Liverpool, Juventus earn narrow Europa wins
Published:Friday | August 20, 2010 | 8:44 AM
Former European champions Liverpool and Juventus will take slender leads into the second legs of their Europa League playoffs after narrow victories yesterday.
In unfamiliar territory after failing to qualify for the Champions League last season, fallen English giant Liverpool needed Ryan Babel's 45th-minute goal to edge past Trabzonspor of Turkey 1-0 at home, while Amauri's injury-time strike earned Italian club Juventus a 2-1 victory at Sturm Graz of Austria.
Russian side Sibir Novosibirsk caused the shock of the night by winning 1-0 at home against Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund thrashed Qarabag 4-0 and big-spending Manchester City beat Timisoara 1-0 through a goal on debut by new signing Mario Balotelli.