LEVERKEUSEN HOME, WEDNESDAY 26TH FEBRUARY.

By Mark Deeks
March 2 2003

LEVERKEUSEN HOME, WEDNESDAY 26TH FEBRUARY. Newcastle earn a cracking victory to put themselves in a good position to progress from the group. Next up is Inter Milan which could be tough!

LEVERKEUSEN HOME, WEDNESDAY 26TH FEBRUARY.

So, from now on in, it's only wins that will do. We knew it, the players knew it. But could we continue what we started last week in Germany?

A quick trip up the A1 after work meant a toon arrival with half an hour to spare to kick off. I also had to contend with the fact that I had forgotten to post my ticket application for the Barcelona home game and was dreading a large queue at the box office to really scupper things! But no, simple as, and I can dream of a glory night to come!

When we went two up quick fire over in Germany, with two great strikes from Big Shola, I felt that I was sure to witness the young lad get his first hat trick. A mixture of bad luck and bad finishing meant that that never materialised.

When Super Al got two quickfire goals at SJP, you knew it was only a matter of time before we saw the arms aloft for a third time. The first two strikes had been a combination of a wonderful cross for the first and woeful defending for the second. And when an excellent ball sent Dyer through into the area after half an hour, only to be halted by a blatant tug on the shirt, Al sensed another sniff of headlines.

12 yards, top corner, job done. The three points were as good as ours.

We had blown the Germans away. They really are a pale shadow of the Champions League surprise finalists we all admired last season.

The second half was much less of an event. We huffed and puffed a bit with only fleeting signs of brilliance, including a brilliant jinking run from Ameobi, square to Shearer who somehow screwed wide. We were tending to invite a bit of pressure but we never looked in danger. Of course Bayer pulled one back, but it was never more than consolation.

The big ones are coming soon. A draw in Milan would not be a complete and utter disaster, although it would leave quarter final qualification hanging by a thread. But three points from our Italian Job would leave a truly life defining night against Barcelona at SJP to come.

Keep the faith.