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Vallecano Cruise Into Quarterfinals
By Claude Canellas
The win gave the Spaniards a 6-2 aggregate victory over their French rivals. Rayo Vallecano had won the first leg 4-1 a week earlier and only eight percent of teams have ever been able to overturn such a deficit in European competition. Bordeaux's chances of beating the odds were reduced when they had to play with 10 men from the 18th minute when goalkeeper Ulrich Rame was sent off for a reckless challenge on striker Jon Perez Bolo on the edge of the area—conceding a penalty. Frederic Roux came on for Laurent Batlles to take over from Rame in goal, but his first action was to pick Luis Cembranos' penalty kick out of the net. Tempers frayed briefly but Bordeaux got back on level terms within four minutes when a cross from Christophe Dugarry was headed into his own net by defender Mingo. Bolo made it 2-1—and put the tie beyond Bordeaux's reach -- when he took advantage of the lack of defensive numbers to slide the ball past Roux in the 50th minute. Bordeaux had several chances to pull goals back as the Madrid side eased up, but were wasteful in front of goal with striker Lilian Laslandes missing three golden opportunities -- including heading onto the bar with an open goal in front of him. Vallecano also had their chances but replacement goalkeeper Roux was in defiant mood—twice thwarting replacement Elvir Bolic when he was clear through. Rayo Vallecano have never won a major title since being formed in 1924 but will now face either Inter Milan or compatriots Alaves for a place in the semi-finals. "It is tough to go out of Europe like this," bemoaned Bordeaux substitute Pascal Feindouno. Defender David Sommeil was more realistic. "It's always hard to play with 10-men," he said. "But we really lost this match in the first leg."
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Soccer
