rafmed
Refugee
Unheralded Hungarian champion Zalaegerszeg scored in injury time to send Manchester United crashing to a shock 1-0 defeat in the opening leg of their Champions League qualifying round tie Wednesday.
United, European champion three years ago, was sent reeling when late substitute Bela Koplarovics stole in on a cross from the left to steer the ball past goalkeeper Roy Carroll with less than a minute to play.
United created enough chances to win easily and dominated for most of the match but whereas other former European champions in the qualifying round like Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Celtic all scored convincing wins, United faces a tricky return leg at Old Trafford in two weeks time.
It should still be good enough to beat the Hungarians at home -- the venue for the European Cup final next May -- but coach Alex Ferguson was a disappointed man afterward.
"It was very disappointing. They had one chance and one goal in the second half. We didn't take our chances."
United also lost England international defender Wes Brown with an ankle injury after five minutes, which Ferguson described as "serious." It was already without Rio Ferdinand, their British record signing, and French international keeper Fabien Barthez.
BAYERN BLAST
While United was faltering, its old rival Bayern Munich, European champion in 2001, virtually clinched its place in the Champions League group stage with an emphatic 3-0 away win over Partizan Belgrade.
The Germans went ahead in the 21st minute thanks to a powerful, swerving Michael Tarnat left-foot shot from just inside the box. Jens Jeremies effectively killed the tie off in the 71st minute, heading home strongly after a Mehmet Scholl free kick from the right.
Claudio Pizarro got Bayern's third from close range in the 78th minute, two minutes after Partizan's Igor Duljaj was sent off.
But the match was marred by crowd trouble and a linesman needed medical attention after apparently being hit by an object thrown from the crowd in the second half, although he was able to continue.
A smoke bomb was also thrown and riot police surrounded Bayern fans at the end to protect them from any possible trouble.
Barcelona all but booked its place in the competition proper with a 3-0 win over Legia Warsaw with goals from Frank de Boer (8), Juan Riquelme (80) and Philip Cocu (90).
Riquelme, the Argentine forward with the tough job of replacing Rivaldo, came on as a second-half substitute to score on his debut.
Former European champion Celtic looked to have done enough, coming back after conceding a second minute goal to beat FC Basle 3-1 in Glasgow.
Argentine striker Christian Giminez stunned the 55,000 crowd with a goal for the Swiss champion after only two minutes, but Celtic was level just two minutes later when Henrik Larsson converted a penalty. Chris Sutton (50) and Momo Sylla (88) put Celtic into a commanding position by the end.
Like Manchester United, AC Milan's place in the Champions League is not yet secure after it only managed a 1-0 win over Czech champion Slovan Liberec.
Milan opted not to give a debut to new signing Rivaldo and certainly could have done with him as it struggled to break down the well-organized Czech side. Eventually Filippo Inzaghi scored the only goal after 68 minutes but that still leaves the tie finely balanced.
Its rival Inter Milan also had a tough night, drawing 0-0 with Sporting Lisbon but will now fancy its chances of qualifying in their home leg in two weeks time.
The 16 teams that win the two-legged qualifying round ties advance to the Champions League while the losers go into the first round of the UEFA Cup.
United, European champion three years ago, was sent reeling when late substitute Bela Koplarovics stole in on a cross from the left to steer the ball past goalkeeper Roy Carroll with less than a minute to play.
United created enough chances to win easily and dominated for most of the match but whereas other former European champions in the qualifying round like Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Celtic all scored convincing wins, United faces a tricky return leg at Old Trafford in two weeks time.
It should still be good enough to beat the Hungarians at home -- the venue for the European Cup final next May -- but coach Alex Ferguson was a disappointed man afterward.
"It was very disappointing. They had one chance and one goal in the second half. We didn't take our chances."
United also lost England international defender Wes Brown with an ankle injury after five minutes, which Ferguson described as "serious." It was already without Rio Ferdinand, their British record signing, and French international keeper Fabien Barthez.
BAYERN BLAST
While United was faltering, its old rival Bayern Munich, European champion in 2001, virtually clinched its place in the Champions League group stage with an emphatic 3-0 away win over Partizan Belgrade.
The Germans went ahead in the 21st minute thanks to a powerful, swerving Michael Tarnat left-foot shot from just inside the box. Jens Jeremies effectively killed the tie off in the 71st minute, heading home strongly after a Mehmet Scholl free kick from the right.
Claudio Pizarro got Bayern's third from close range in the 78th minute, two minutes after Partizan's Igor Duljaj was sent off.
But the match was marred by crowd trouble and a linesman needed medical attention after apparently being hit by an object thrown from the crowd in the second half, although he was able to continue.
A smoke bomb was also thrown and riot police surrounded Bayern fans at the end to protect them from any possible trouble.
Barcelona all but booked its place in the competition proper with a 3-0 win over Legia Warsaw with goals from Frank de Boer (8), Juan Riquelme (80) and Philip Cocu (90).
Riquelme, the Argentine forward with the tough job of replacing Rivaldo, came on as a second-half substitute to score on his debut.
Former European champion Celtic looked to have done enough, coming back after conceding a second minute goal to beat FC Basle 3-1 in Glasgow.
Argentine striker Christian Giminez stunned the 55,000 crowd with a goal for the Swiss champion after only two minutes, but Celtic was level just two minutes later when Henrik Larsson converted a penalty. Chris Sutton (50) and Momo Sylla (88) put Celtic into a commanding position by the end.
Like Manchester United, AC Milan's place in the Champions League is not yet secure after it only managed a 1-0 win over Czech champion Slovan Liberec.
Milan opted not to give a debut to new signing Rivaldo and certainly could have done with him as it struggled to break down the well-organized Czech side. Eventually Filippo Inzaghi scored the only goal after 68 minutes but that still leaves the tie finely balanced.
Its rival Inter Milan also had a tough night, drawing 0-0 with Sporting Lisbon but will now fancy its chances of qualifying in their home leg in two weeks time.
The 16 teams that win the two-legged qualifying round ties advance to the Champions League while the losers go into the first round of the UEFA Cup.
