LONDON, 14 August 2003 — Ajax Amsterdam needed a late equalizer by Wesley Sneijder to earn a 1-1 draw at Austria’s Graz AK on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round match.
There were no such problems for Celta Vigo on their Champions League debut as they beat Slavia Prague 3-0 while in the “Dynamo derby”, Dynamo Kiev built a 3-1 advantage over Dinamo Zagreb.
Ajax, four-times European champions winners and quarterfinalists last season, found it hard going against Austrian runners-up Graz, who had much the better of a goalless first half. Ajax worked their way back into the game after the break but fell behind in the 56th minute when Emanuel Pogatetz met a Matthias Dollinger corner with a powerful header.
The equalizer came 11 minutes from time when Sneijder curled in a free kick. “We had some great chances in the beginning, and we held our own,” said Graz coach Christian Keglevits.
Ajax coach Ronald Koeman was confident that his team will have found their rhythm by the return in two weeks.
Newcomers Celta Vigo went ahead after 18 minutes with a powerful free kick by Russian international Alexander Mostovoi and fellow midfielder Jesuli got the second with a spectacular 25-meter piledriver five minutes into the second half.
Brazilian forward Edu wrapped up an entertaining win six minutes later when he cracked home from close range after Slavia keeper Radek Cerny had failed to hold a rasping shot from Jose Ignacio.
It was an encouraging result for Celta, who finished fourth in the Spanish League last season, and they will be confident of joining their big-name compatriots in the group stage.
In Kiev a Serhiy Fyodorov header after 33 minutes and a Jerko Leko shot in the 39th had the Ukrainians two-up before Nico Kranjcar pulled one back just before half-time for Zagreb. Oleh Gusev struck the important third eight minutes from time after Maxim Shatskikh’s header had been blocked by Zagreb keeper Mario Jozic.
The remaining 13 ties take place yesterday and feature four more previous winners — Celtic, Olympique Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Benfica, who play Italy’s Lazio in the tie of the round.
Haka Start Out on
Long UEFA Cup Trek
In London, the UEFA Cup spluttered into action on Tuesday with the first legs of the first three of 41 qualifying round matches.
Finland’s Haka edged to a 2-1 home win in the first leg of their tie against Hajduk Split. The Croatian visitors took the lead after two minutes with a Peter Krpan header.
Haka equalized through Valeri Popovich 11 minutes later and the Russian striker caused problems again two minutes before halftime as Sami Ristila got the second.
Neuchatel Xamax look well placed to advance after winning 2-0 against Valletta in Malta.First-half goals by Joel Griffiths and Kader Mangane had the Swiss side in charge and their task became easier when Valletta’s Gilbert Agius was sent off in the 63rd minute. The night’s other match was a 1-1 draw in Bosnia between Sarajevo and Sartid Smederevo of Serbia and Montenegro.
Nenad Mirosavljevic had Sartid ahead after six minutes but an own goal by his teammate Zeljko Kovacevic seven minutes from time leveled the tie.
There is another qualifying match yesterday, when the Champions League takes precedence, with a further 37 today, the established day for UEFA Cup matches.
Tuesday also featured the first legs of the three finals of the Intertoto Cup — with a UEFA Cup slot up for grabs for the three winners. The two German teams involved had differing fortunes as Schalke 04 won 2-0 at Austria’s SV Pasching but VfL Wolfsburg lost 1-0 at Italy’s Perugia.
The other match saw Villarreal of Spain win 2-1 at Dutch club Heerenveen.
