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HOW MIDDLESBROUGH GOT TO THE FINAL
By Damian Spellman of Betting Zone
Middlesbrough have had an eventful passage to the UEFA Cup final, staging two remarkable comebacks in the quarters and semis.
Here, we chart their route to the final.
FIRST ROUND
Middlesbrough 2 Skoda Xanthi 0
Boro launched their campaign confidently at the Riverside Stadium with George Boateng's 28th-minute strike followed by a late Mark Viduka shot which deflected in off French defender Jacques Paviot.
Skoda Xanthi 0 Middlesbrough 0
Boro were never really troubled and might have increased their aggregate lead had Massimo Maccarone's first-half goal not been ruled out for offside.
GROUP STAGE
Grasshoppers 0 Middlesbrough 1
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's 10th-minute strike clinched three vital points in Switzerland, although goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer's blushes were spared by a dubious offside decision after he spilled Rogerio's shot and Eduardo fired into the empty net.
Middlesbrough 3 Dnipro 0
Aiyegbeni Yakubu's seventh goal of the season gave Boro the ideal start and the job was completed by a Viduka double after the break.
AZ Alkmaar 0 Middlesbrough 0
Goalkeeper Brad Jones was superb as Boro kept the Dutch side at bay in Holland.
Middlesbrough 2 Litex Lovech 0
Record signing Maccarone, in what was to become something of a trend, struck late on, heading the opener after 80 minutes and adding a second with four minutes remaining.
THIRD ROUND
Stuttgart 1 Middlesbrough 2
Hasselbaink fired them in front against the run of play and Stuart Parnaby's first European goal left the Germans reeling until Danijel Ljuboja's 85th-minute free-kick.
Middlesbrough 0 Stuttgart 1
Christian Tiffert's 13th-minute strike left Boro facing a major test but Boro held on in the second half to edge their way through.
FOURTH ROUND
Middlesbrough 1 Roma 0
Yakubu's controversial penalty after Hasselbaink had been brought down by keeper Gianluca Curci gave the Teessiders the slimmest of advantages.
Roma 2 Middlesbrough 1
Hasselbaink's 32nd-minute header put Boro 2-0 up on aggregate but an Alessandro Mancini double - the second a penalty - either side of half-time meant Schwarzer, with some help from the woodwork, had to be on top form to maintain their progress.
QUARTER-FINAL
Basle 2 Middlesbrough 0
A nightmare three minutes at St Jakob Park cost them dearly as Matias Delgado and then David Degen left them with a mountain to climb as the first half drew to a close.
Middlesbrough 4 Basle 1
Boro's plight worsened within 23 minutes of kick-off in the second leg when Brazilian striker Eduardo made it 3-0 on aggregate but Viduka's double and a third from Hasselbaink set the stage for substitute Maccarone to claim the winner with just seconds remaining.
SEMI-FINAL
Steaua Bucharest 1 Middlesbrough 0
Nicolae Dica's first-half goal was scant reward for an excellent performance by the Romanians as Schwarzer pulled off excellent saves from defender Dorin Goain and Dica.
Middlesbrough 4 Steaua Bucharest 2
Goals from Dica and Goian in the first 24 minutes looked to be sending Boro out but substitute Maccarone pulled one back before half-time and after Viduka and Chris Riggott put them ahead on the night the Italian striker's header snatched an aggregate victory in the final minute.
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