UEFA Cup
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Well folks, the results are in.
I can’t wait to see how wrong everyone was once we’ve finished counting.
In the meantime, I bring you the full CL draw, the UEFA Cup draw (like anyone not named The Likely Lad or Keith gives a toss), and some half-assed predictions.
Whether you won our competition or not, you can’t say that the draw gave us many lame fixtures.
Without further ado, who got gifted and who got screwed? These are the games to have pundits salivating in their armchairs until February.
Champions League draw, Round of 16
Spartak London vs. Juventus
Villarreal vs. Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon vs. Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid vs. FC Porto
Lyon vs. Barcelona
Real Madrid vs. Liverpool
Arsenal vs. Roma
Inter Milan vs. Manchester United
First up, the red-faced Scot draws his nemesis in Jose Mourinho. Easily the pick of the round, although I still reckon the Mancs will sneak on. Either way, the trash-talk will be sublime. Spartak get their former manager Claudio Ranieri in his new Turin digs and should advance, and Arsenal get the gift of AS Roma, perhaps the 2nd best draw they could have hoped for overall.
The last remaining French team is guaranteed to exit in this round thanks to pulling out Barca, which makes you wonder if they’re kicking themselves at rolling over to Bayern in the meaningless final group game. Bayern trounced them, and their reward? Some Portuguese patsies.
Rafa gets two Ramos, a Raul and a tw*t in Ramon Calderon. I expect a 1-0 aggregate win for my lads, as is our custom in this competition.
Elsewhere, I see Villareal, Atletico and Bayern advancing, hopefully joining all 4 English clubs (barring some epic failures; Serie A and EPL normally ends up in favour of the English*, although Juve has the best chance of advancing, I reckon) and Barcelona in the quarter-finals.
I suppose I should mention the UEFA Cup too:
UEFA Cup, Last 32:
Paris Saint-Germain v Wolfsburg
FC Copenhagen v MANCHESTER CITY
NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg
Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv
Braga v Standard Liege
ASTON VILLA v CSKA Moscow
Lech Poznan v Udinese
Olympiakos v Saint-Etienne
Fiorentina v Ajax
Aalborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Bordeaux v Galatasaray
Dynamo Kiev v Valencia
Zenit St. Petersburg v Stuttgart
Marseille v FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk v TOTTENHAM
UEFA Cup, Last 16:
Werder Bremen or AC Milan v Olympiakos or Saint-Etienne
ASTON VILLA or CSKA Moscow v Shakhtar Donetsk or TOTTENHAM
Lech Poznan or Udinese v Zenit St Petersburg or Stuttgart
Paris Saint-Germain or Wolfsburg v Braga or Standard Liege
Dynamo Kiev or Valencia v Sampdoria or Metalist Kharkiv
Copenhagen or MANCHESTER CITY v Aalborg or Deportivo
Marseille or FC Twente v Fiorentina or Ajax
NEC Nijmegen or Hamburg v Bordeaux or Galatasaray
They do two draws at once, compounding their lameness, and the draw is kind for Mark Hughes. That said, they are good at losing when you expect them not to. The big story is that Villa and Spurs could meet in the next round should they both advance past tricky opposition. I couldn’t care less. Best of luck to all involved. My money’s on Valencia to win it all.
So, thoughts? Predictions? We’ll have a competition winner later today.
*In recent years, the Serie A hasn’t done too well against the EPL. Remember 2005, Meeelan? Seriously though, side thought: how about a pre-season tournament kinda like the College Basketball Big 10/ACC Challenge, only for Serie A and EPL to duke it out. I’d watch that from beginning to end. Or a “La Liga/EPL Challenge.” Would be sweet, right?
Written by Darkvader on December 19th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Champions League and UEFA Cup and draws and manchester united.
“Yep, remember when we could have won this Cup but played the dullest football known to mankind in the final? Ahh, good times…”Well, it’s the middle of the week and nothing else is happening in the world of soccer, so it’s the perfect time for the Little Euro Cup to peek its ugly head out.
So, how did everyone get on today?
Portsmouth 3, Heerenveen 0
Solid performance from the newly Diarra-less Pompey, including a brace from Peter Crouch, who no doubt celebrated with some delicious nachos. The Eredivisie side aren’t up to much, but Pompey came in this evening knowing they were already eliminated from the competition, so the lack of pressure brought out their flair. Good thing they’re not advancing considering all the players they’ll lose in January.
AC Milan 2, Wolfsburg 2
The Rossonieri sure do love their score draws! At least this time round, they led in the match instead of waiting until the last 10 minutes to score twice (like they did at Fratton Park).
Hamburg 3, Aston Villa 1
O’Neill’s men were manhandled, but what does it matter? They had safe passage wrapped up weeks ago. A late scrappy goal for young’un Nathan Delfouneso (seriously, if Villa has any more speedy young wingers/forward, they should declare them at Customs) wasn’t enough to counter Ivica Olic’s double and Mladen Petric’s volley.
Ajax 2, Sparta Prague 2
Look, last minute penalty equalizers! The Dutch left it late but were through anyway.
St. Etienne 2, Valencia 2
Hey look, Fernando Morientes scored. Remember that guy at Anfield? Yeah, perhaps best not to.
Club Brugge 0, FC Copenhagen 1
Why am I still recapping?
Deportivo La Coruna 1, Nancy 0
Ha, Nancy. Of course the Gallic pansies went down limply.
Feyenoord 0, Lech Poznan 1
Goal! Ivan Djurdjevic must have a foot like a traction engine. The cagey win puts the Poles into the next round.
Written by Darkvader on December 17th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Lingering Bursitis and Peter Crouch and UEFA Cup and aston villa and portsmouth.
Two Spanish teams were on the European stage tonight with their UEFA
Cup Groups games & they both finished well.
French team SAINT ETIENNE finished 2-2 against VALENCIA CF in
a see-saw game in their Group G clash. Valencia CF has grabbed the
2º place in the group after MORIENTES & ZIGIC scored both goals
for their team. The scorer for the French side was ILAN ( 2 goals)
DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA won 1-0 against French side NANCY in their
Group H clash where the Spanish team is 2º on the ladder. BODIPO
(above) scored the winner in the 74th min.
Written by STRIKER on December 17th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Spanish Football Teams and UEFA Cup.
It was touched on in the inaugural Own Goals post, but if you missed it, here it is again: behold the logo for the 2009 UEFA Cup Final!
Wolfsburg vs. Udinese never looked so exotic.
I get the connections to the Ottoman Empire, and of course the Byzantines, and the entire visual image (as modeled by Roberto Carlos below) very much reflects the geography of Istanbul. It’s the latest move by UEFA to give its Little Cup its own identity over the last few years, as they’ve tried to create a logo and style for each final since about 2003.
This one falls short of the mark once again, as noted by UF staff:
Precious Roy: Apparently the entire graphic design industry of Istanbul is still tethered to the Commodore 64.
Spectator: ROFL. I’ve seen better design at Foxwoods Casino!
Of course, they’re not all this flashy.
Manchester’s final took a painting approach as opposed to the precise-ness of CAD and Photoshop. The finished product is as messy as the metropolis itself, and I was disappointed that the Gallaghers weren’t depicted, preferably hanging from one of the stadium’s external beams.
For 2007, the bulk of their design budget was clearly spent on cans of Tennent’s Super, because the final design looks rather last-minute? “Oh shit lad, we’ve got our deadline in 3 hours! Slap the regular logo on the left and we’ll fudge together some Celtic-looking typeface with dots and lines everywhere. Brilliant! Now back to this videotape of Archie Gemmill…”
The only other one I could find was from 2002, and it shows. A giant, out-of-proportion ball half-floats in amazingly clear water (if you’ve been to Holland and particularly to Rotterdam, you know their North Sea run-off isn’t nearly so spotless and clean) underneath a bridge made of gold. As generic as it gets, unless the final is being played somewhere that’s landlocked.
Anyone have any other shocking logos to share? The ACN and the World Cup have had some pretty dreadful ones. Really though, the 2002 UEFA Cup Final must be considered the current bottom of the barrel.
Written by Darkvader on December 5th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Lingering Bursitis and UEFA Cup and graphic design and logos.
Two Spanish Teams played their UEFA Cup group qualifiers with
the same result.
In Group G VALENCIA CF, without its stars Villa, Mata, Albiol,
Baraja…etc, drew 1-1 with Belgium team BRUJAS. The scorers
were ALCARAZ for Brujas in the 18th min & ZIGIC for Valencia
in the 59th min.
In Group H DEPORTIVO played away to LECH POZNAN & also
finished in a 1-1 draw. The scorers were COLOTTO for Deportivo in
the 21st min & RENGIFO for Lech in the 41st min.
Written by STRIKER on December 4th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Spanish Football Teams and UEFA Cup.
Only one Spanish team played tonight in the qualifying leagues of
the UEFA CUP , with SEVILLA FC defeating 3-0 PARTIZAN OF
BELGRADE
The scare came early when Partizan goalkeeper & Captain
MOREIRA (above) collapsed & sent shivers throughtout the
stadium as memories of Antonio Puerta raced back. The Portugues
goalkeeper was rushed to Hospital for examinations & will stay in
observation. His state is stable.
The match continued with Sevilla dominating the game with two
goals from LUIS FABIANO ( penalty in the 31st min & 73rd min)
along with RENATO in the 47th min.
Great win for Sevilla , big scare for everyone early on!
Written by STRIKER on December 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Sevilla FC and UEFA Cup.
Great night for the Soanish teams in tonights Group games in the UEFA
Cup competition. Three representatives that played well with two
conviencing victories & a great comeback draw.
RACING DE SANTANDER travelled to Paris to play PARIS ST
GERMAIN & managed a valient 2-2 draw with a comeback. The
French side got ahead with 2 goals via KEZMAN & LUYINDULA
to see how Racing fought back with goals from TRAORE &
COLSA ( above)
ROSENBORG lost 0-4 to VALENCIA CF with a superb late 2º
half that left the home side knocked out. Valencia scored via MATA in
the 21st min, but then 3º more goals in 14 mins by PABLO, BARAJAS
& JOAQUIN put the nail in the coffin.
Same story with DEPORTIVO who did a great 2º half to win Dutch
team FEYENOORD 3-0. The goals came from LOPO in the 30th min
(above), HOFLAND (o.g) in the 50th min & Mexican International
GUARDADO in the 51st min.
Great night for Spanish Football.
Written by STRIKER on November 27th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on UEFA Cup.
RACING DE SANTANDER needed the points but failed as they allowed
SCHALKE 04 to come back & take the result to a 1-1 draw tonight.
Racing was at home & the Germans were attentive & waiting for their
moment. But after a tough struggle throughout the 1ºst half, in form
Racing forward TCHITE scored in the 59th min. However, the Spaniards
were thinking in the win too early & ENGELAAR equalized in the 63rd
min. That´s how this Group A match finished
SEVILLA are going through a rough patch & tonight was no different.
They lost away 1-0 to STANDARD LIEJA in their Group C clash.
The only goal came in the 37th min by M.BEZUA.
Real disappointing night & result for Sevilla who are not finding
the right moves to give them the chances they need to show their
true quality, real frustrating moments.
Real tough affair for VALENCIA CF tonight with a tough nut to
crack COPENHAGUE as visitors. After tussling all night with
close calls, veteran & experienced Valencia forward MORIENTES
put his team ahead in the 60th min after the Copenhague goalkeeper
fumbled.
It looked Valencia´s night when a terrible defensive mistake
allowed Copenhague player SANTIN to score the equalizer in the
84th min. Valencia will be kicking themselves to have let this Group
G clash go with a “stupid” mistake. Final result 1-1 draw
Written by STRIKER on November 6th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Spanish Football Teams and UEFA Cup.
Three Spanish teams in action tonight in the UEFA CUP Group
qualifying stage with varied results.
SEVILLA FC played STUTTGART & settled things in two minutes
that gave them the 2-0 victory in Group C. The goals came in the 15th
min via ROMARIC ( above)…
& in the 16th min via RENATO (above); it was enough.
The Germans fought hard & hit the post in the 66 th min via Gomez,
but Sevilla took the points.
RACING lost by the minimum 1-0 away to TWENTE in its Group A
clash in which DENNEBOOM ( above) scored his teams only goal in
the 5th min.
Finally DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA was given a beating away by
CSKA MOSCOW 3-0 in it´s Group H match. The man of the match
was DZAGOER (above) who scored twice - 8th & 11th min -, along
with VAGNER LOVE in the 61st min.
Written by STRIKER on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Spanish Football Teams and UEFA Cup.
You were good when you wore this shirt. What happened?
[Ed. Note: I'm still in a daze over Beckham joining Milan after Christmas, so forgive the light, well, non-existent posting this morning. Thoughts on that at some point.]
See, I told you there’d be barely any goals in the CL yesterday. Tuesday stole them all, dammit!
Considering we have Villa and Spurs fans reading along, today is their day. All the big clubs are tucked up in bed after their big, important European adventures, and today, it’s the kids’ turn in Little Cup. To which exotic destinations will these brave clubs travel? What languages might they need to speak? Will we have heard of any of the teams they’re playing?
(I could keep going, but I won’t)
In light of David Bentley’s “bit shit” comments last night, which surely served as the perfect digestif to Juande’s long lunch spent staring into the abyss and drooling, we will have some fun watching just how Spurs manage to corral their flabby, directionless collective into a coherent 90 minutes in Italy. Or maybe Ramos will just use the opportunity to check out Serie A “wanted” ads.
After the jumps, lineups, fun, and your colourful comments. It’s a good day to be alive.
Udinese v. Spurs
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Udinese: Handanovic, Motta, Coda, Domizzi, Lukovic, Inler, D’Agostino, Isla, Sanchez, Quagliarella, Di Natale.
Subs: Koprivec, Sala, Ferronetti, Pasquale, Obodo, Pepe, Floro Flores.
The Serie A club known as the “Little Zebras” are at virtually full-strength, anchored by an alarming number of Chileans. Alexis Sanchez and Mauricio Isla anchor the midfield, and the strike partnership of Italian National side fringe players Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella should thrive against the visibly-aloof Spurs back 4.
According to his wikipedia page, Di Natale is “well known known for scoring impressive goals.” Considering the form of Spurs at the back this season, any goals he scores tonight will seem rather ordinary and run-of-the-mill by comparison to previous tallies.
Spurs: Gomes, Hutton, King, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Zokora, Jenas, O’Hara, Bale, Bent.
Subs: Cesar, Dawson, Gilberto, Gunter, Modric, Campbell, Giovani.
Gomes has been warned to not injure any of his own tonight, and we see rare starts for Assou-Ekotto and Jamie O’Hara. The center-back pairing of Samson-esque Woodgate and Samsonite-esque Ledley King should provide some comedy this evening. And yes, Ramos looks to be employing UF’s favourite formation, the 4-5-1.
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Other games tonight:
Aston Villa v. Ajax (kick off: 3.15pm ET)
Braga v. Portsmouth (kick off: 3.15pm ET)
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Updates:
Spurs are still losing 1-0 from a 1st half penalty given up by Gomes, which is a shame as he’s been superb since. Jamie O’Hara did manage a rather Barton-esque feat of greatness in getting 2 yellows within a minute and taking an early bath. Close to the end there. 1-0 Udinese still.
Aston Villa v. Ajax
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Aston Villa: Friedel, Luke Young, Cuellar, Laursen, Shorey, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Barry, Milner, Agbonlahor, Ashley Young.
Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Harewood, Davies, Knight, Salifou, Gardner.
Expected line-up, right? O/U on number of misplayed passes for Reo-Coker currently set at 102.
Ajax: Vermeer, Silva, Oleguer, Vermaelen, Emanuelson, Lindgren, Sarpong, Vertonghen, Suarez, Huntelaar, Gabri.
Subs: Vonk, Van Der Wiel, Cvitanich, Leonardo, Sno, Anita, Schilder.
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Braga v. Portsmouth
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Braga: Eduardo, Frechaut, Moises, Alberto Rodriguez, Evaldo, Vandinho, Alan, Matheus, Aguiar, Renteria, Meyong.
Subs: Mario Felgueiras, Mossoro, Paulo Cesar, Jorginho, Stelvio Cruz, Cesar Peixoto, Joao Pereira.
4-5-1, probably? No clue. I hear Renteria is good.
Portsmouth: James, Campbell, Pamarot, Armand Traore, Distin, Davis, Diop, Hreidarsson, Little, Defoe, Crouch.
Subs: Ashdown, Utaka, Mvuemba, Hughes, Kanu, Belhadj, Wilson.
Nothing outrageous here either. Seeing a Traore in the starting XI is instant cause for concern. The Traores don’t make things easy for their teammates, oh no sir. Little and Large continue to spearhead a decent Pompey attack.
Written by Darkvader on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Lingering Bursitis and Spurs and Spurs are awful and UEFA Cup and adventures in travel and aston villa and portsmouth.
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