Europe sees the best of Roda

Like FC Nantes Atlantique in the UEFA Champions League, Roda JC have been a different animal in European competition, leaving their domestic woes behind them to march into the fourth round of the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history.

'Domestic problems'
Speaking after the Dutch outfit overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to make it into the last 16 at the expense of FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Roda coach George Leekens said: "I was very satisfied with the performance as it is a long time since we qualified to play in Europe after the winter break. I have to compliment all my players because they forgot our domestic problems."

Out of relegation zone
The Parkstad Limburg side only moved clear of the Eredivisie relegation zone on 8 December, just two days after their 2-1 aggregate victory over Bordeaux, as they battled back from a goal down to beat AZ Alkmaar, goals from Fredrik Berglund and Mark Luijpers earning the win.

Formidable opponent awaits
Roda will need to show similar mettle in their next UEFA Cup outing, with a formidable opponent in Milan AC standing between them and a place in the last eight. Few would dispute that the Italian giants possess better players in every position and Milan will be expected to progress to the next round. But, as Roda's defeat of Bordeaux showed, a favourite's tag can count for nothing.

Ramé own goal
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Roda showed enormous character in the return match not only to eradicate that lead, through a second-half penalty from Ioannis Anastasiou, but to go on and record one of the most famous victories in their history, thanks to France goalkeeper Ulrich Ramé's own goal.

Collective spirit
Leekens attributed the win to the collective spirit of his team overcoming the superior individul parts of Elie Baup's side. "Our quality may be less individually, but the tactics I used worked perfectly and we really imposed ourselves on the game," he said.

Away defeats
A possible concern to Leekens will be his side's tendency to lose the away leg of their UEFA Cup ties. Although they comfortably beat Icelandic minnows Fylkir 3-1 in Reykjavik, to seal a 6-1 aggregate victory, Roda went down 2-1 against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the second round and 1-0 in Bordeaux's Chaban-Delmas stadium in the third.

Soetars double
The defeat in Israel represented something of an anomaly as Roda had already chalked up a seemingly unassailable 4-1 first-leg lead at home, with Tom Soetaers scoring two of the goals. A similar result would suit them very nicely ahead of what promises to be a testing encounter at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium on 28 February.

Little impact
Dutch Cup winners in 1997 and 2000, Roda were consistent qualifiers for European competitions throughout the 1970s and 80s, without ever making a major impact. They will certainly create a stir if they can overcome Milan to reach a quarter-final against either Parma AC or Hapoel Tel-Aviv.