By Philip Blenkinsop
Reuters
Wednesday, September 19, 2001; 6:50 PM

_____Champions League_____ Draws/Tables/Fixtures: • First Phase _____Results_____ Matchday 2 • Group A Anderlecht 0, Roma 0 Real Madrid 4, Lokomotiv Moscow 0 • Group B Boavista 3, Dynamo Kiev 1 Borussia Dortmund 0, Liverpool 0 • Group C Arsenal 3, Schalke 2 Panathinaikos 2, Real Mallorca 0 • Group D Lazio 1, Nantes 3 PSV Eindhoven 3, Galatasaray 1 • Group E Juventus 3, Celtic 2 Rosenborg 1, Porto 2 • Group F Barcelona 3, Fenerbahce 0 Bayer Leverkusen 1, Lyon 0 • Group G Manchester United 1, Lille 0 Deportivo 2, Olympiakos 2 • Group H Bayern Munich 0, Sparta Pague 0 Spartak Moscow 2, Feyenoord 2

DORTMUND, Germany, Sept 19 – Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool fought out an uncompromising 0-0 draw in Champions League group B on Wednesday which brought them a point each but hardly gave the fans much to cheer.

Only four months ago in the same Westfalen stadium, Liverpoool and Spanish side Alaves put on a nine-goal UEFA Cup final thriller, with Liverpool's 5-4 golden goal triumph, hailed as one of the best-ever European finals.

On Wednesday there was none of the golden goal glitter although Borussia's Christian Woerns would not have minded that. He was in the German side beaten 5-1 by England on September 1 and let it be known before the match he was dreading facing Michael Owen again after Owen's hat-trick against Germany in that match. This time though, Owen failed to find the target and it was Woerns who was the moral victor in their own private duel.

Tomas Rosicky's long-range drive againt the woodwork in the 69th minute was the highpoint in an otherwise defensive-minded game. Both sides now have two points, while Boavista pushed to the top of Group B with four points after a 3-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev, who have one point.

"It's too little... although we'd have to say a point is fair enough," said sombre-looking Dortmund coach Matthias Sammer.

"I can't say I'm particularly happy with the performance. We seem to have lost our rhythm with the two losses," he added.

Dortmund, early German pace-setters, with four wins from their first four matches, have lost since to Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 and Sammer is feeling the pressure.

"We've had a tough phase... The presssure has been very great, so we tried to play compactly. The opponents didn't have many chances although we wanted to have created more."

Sammer said his side were in a difficult position and low on confidence, with vital matches in the coming week.

"It's a dangerous position. We must learn from it. We have a lot of difficult matches and we've had a crash before... We'll continue to work, but there"s not much time to think."

"A victory would have been nice," he sighed.

HOULLIER CONTENT

Liverpool's Gerard Houllier was a brighter figure with his post-match analysis, content with a draw away from home and keen to mention that incessant rain had ruined the spectacle.

"It was a good game because of the weather and the surface. I think we looked solid. We were rarely under pressure.

Talk of two exciting strike partnerships and possibly frail defences had promised a classic. In the end fear of defeat and some mediocre attacks guaranteed the stalemate.

"It's maybe when developed our quick attacks that we were

under pressure. That acccounts for an average performance of our attacks, although our strikers worked hard," Houllier said.

Liverpool have the comfort of a win last Saturday after two league defeats.

Dortmund have not tasted victory for five games.