Grazer AK (0) 1 - Espanyol (4) 0

Espanyol: Mora; Cristóbal, Soldevilla, Pochettino, Roger; Navas, Galca (Sergio 85'), Morales, Arteaga; De Lucas (Martín Posse 87'), Serrano (Tamudo 70'). 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 65. Ehmann. Shot from 35 yards out which went over keeper and in off bar.

Espanyol went through to the third round of the competition without too many problems having won the first leg game 4-0 in Spain a fortnight earlier. Manager Paco Flores decided to give a start to five of his reserve players, keeping stars such as Tamudo, Sergio and Posse on the bench in case of emergency. In came De Lucas and Serrano up front, with Navas and Morales playing in midfield and Soldevilla in defence.

With little chance of winning, only 5,000 or so supporters turned up at the Arnold Schwarzenegger stadium in Graz. Their team were determined to give a better impression than in the first leg, and they came out to attack right from the start. However Mora was only troubled once or twice in the Espanyol goal in the first half, with Brunmayer wasting the best chance on the quarter hour mark with only the keeper to beat. At the other end, Schranz saved well from De Lucas near the interval. The second half was just as boring as the first, with the only ray of light the goal scored by the Grazer captain from over 30 yards out.

Flores brought on his A team for the last ten or fifteen minutes just to make sure nothing untoward happened, but Grazer were not of the level of their neighbours Sturm Graz and Mora and his defence held tight. Referee Larsen from Denmark, who had not shown a card all night despite some hard tackles from the home side, called it a day and Espanyol advanced to the third round, where they will meet Oporto. The last time they got this far in the competition was in 1987/8, when they reached that fateful final against Bayer Leverkusen. With one cup to their name already in their centenary year (well, plus one), they would love to go one better this time. As the Spanish cup holders, they have also staked their claim to play in the World Club Championship, which takes place in Spain this summer. If nothing else, they are ambitious.