A 51st-minute goal from Real Sociedad striker Oscar de Paula gave his side a well-deserved first-ever appearance in the last 16 of the Champions League and a 1-1 draw at home to Galatasaray - who must settle for a place in the UEFA Cup competition they won in 2000.

Real Sociedad's Nihat Khaveci, right, controls the ball followed by Galatasaray's Bulent Korkmaz, left, during their UEFA Champions League match in San Sebastian, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003.. [AP]

The result furthermore ensured that Spain has seen its four teams all qualify for the second phase.

Needing only a draw to qualify, the Spaniards went into Wednesday's match on the back of a nine-game winless run.

However, the leveller from fringe player De Paula after Hakan Sukur had put the Turks ahead was the all-important strike for the hosts who gave their fans a rare reason to celebrate.

Their last game had been a 4-0 home defeat to Betis that saw them plummet to third from bottom in Spain's Primera Liga, but that did nothing to detract from the atmosphere in the ground.

They were also missing striker Darko Kovacevic, who had scored five of their last six European goals scored in the Anoeta stadium not to mention Javi de Pedro and Sander Westerveld.

They were replaced by de Paula, Igor Gabilondo and Alberto Lopez, who couldn't have chosen a more difficult moment to make his debut this season.

Although it was Galatasaray who needed the win, it was the Basques who began by taking the game to their opponents, forcing several free-kicks around the Turks' penalty area.

It was all Real Sociedad but then Galatasaray hit them with a sucker punch after a promising Spanish move in the 26th minute.

Gabriel Schurrer got on the end of Gabilondo's corner only to see his header hacked off the Galatasaray line as Colombian goalkeeper Farid Mondragon flew wildly off his line.

The ball went straight down to the other end and the Real defence were sucked in as Berkant Gortan held the ball up before feeding Sukur, who beat Alberto with a neat finish.

The rest of the half was all pressure from the Basques, for whom the combination of Gabilondo and Agustin Aranzabal worked well on the left to little effect.

Nihat Kahveci squeezed a shot wide and Aitor Lopez Rekarte fired inches wide following a brilliant run through the Galatasaray defence as Real kept the pressure on.

There was no reward before the break but De Paula sent the home fans wild on 51 minutes after he fired home with his right foot after yet another ball from the right.

It was his first goal in the Champions League and he will rarely score one more important.

The Turks were getting nervous and Berkant was lucky not to see a red card after pushing Gabilondo over right in front of the referee.

Led by an unbeatable Bittor Alkiza, Real kept the initiative against a Galatasaray who on this performance did not deserve to progress to the next phase.

Lopez Rekarte had the next shot on target after 74 minutes, but Real had to be sharp in defence straight afterwards to close down Arif Erdem.

Arif had spent three disastrous months with Real two years ago and was forced to endure a hostile reaction from the home fans.

However, Arif's entrance did nothing to change the dynamic of the game and with only one shot on target, the Turks hardly deserved the point they took from the game.

Close

Today's Top News		Top Sports News
+'Sino-US friendship benefits world' ( 2003-12-11) +US team comes to check TV costs ( 2003-12-10) +Cities sinking due to excessive pumping of groundwater ( 2003-12-11) +Nov industry output up 17.9% ( 2003-12-10) +Domestic violence put under the spotlight ( 2003-12-10)		+Soccer - Champions Leage: Arsenal defeat Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 ( 2003-12-11) +Soccer - Champions League: Real Sociedad tie Galatasaray 1-1 ( 2003-12-11) +Inter Milan fail to advance after 1-1 draw ( 2003-12-11) +Bayern Munich beat Anderlecht 1-0 ( 2003-12-11) +Juventus routed Olympiakos 7-0 ( 2003-12-11)