Basque unit present united front

Homogeneous. Not a word that often finds its way into the football reporter's notebook from a manager's lips. But, when asked last week to find a description that encapsulated the foremost quality of Alaves, Liverpool's opponents tomorrow night in Dortmund in the UEFA Cup final, homogeneous was the word that came from Gerard Houllier.

A former teacher, Houllier's vocabulary is more expansive than many managers in England, but this was an unexpected tribute. Houllier was stressing Liverpool will not underestimate the largely unknown team from the Basque country, especially after Alaves' 9-2 deconstruction of Kaiserslautern in the semi-final, and was referring to the fact Alaves is a team without conventional big-money names.

Jordi Cruyff, after four flat years at Manchester United, joined Alaves on a free transfer last summer, while Javi Moreno, scorer of 21 goals in an injury-hit season, has attracted scouts from all over Europe. But not many will be recognised by the viewer at kick-off.

"Javi Moreno has probably been the star," said Houllier, "and the guy he plays with up front, Ivan Alonso, is very quick. They're experienced at the back and like to counter-attack. They've played 12 games in Europe this season and won practically all the away ones. It's a very homogeneous side."

And ingenious, Houllier could have added. Founded in Vitoria in 1921, Alaves are dwarfed by other Basque clubs like Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad and Alaves had experienced only one top-flight season in their history until two seasons ago. It was season 1958-59. Six years ago they were in the Spanish third division. They had never been in Europe.

All of which has prompted comparisons in England with clubs like Carlisle United. Yet Alaves have transcended their small-town history. They made it to the second division in 1995 and to the Primera Liga in 1998. In their first season only a last-day win kept them up, but last year they did more than consolidate.

Beating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu could be considered an freak result for underdogs but Alaves followed that up by beating Valencia home and away. They did the same to Barcelona. Their form was such that Alaves went into the final day needing a victory over Bilbao to finish second and qualify for the Champions' League. There was no Basque alliance: Bilbao won and Alaves ended up sixth. Three points separated the five clubs behind Deportivo La Coruna. By some way, the Alaves defence had been the tightest.

So Alaves went into the UEFA Cup where they overcame a difficult first hurdle in Gaziantepspor of Turkey. Scandinavians Lillestrom and Rosenborg were accounted for and then came Inter Milan. Cruyff tells a funny story about the Alaves players walking past the television cameras at the airport when they landed in Milan because they were so anonymous.

"There were scores of cameramen, radio microphones and newspapermen but none of them recognised us. They were looking for suits with the Alaves crest on the badge," said Cruyff, "but we don't have club suits. One guy approached me and said: `Aren't you Jordi Cruyff?', I said `No'. He said `Sorry'." But it was Alaves who went through.

After that fellow Spaniards Rayo Vallecano were beaten and then came that extraordinary semi-final win against Kaiserslautern. Five-one in Vitoria was followed by 4-1 in the Fritz Walter stadium - the first Spanish win on German soil. It was also the biggest semi-final aggregate score for 40 years.

So if people thought the Leeds United story was an adventure, then Alaves' is football fairy-tale. Behind it are two men, the manager Jose Manuel Esnal, known as "Mane" in Spain, and his right-hand man, Juan Carlos Rodriguez. Mane last week ended speculation he would be Hector Cuper's successor at Valencia by signing a new deal with Alaves.

Rodriguez acts as Mane's scout and is responsible for the arrival of players like Moreno and the brusque centre-half Oscar Tellez. Both 26, both players have flitted about Spain's lower leagues for most of their career, but this season both have become Spanish internationals. "I'm a hustler," Tellez has said. "I've had to fight for everything I've got."

According to Cruyff, that is a general attitude. "We haven't got any big egos," he said, "that's part of the reason for our success. The team is full of players who have been rejected by big clubs or have moved up from smaller clubs. That's why we relish defying the odds. We've done it before and we can do it again on Wednesday."

Tellez, released by Real Madrid as a teenager and by Valencia after one firstteam appearance, is the prime example of Cruyff's theory - £2.3 million was the cost of Alaves' summer spree last year.

The Liverpool players jetted out to Germany on Sunday. Alaves' came yesterday. "That's a real treat," said Cruyff, "normally we fly out the day before in Europe. It shows this must be something special."

Homogeneity could rule.