Juventus May Be Italy's Lone Representative in UEFA Cup
Copyright � 2000 Nando Media
Copyright � 2000 Agence France-Presse
LONDON (AP) -- Italy's amazing domination of the UEFA Cup could be coming to an end after eight triumphs in 11 years.
Although Serie A had four teams going into the last 16, only Juventus looks like making it to the last eight on Thursday and it has to defend a slender first leg lead.
Udinese went out on Tuesday on the away goals rule despite beating Slavia Prague 2-1.
Parma has a 1-0 first leg over Werder Bremen, but its league form is very shaky and Roma has a tough task at Leeds United after a 0-0 tie in Rome.
Juventus, currently leading Serie A by four points, holds a 1-0 lead over Celta Vigo and, if it makes it to the quarters, meets either struggling Atletico de Madrid or Lens.
Last December UEFA made the draw for both the fourth round and the quarters saw that the quarterfinal pairings will be known on Thursday night.
Don't be surprised to see just one Italian team in the last eight and two from England.
Arsenal appears sure to make it to the last eight having outplayed Spanish league leader Deportivo de La Coruna 5-1 at Highbury.
Nigerian star Nwankwo Kanu is back on the lineup and, even with Dennis Bergkamp refusing to fly, will team up with Thierry Henry or Davor Suker. Deportivo, having virtually assumed it is going out, will field mostly backup players against the Gunners in the home leg.
Provided there are no calamities o Thursday, Arsene Wenger's team meets either Parma or Werder Bremen and should be confident of beating either to make the last four.
Leeds United survived intense Roma pressure in the first leg and had to thank goalkeeper Nigel Martyn for some fine saves in the Olympic stadium.
But David O'Leary's team was a longtime leader of the Premier League, is second to Manchester United and has an ambitious, young lineup, including Australian star striker Harry Kewell, Irish midfielder Stephen McPhail and English forwards Michael Bridges and Lee Bowyer.
Roma will be without Brazilian right-sided defender Cafu, who has a knee injury, while playmaker Francesco Totti, who had a standout game against Leeds in Rome, will have to defy the pain of a broken toenail.
One of the quarterfinals looks almost certain to be Real Mallorca vs. Galatasaray.
Mallorca scored a 4-1 victory over Monaco with Iovan Stankovic scoring three times while Galatasaray, cheered on by thousands of Turkish supporters based in Germany, gained a 2-0 win at Borussia Dortmund.
"Our greatest aim is the UEFA Cup final," said Galatasaray striker Hakan Sukur. "There is still a long road to the Copenhagen final. But with discipline and serious work and if wecontinue to play like this we will reach our goal."
Atletico Madrid, with Radomir Antic back at the club as coach, goes to Lens with the two teams tied at 2-2. Atletico is struggling at 18th place in the Primera Liga and confidence is low.
By contrast Celta Vigo doesn't have any fears for Juventus.
"They are not machines," said Russian midfielder Valery Karpin. "They have two legs and one head, just like all the other soccer players."
