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Uefa Cup Group Stages |
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When are they? And when they have taken been drawn, post them up on this thread.
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Some information from UEFA.com:
And here's the list of teams which will be entered into the draw for the group stages: Aalborg BK (DEN) Aberdeen FC (SCO) ACF Fiorentina (ITA) AC Sparta Praha (CZE) AEK Athens FC (GRE) AZ Alkmaar (NED) FC Bayern München (GER) Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) Bolton Wanderers FC (ENG) Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) Everton FC (ENG) FC Aris Thessaloniki (GRE) FC Basel 1893 (SUI) FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA) FC Kĝbenhavn (DEN) FC Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS) FC Zürich (SUI) FK Austria Wien (AUT) FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) FK Mladá Boleslav (CZE) Getafe CF (ESP) Hamburger SV (GER) Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) Galatasaray SK (TUR) Helsingborgs IF (SWE) IF Elfsborg (SWE) Larissa FC (GRE) NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) Panathinaikos FC (GRE) Panionios NFC (GRE) RSC Anderlecht (BEL) SC Braga (POR) SK Brann (NOR) Stade Rennais FC (FRA) Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) Toulouse FC (FRA) Villarreal CF (ESP) FC Nürnberg (GER) Looking forward to the group stages.  We should have a realistic chance of going quite far this this Cup, as should Everton. I know it doesn't have the prestige of the Champs League but I'd still be delighted if we won it. |
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Yeah, Good luck boys.
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Who knows, Liverpool could end up in there.. Everton - Liverpool final?
But is it just me or does the group stages make it ridiculously dull? You've 5 teams per group, and some are so bad you know the English teams are guarenteed a place in the next round (what with three of the five getting through). I guess it's alright if you're team is in the competition, but as a neutral i'm sure the knock-out type rounds are better. |
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I'd love to see us have a decent run in this competition, it'll certainly do no harm to morale.
I wouldn't even think about winning it just yet, long long way to go - and the Champions League drop-outs are still to enter so that may well stiffen the competition. But fingers crossed all the English & Scottish clubs progress well. |
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It is a great competition when your club is in it. And it's a great relief from league football - i loved it when Liverpool were playing in it 5 or 6 years ago.
It's great for clubs who don't get much chance in Europe to play at that level.. |
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Really speaking it's were you's should be playing now. The Champions League is a bullsh|t name... It should be what it says "champions" and not teams that can't be champions so third or fourth will do.
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Right then, here are the groups which were drawn earlier this morning:
I watched the draw live and it was interesting, but not particularly exciting. The toughest groups in my opinion are are B and C. I'm more than happy with Group G and if we don't manage to get through then it'll be an absolute disaster. My only real gripe is that we didn't manage to draw Bayern Munich (although we came very close to drawing them) - I'd have loved that fixture whether it were home or away.
This should really be a formality for all three English Clubs and the actual competition should begin if/when we reach the last 32 and we're joined by the Champs League dropouts. Unfortunately for Aberdeen, they're in a very tough spot and will do well to make it through to the next stage. Here's some further details about Spurs' opponents:
Edit: The actual fixtures have just been released and they show which matches will be played at home and which will be played away. I think they're decided by a computer selection process and the Spurs fixtures, including dates, are as follows:
I was hoping for us to get Anderlecht at home but never mind. We're capable of winning all the fixtures in this group but Anderlecht will clearly be the toughest. Getafe at home is a nice fixture to open the group stages with and a likely win should lift our confidence for the matches to come. Really looking forward to this competition. |
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Many don't see it as all that but personally i love watching the Uefa Cup. As far as the British participants go though that is a great draw in particular for Everton. There may be one or two away trips to hostile environments i.e Petersburg but i do not really foresee any problems for them in that group. Bolton on the other hand i think could really struggle. With Bayern clearly being favourites for that group and difficult trips to Belgrade and a half decent Portugese side in Braga, it will be interesting to see what they can do. Aberdeen are done for bar a miracle in my opinion. Atletico Madrid, Panathanikos, Copenhagen and Lokomotiv will all be stern fixtures and i cannot see them making the latter rounds. Spurs shouldn't have too many problems at all IMO, not even in Anderlecht. Getafe is an interesting one though.
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I agree with you there. The names stupid - either it should be European Cup and for people not Champions as well, or it should be for Champions only named the Champions League. I personally wouldn't have any major quarms either way, even if it meant Liverpool weren't in the top competition. Hell, if it meant improving the weaker northern/central/eastern European clubs i'd be all for it being only for champions of each domestic league. Now, for the UEFA Cup draw. I should make a point first off, no-one can be overly confident. I suppose Everton would have looked at Metalist Kharkiv thinking they'd push them aside, and it proved a very tough fixture - as with Blackburn who fell to Larissa. You have to remember that these are in many cases the second and third best teams of their respective nations, and if not, they're the Spanish/Italian/French etc. equivalent of our teams in Spurs/Everton/Bolton. So it would be naive to be too confident. Even though with three places up for grabs i think each club has a great chance. Bolton of the English sides would appear at first glance to have the toughest route, with Bayern, Red Star and Braga in the mix. You might expect Aris Thessaloniki to be cannon fodder for the other clubs, but whilst they may be most likely to not progress, they'll still give Bolton a game. Bayern should top the group, so they'll be playing for one of two spots. On league form, you would feel worried for Bolton. Maybe they can use it as relief and play at ease, surprising us.. Both Everton and Spurs will look to their group and think they can win. But no Spanish side will be easy (Getafe) and Spurs have Champions League regulars (Anderlecht) in their group. Even if the teams crap, trips to Israel are never easy either. Everton are similar. No Dutch/German side will be easy (Alkmaar, Nurnberg) and they have a trip to Russia. Accompanied with Blackburn vanquishers Larissa. They're groups are quite open and given the three spots will be very disappointed not to progress. I personally find this part of the cup a tad boring in comparison to the knock-outs though. But the draw actually sounds quite interesting.. |
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i agree with floody. many people just see the UEFA cup as a little minor competition that is for the not so good teams.
but if you look at it, theres teams like bayern munich, villareal, Tottenham, bayer levukusen etc who are all very good teams. Im also surprised to see Getafe in the UEFA cup. about 3-4 years ago, they were pretty much unheard of, and in one of the lower leagues in Spain. Now they're in europe, which is brilliant for them. As for the groups, B is definately the interesting one. Some good teams in that group, and is probably the pick of the groups. Everton have had a good draw. i can see them qualifying tbh. On paper, Bolton and Tottenham should proceed, but anythng can happen i suppose.. |
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Panathinaikos vs Lokomotiv !
What do you think Peter Rggu?! Can you beat us in Athens? We also have to play Atletico, our former RB Seitaridis' team. Unfortunately, that's an away game. We also have Kopenhagen away, which is also unlucky. Aberdeen is our other home game. Personally, i'd much rather have Atletico and maybe Kopenhagen at home, rather than Aberdeen and Lokomotiv. Atletico are obviously the favorites in this group, but after that it's really hard to make any predictions. As for the other Greek teams, imo AEK should go through because they have their two toughest matches (Villareal and Fiorentina) at home. Elfsborg and Mlada Boleslav are their away opponents. Aris have to face Bayern and Bolton away, which is really unlucky. Not that they'd beat Bayern at home anyway. Red Star and Braga are their home opponents. They do have a chance of finishing 3rd, but it'll be tough. A lot will depend on their home matches. Larissa eliminated Blackburn and now they have to go up against another English team, Everton... away. Not much luck there then, but you never know. With a bit of luck they might be able to grab a draw, but i doubt it. They're also unlucky that they have to face Van Gaal's Alkmaar away. Zenit and Nurenberg are their home matches. I'll be surprised if they qualify but i wouldn't say they have no chance at all. Panionios eliminated French club Sochaux and now they have to face Bordeaux, at home. They also have another really tough match at home, against Galatasaray. Panionios are a small team started by Greek refugees from the Asia Minor region when they had to move to Greece 85 years ago, but any match between a Greek team and a Turkish team is going to be crazy. Of course, Galata are possibly the biggest club in Turkey while Panionios have always been a mid-table team in Greece and have often had huge financial trouble. I'd be surprised if they could grab a draw or even a win against the Turks. Their away games are against Helsingborg and Austria. Imo, Panionios won't qualify. |
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Getafe are playing well, but they have a lot of problems to score goals.
Atletico are playing well too. Against Barça they started well till Barça scored the first goal, Agüero didn't play very well. They should be the favourites but with Atletico you never know, are irregular. Villarreal should qualify, have a very good team and have started very well this season. I think that they won't have problems to qualify. |
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Aalborg BK are a good team!!!.......when their not working part time delivering post to their local neighbours.
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 | Uefa Cup Group Stages |
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