jose - soccer

Aston Villa stumbled into the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup after a defeat at Hamburg but Pompey end their campaign with a win. Having already booked their safe passage out of Group F the 3-1 loss to Hambur mattered little to Martin O'Neill's men.

Two goals from Peter Crouch ensured Portsmouth ended their UEFA Cup campaign with a win as they beat Heerenveen 3-0 at Fratton Park. The England striker scored a quick-fire double just before the interval and Portsmouth not only successfully held on to their 2-0 lead but added to it in stoppage time with a header from Hermann Hreidarsson. Pompey's chances of qualifying from the group stages were ended by a 3-2 defeat by Wolfsburg, rendering this match a dead rubber between the bottom two sides in the group.

Wolfsburg joined Hamburg in securing top spots in their respective groups on a fine night for German teams in the UEFA Cup. The Wolves twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at AC Milan while Hamburg were impressive 3-1 winners over a weakened Aston Villa side. Wolfsburg entered the game at the San Siro with a 100% record in the pool phase but went behind to a Massimo Ambrosini header. Cristian Zaccardo pulled the German outfit level after the break but Wolfsburg's joy was shortlived as Alexandre Pato scored seconds later to put the hosts back in front. Wolfsburg's efforts were rewarded as Jacek Krzynowek's strike took a crucial deflection off Mahir Saglik to level the score with nine minutes remaining and consign Milan to second in Group E.

Ajax finished second to Hamburg in their pool after a 2-2 draw at home to Slavia Prague. Ajax went ahead through Jan Vertonghen but Jaroslav Cerny and Marek Jarolim hit back before Luis Suarez converted a penalty in the 90th minute to deny Slavia a first UEFA Cup win.

Rodolfo Bodipo scored the winner 16 minutes from time to secure Deportivo La Coruna a place in the last 32 and dump Nancy out of the competition. The former Alaves striker came off the bench to rescue the Galicians with a sidefoot finish from just outside the six-yard box, breaking the hearts of the French visitors who would have gone through from Group H with a draw.

Ivan Djurdjevic scored the only goal of the game to enable Lech Poznan to squeeze into the last 32 with victory at Feyenoord. Djurdjevic's placed strike after 25 minutes ensured the Poles a place in the knockout stages at Nancy's expense by just a point. Defeat for Feyenoord completed a miserable campaign during which they lost all four games - the club's worst ever run in European competition.

FC Copenhagen pulled off a smash-and-grab job to beat Club Brugge 1-0 and claim Group G's final place in the knockout stages thanks to Cesar Santin's goal just before the hour. Club Brugge had started the night in third place, needing only to avoid defeat to go through. St Etienne held on to top spot in the group after playing out an exciting 2-2 draw against second-placed Valencia at a snow-covered Stade Geoffrey-Guichard. Brazilian forward Ilan twice put St Etienne ahead with contrasting first-half goals, but Valencia battled back both times thanks to strikes from forwards Fernando Morientes and Nikola Zigic.

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti held an emergency meeting with his squad as they prepare to face Chelsea, writes Tom Collomosse.
Spalletti's job is under threat after his side were thrashed 4-0 at home by Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan at the weekend, and another heavy defeat at Stamford Bridge tomorrow would leave him in an even more vulnerable position.
Roma are 14th in Serie A after collecting only seven points from their first seven matches. Spalletti held talks with his players at the training ground and admitted: "When you go through a period like this, it becomes even more difficult to convert your chances because everything is out of order."
Francesco Totti added: "Our league position is very worrying."
Skipper Totti, who has had a knee problem, is fit to play at Stamford Bridge, but former Arsenal striker Julio Baptista misses the game as he has yet to recover from a knock.
Serie A Roundtable Part I: Roma Crisis—When and How Will it End?
In the first ever Serie A roundtable on Bleacher Report, Salaar Arshad Shamsi, Marzia Hazra, Daniel Penza, and Zahi Sahli have their say over Roma's current form crisis.

Salaar Arshad Shamsi:
Roma have had a pathetic start to their season, both in Europe and in the Serie A. Luciano Spalleti's men are in the bottom half of the league table and have already suffered a defeat at the hands of FC Cluj in the Champions League. A victory at Bordeaux followed by a defeat at Siena summed up a mixed bag for the Romans but the question remains:
"How can they get out of this hole?"
Well, Roma have plenty of quality in their side with the likes of De Rossi, Vucinic, Totti and Taddei and players like Riise, Baptista and Menez have been fine additions so Roma should be able to overcome this early glitch by mid-season but a poor start probably means they have destroyed their chances of Champions League action next season.

Marzia Hazra:
Roma has started the season disastrously and seven points in six games definitely qualifies for a crisis.
The club has had their most important player sidelined for the majority of the season as the captain only has made three brief appearances so far. Considering the fundamental role Totti plays for his team, it is in some sense understandable the position the club now find themselves in.
Although Totti’s absence most likely is the biggest factor to Roma’s crisis I also have to take into consideration the injuries that have haunted several of the defenders. In addition to that there is always Spaletti’s recent inability to change the picture of the game with tactics—he just looks so lost.
On top of that, Roma lack players in the central striker role and without Totti there are no natural replacement for him in the squad. The club has built their entire team around one player, and when that player isn’t around things tend to fall apart.
Reports have suggested that Roma and Inter could go in for a swap deal with Aquilani going to Inter in exchange for Hernan Crespo—considering the excess of central strikers the Nerazzuri have.
Roma—including the club, supporters and coach—need to stop putting all their hope on a single player. Just this the weekend Spalletti told Corriere dello Sport that Totti would save the team with his (planned) return against Inter, that he himself would make the difference.
The players have missed so many given goals this season, there is close to no will and the confidence seems washed away in the absence of the skipper. What Roma needs to do is to make all the players take responsibility for their own and stop looking sideways at Totti.

Daniel Penza:
It's hard to say when Roma will regain their form because, aside from Riise and Julio Baptista, they are basically the same team. So meshing together as a team shouldn't really be an issue.
So, with that being said, when Francesco Totti returns from injury, things will have to get better. He is the captain and the driving force of that team. Yeah Daniele De Rossi is the future captain, but the current captain is needed right now to stabilize things in the capital city.

Zahi Sahli:
Roma equals Totti. It is as simple as that. Totti is not playing and hence Roma cannot get the right results. But there is no reason why Roma can't get back to their winning ways. They have an excellent team with three of the best center midfielders in Italy, a good defense and have added quality to their attacking line after signing Julio Baptista.
Roma have maintained faith in Luciano Spalletti after having a good season last term. The current drop in form does not mean Roma will be deluded forever. They will return to their top form. The players and the manager should have faith in the quality of the squad's abilities, and the results will come soon.

Tom Collomosse, Football Correspondent
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