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Club Brugge consider Roma test
One of eight teams entering the UEFA Cup at the Round of 32 stage, Club Brugge KV have been handed perhaps the most difficult draw, against Italian side AS Roma. The Bruges outfit will have fond memories of their last encounter with the Giallorossi in the same competition more than 30 years ago when they triumphed on aggregate following two 1-0 wins. However Roma, who finished second in Group E, have not lost to Belgian opposition since.
• Club Brugge were always up against it after being drawn alongside FC Bayern München and Juventus in UEFA Champions League Group A. They lost to each team by a single goal in their first two fixtures before back-to-back victories against SK Rapid Wien cemented third place and a UEFA Cup consolation. A narrow defeat by Juve followed but Jan Ceulemans' side ended the campaign on a high, earning a battling 1-1 draw against Bayern.
• Roma needed a 3-1 Matchday 5 victory against FC Basel 1893 to book their place in the UEFA Cup knockout stages after an inconsistent Group E campaign. It started off well, Leandro Cufré's late strike earning a 2-1 victory against Trømso IL in Norway, but their progress was slowed by a 1-1 draw against RC Strasbourg. A 3-1 defeat at FK Crvena Zvezda left them on the brink of elimination before their final-day win against Basel.
• Club Brugge and Roma have met once before in UEFA club competition when they were paired in the third round of the 1975/76 UEFA Cup – and it was the Belgian team that came out on top. Julien Cools scored the only goal of the first leg at the Jan Breydel stadium, before Raoul Lambert sealed their passage to the quarter-finals with the only goal of the game in Italy. Club Brugge then saw off AC Milan, eventually going on to reach the final where they were narrowly defeated by Liverpool FC.
• Two years later the Belgians reached another final, in the European Champion Clubs' Cup, after overcoming a one-goal first-leg deficit against Juventus. Alfons Bastijns's early goal forced extra time, paving the way for René Vandereycken to steal victory with four minutes of the additional half-hour remaining. Liverpool again awaited in the showpiece and, like two years earlier, Club Brugge were denied.
• Now coach at the Jan Breydel stadium, Ceulemans was part of the Club Brugge team that lost 1-0 on aggregate to AC Milan in the second round of the 1990/91 European Champion Clubs' Cup. That proved the start of a barren run against Serie A teams that has seen the Belgian outfit win just once in six games, losing four.
• By contrast, Roma have not lost to Belgian opposition in eight games since 1975, including victories home and away against RSC Anderlecht in the second round of the 1990/91 UEFA Cup. The Giallorossi went on to reach the final where they were they lost against FC Internazionale Milano. | 
发表于 2006-2-14 04:49:00
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