian champion Debrecen following a 3-0 win in the first leg, Internazionale of Milan takes a 2-0 lead into its game against Ukraine's visiting Shakhtar Donetsk and Everton, back in European soccer's top club competition for the first time since 1971, goes to Spain following a 2-1 loss to Villarreal in the first leg. Ajax Amsterdam is at home against Brondby after a 2-2 tie in Denmark. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/2_TolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> HAPUS BAGIAN EMAIL YG TIDAK PERLU SEBELUM ME-REPLY. ========================================================== Milis Tabloid BOLA Untuk KELUAR DARI MILIS INI. Kirim Mail kosong (tanpa subject) ke alamat [EMAIL PROTECTED] ========================================================== Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bolaml/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
