Soccer: FC Porto - 0 Deportivo La Coruna - 0 Presumably Jose Mourinho will omit the details of this prosaic draw from his CV when, as looks increasingly likely, the Porto coach meets Roman Abramovich to discuss the finer details of a possible switch to Chelsea.
It is difficult to recall one of this season's Champions League ties in which neither keeper was forced to make a save, so for it to happen in a semi-final was dispiriting given the number of outstanding players on each side, and the enormity of the occasion.
Porto were particularly leaden, as if suddenly afflicted by stagefright, and Deportivo would conceivably have taken a lead into the return leg had they not settled for the dubious benefits of a scoreless draw long before the whistle.
The consolation, if one could be dredged from an utterly rudderless game, was that the teams surely can not be so unimaginative when they meet again at the Riazor stadium in La Coruna on Tuesday week.
Claudio Ranieri, strangely, had declined the opportunity to designate this all-Iberian encounter as a fact-finding exercise ahead of next month's final.
Maybe, with a 3-1 deficit to overcome against Monaco, he did not want to appear presumptuous, but it was still surprising that the Chelsea manager opted to rely upon scouting reports rather than check out the imperious talents of Porto's Deco or Deportivo's Juan Valeron.
Had Ranieri made it he might have found himself compelled to offer begrudging praise for the man who may supplant him at Stamford Bridge next season.
Mourinho and his players have captured the imagination of this labyrinthine old city. All day long Porto flags and scarves had fluttered from the balconies, windowsills and spires beside the Douro river, and there are few stadiums in Europe capable of creating such a raucous din as that in Porto's palatial new home.
With La Coruna only 190 miles away across the Spanish border, there was also a vociferous contingent from the Galician coast. Javier Irureta's team showed the greater sense of adventure throughout the first half, but neither side particularly distinguished themselves with their crude challenges and insistence on amateur dramatics.
Porto are well known, of course, for the diving of their players but Deportivo have some skilled exponents of that dark art, and there were times when even the experienced referee, Markus Merk, looked like losing control.
The German is regarded a strict disciplinarian but he displayed undue leniency in booking only three players during a fractious, disappointing first half.
Both sides continued to lack a penetrative edge after the interval, although it needed a splendid saving tackle from Nuno Valente to deny Walter Pandiani an away goal for Deportivo just before the hour.
At the other end Porto seemed devoid of ideas, as if there had been an overhaul of the side who overwhelmed Manchester United here in February.
Maniche Ribeiro produced one moment of sublime skill when his delicate chip came back off the crossbar but if Alex Ferguson was watching at home in Cheshire, he must have felt affronted that his team had found their visit such a chastening experience.
Deportivo's Jorge Andrade was sent off four minutes from time, for a foul on Deco which earned him a second yellow, and he will miss the return leg.
Meanwhile, Porto have made a formal complaint to FIFA about Chelsea's attempts to set up a meeting with Mourinho, telling world football's governing body that the talks were organised without their permission.
Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich is named in the protest, which centres around the London club's ultimately unsuccessful efforts to speak to Mourinho on Monday about succeeding Ranieri at Stamford Bridge next season.
Abramovich and Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon flew to Vigo in north-west Spain for a meeting with Mourinho, only for the coach to cancel. He may have been banned by Porto's president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, who got wind of the talks.
Costa has taken the matter to FIFA, which will now ask Chelsea for their observations. but Kenyon laughed yesterday when told about Porto's action.
"Have they made a complaint?" he said. "I'm not aware of that and why would they complain to FIFA? I know there are pictures of us. We were in Spain. We do a lot of travelling."
Guardian Service
FC PORTO: Vitor Baia, Jorge Costa, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Paulo Ferreira, Costinha (Pedro Mendes 46), Deco, Maniche, Carlos Alberto, Alenitchev (Jankauskas 46), McCarthy (Marco Ferreira 70). Subs Not Used: Nuno, Pedro Emanuel, Bosingwa, Ricardo Fernandes. Booked: Carlos Alberto, Ricardo Carvalho, Marco Ferreira.
DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA: Molina, Manuel Pablo, Romero, Naybet, Andrade, Mauro Silva, Sergio (Duscher 79), Victor (Cesar 87), Valeron, Pandiani, Luque (Fran 45). Subs Not Used: Munua, Capdevila, Djalminha, Tristan. Sent Off: Andrade (87). Booked: Mauro Silva.
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany).
