Sprint finish to Leeds marathon

Many times it has been said down the years that the football league season is a marathon rather than a sprint. The employees of Leeds United could counter that this season, their season, has been a marathon and a sprint.

Fifty-four games down already, Leeds nevertheless face another five, and possibly six, matches in the next 17 days that will determine whether nine months of endeavour and mainly over-achievement are to end in curious anti-climax.

The Leeds starting gun sounds again tonight against Valencia in the semi-final first leg of the European Cup - a sentence even the most rabid Leeds fans would have laughed at last August - and the score-line this evening at Elland Road will dictate how Leeds approach the remainder of their domestic matches.

A Champions' League place next season is tantalisingly close on two fronts. A promising result tonight and Leeds will take their chance in Europe; a poor one and they will concentrate on finishing among the top three in the English Premiership.

"I told the players this morning that I'm proud they're in the UEFA Cup next season," David O'Leary said yesterday, by way of answering the antic-climax question. "The money men might not like that.

"My priority next season is to push Manchester United in the league, but if we get a good result on Wednesday then my priority will not be Arsenal on Saturday. If we get a good result then we'll rest people and I'll take on Arsenal with a better team another time."

That Europe will have superseded the Premiership and Champions' League qualification in Leeds' list of priorities is as understandable as it is remarkable. The presence of three of last season's semi-finalists in this year's last four notwithstanding, O'Leary had a fair point when he said that this is Leeds' European moment and they have to exploit it.

Despite being a young team with a virgin manager, this could be the closest any of this Leeds set-up get to a European Cup final, argued O'Leary. After all, 1975 was Leeds' last.

"I've said to them: `Don't think about how young you are, you might never get this chance again.' This could be unique. I remember playing in three FA Cup finals for Arsenal when I was 18, 19, 20, and I remember thinking: `What's the big deal?' I wasn't thinking that when I got back to Wembley about 10 years later.

"That's not the way it works; when opportunities come along you've got to seize them. I can't knock them so far on that."

At this stage last year Valencia were hammering Barcelona 4-1 in the first leg, thereby upsetting the "dream final" between Barca and Real Madrid, and while Hector Cuper's side have been less stylish this season, their class has never been in doubt.

"Of all the teams that we've played in Europe they're the hardest working team that we'll have come up against," said O'Leary. "Everyone knows Mendieta, but he works for the team and their defence is the best by a mile."

According to Cuper and an agitated Spanish media, that ageing back four led by Jocelyn Angloma will need to be at its best if Valencia are to cope with the twin dangers represented by Mark Viduka and Alan Smith.

Physical as it undoubtedly will be, both sides will have to tread cautiously given that 13 of the likely starters - five for Leeds, eight for Valencia - are a caution away from missing the second leg. Smith is one of Leeds'. Eirik Bakke, David Batty, Olivier Dacourt and Dominic Matteo are the others.

Even though Leeds have knocked out both Barcelona and Deportivo La Coruna, and played pretty well in Madrid against Real, confidence is high within Valencia. Leeds have lost four of their 14 European fixtures: two against Madrid, one in Barcelona, one in La Coruna.

It is such that one of yesterday morning's questions to Cuper was about Valencia's ticket allocation for the final - against Real was the natural assumption - and another concerned the eight yellow cards Valencia are carrying. Did Cuper think that some of his players might try to get another caution so they would be definitely available for the final? Cuper gave a diplomatic answer.

The last thing he wanted to do was annoy Leeds in the way Deportivo did in the last round. Then Leeds ran up a 3-0 home advantage. O'Leary is not so sure a similar score can be achieved again this evening.

"If I was to win 1-0 I'd be delighted," he said. "Ideally you would love to win three or four, but if anything, it's most important not to concede an away goal."

Even then, five of the eight European visitors in the nine months have scored at Elland Road and Leeds are still here, waiting, hoping, pregnant with anticipation.