5 October 2007, by Marco Pereira

Leiria come up just short in enthralling encounter

Uniao de Leiria 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen (agg. 4-5)

Uniao de Leiria suffered heartbreak last night at the Dr. Magalhaes Pessoa stadium as they came close to pulling off an upset against Bayer Leverkusen. The Portuguese side won the game 3-2, but lost overall on aggregate 5-4.

Leiria could not have asked for a better start the match when Cadu Silva was played in brilliantly by Tonito and the Brazilian slotted the ball past Adler in the 3rd minute to put the hosts into the lead on the night and within one goal of taking the lead in the tie.

The goal struck a nerve in Leverkusen as the German side started to apply pressure. Their tactics came to fruition in the 10th minute when Papadopoulos found the back of the net to make it 1-1.

But before they had time to celebrate, Leiria had put another past their visitors as Joao Paulo launched a rocket shot past Adler. The game then went into a lull as both teams modified the run ’n gun style of play and decided to be more responsible defensively.

The second half saw play compressed to midfield with neither team able to break down the other’s defence. The game started to get niggly with Tonito and Marco Soares picking up yellow cards for rash tackles.

Leverkusen delivered the killer strike in the 87th minute as Leiria’s nemesis, Kiessling, was left unmarked with just Fernando to beat, and made it look easy as he made it 2-2 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate.

Laranjeiro ensured that Leiria exited from the competition on a high note as he struck a beautiful free kick into the net, giving Adler no chance, to complete the scoring.

Leiria gave their opponents fits over the two legs, but experience proved to be the deciding factor as Leverkusen progress to the group stage.

Uniao de Leiria:
Fernando, Laranjeiro, Hugo Costa, Eder Gaucho, Alhandra (Marco Soares, 53), Tiago, Tonito (Zongo, 73), Cadu Silva, Maciel (Serge Ngal, 61), Joao Paulo, Sougou
Yellow Cards: Cadu SIlva (35), Joao Paulo (42), Tonito (66), Marco Soares (67), Tiago (78)

Bayer Leverkusen:
Adler, Castro, Friedrich, Haggui, Sarpei, Rolfes, Vidal (Sinkiewicz, 88), Barbarez, Barnetta (Dum, 89), Kiessling, Papadopoulos (Schwegler, 47)
Yellow Cards: Haggui (44), Schwegler (57), Friedrich (77), Castro (90)

Goals:
[1-0] Cadu Silva, 3
[1-1] Papadopoulos, 10
[2-1] Joao Paulo, 12
[2-2] Kiessling, 87
[3-2] Laranjeiro, 90