Rosenborg (1) 1 - Alavés (1) 3

Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Eggen, Téllez, Geli; Astudillo, Desio, Jordi Cruyff, Tomic; Iván Alonso (Magno 67'), Vucko (Javi Moreno 60'). 4-4-2.

Goals:
0-1. 20. Johnsen (own goal). Ran cross from Contra past his own keeper.
0-2. 37. Vucko. Brought ball in from left wing and shot around Arason.
0-3. 62. Javi Moreno. Took through ball from Astudillo and beat keeper.
1-3. 89. Skammelsrud (penalty). After Astudillo pulled forward down in box.

Alavés recorded a brilliant victory against Champions League side Rosenborg in Norway, winning by two clear goals to advance through to the next round of the competition. With the first leg level at 1-1 and with the away goal to boot, Rosenborg were favourites, despite being short of match practise given that their league had finished a month or so ago. But Alavés have come through the two previous rounds of the tournament thanks to wins away from home, and they arrived at Trondheim full of confidence. Needing to score, Mané put out an aggressive team, including Jordi Cruyff in a four man midfield with Iván Alonso and Vucko up front.

The Croatian was making his first start for his new side in place of Javi Moreno, who was rested for the weekend league match, and he confirmed his manager's confidence with a great goal near the end of the first half, picking the ball up in his own half and holding off defenders before shooting past South African keeper Arason. Earlier Alavés had taken the lead against the run of play, Bent Johnsen mishitting a clearance past his own keeper from Contra's cross. Rosenborg had several chances in the first half but were off target, and any hopes they had left were dashed when Javi Moreno came on for the injured Vucko with half an hour to go and immediately established a three goal lead.

When Skammelsrud finally got Rosenborg's consolation goal from the penalty spot in the last minute, most of the crowd had gone, not being prepared to hang around in sub-zero temperatures to watch their side lose. This was in fact the first time that the Norwegians had been beaten in the Lerkendal stadium in European competitions this year, and it hurt. The pink shirts of Euro-Alavés march on in their first ever campaign in Europe, and together with Rayo Vallecano they are the surprise of the competition so far. Each round gets harder, but with this type of fighting spirit, they may go a long way. On Wednesday night, they will know who they have to beat to do so.