1997: French complete impressive sweep
Friday 1 August 1997
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Cyril Rool (SC Bastia) (©Getty Images)
French sides continued their blossoming love affair with the UEFA Intertoto Cup as they made a clean sweep of the three finals in 1997. AJ Auxerre, SC Bastia and Olympique Lyonnais all booked places in the UEFA Cup with showpiece victories, the latter after ousting compatriots Montpellier-Herault SC as all four Ligue 1 entrants reached the finals.
Lyon roar
Victories at home and away against Montpellier sealed success for Lyon, who only secured their passage from qualifying Group 9 - one of 12 five-team pools - by defeating previously unbeaten AFC Rapid Bucuresti 2-1 away from home in their last group fixture. Despite a first-leg defeat in Turkey, Lyon came through against semi-final opponents Istanbulspor AS 3-2 on aggregate to set up their all-French final.
Free-scoring Auxerre
Auxerre cruised through Group 3 undefeated, scoring 19 goals in their four matches, but received a huge scare in the semi-finals. Leading FC Torpedo Moskva 3-0 from the first leg at the Stade Abbé Deschamps, Guy Roux's side conceded four goals in Russia four days later but progressed thanks to a solitary away goal. A 2-0 aggregate victory against MSV Duisburg in the final paved the way for a run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.
Tight encounters
Group 2 winners Bastia needed extra time in both of their knockout fixtures after twice relinquishing 1-0 first-leg wins. First they followed a solid victory against Hamburger SV in Germany, with a 1-0 defeat in regulation time on home turf. The winning goal went their way during the additional period, and it was the same story against Halmstads BK in the final, once again winning the first leg 1-0 away from home before triumphing 2-1 on aggregate after extra time at the Armand-Cesari-Furiani.
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