Uefa Cup Draw

sikes

Friday at midday sees the first round draw of the Uefa Cup. Our possible opponents are below:

France (Auxerre, Marseille, Lens, PSG)
Spain (Sevilla, Celta Vigo, Espanyol, Osasuna)
Holland (Ajax, Feyenoord, AZ Alkmaar, Heereveen)
Germany (Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen, Hetha Berlin)
Italy (Parma, Palmero, Chievo)
Czech Republic (Sparta Prague, Slovan Liberec, Slavia Prague)
Bulgaria (Litex Lovech, CSKA Sofia)
Turkey (Besiktas, Fenerbache)
Switzerland (FC Basle, Grasshoppers Zurich)
Romania (Rapid Bucharest, Dinamo Bucharest)
Poland (Wisla Krakow)
Israel (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Denmark (Brondby)
Serbia (Partizan Belgrade)
Greece (Panathinaikos)
Scotland (Rangers)
Russia (Lokomotic Moscow)
Austria (Austria Vienna)
Belgium (Club Brugge)

We were not seeded which means we are going to get a tougher draw. but we are back in europe and its a stepping stone to the CL. I really dont mind who we get, perhaps Tel-Aviv as the away game should be held at a netural stadium

therecklessone

There's a lot there I'd rather we didn't get, but then there's a lot I wouldn't be too worried about.

From a competitive point of view, the French/Spanish/Dutch/German sides would be tough, and I wouldn't fancy a trip to Ibrox...

From a travel point of view, Turkey and most of Eastern Europ is off limits for me...:D We could face Feyenoord, I predict a riot!

Robxxx7

Well to win this trophy, we will probably have to do it the hard way ... but on our day we will be a match for most teams ... Personally i fancy a nice trip to Belgium, Italy or Holland ....rather than an eastern european country ... but i guess we will have to take what we are given ...


Also, well done on getting this board up and running ...

Robxxx7

According to UEFA website http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UEFACup/n...sId=448958.html we will be drawn against one of following seeds:

Bayer Leverkusen
Slavia Prague
Brugges
Partisan Belgrade
Dinamo Bucharest

therecklessone

Avoid Leverkusen and I'll be fairly happy.

therecklessone

Confirmed, Slavia Prague, away in the 1st leg.

Don't assume anything re. dates though, Sparta Prague were drawn at home in their first leg as well so they may move one of the games.

Don't ENIC own a share of Slavia?

Robxxx7

Well draws just been made and we have Slavia Prague away .. not a bad start .... and not a bad place to visit either

Robxxx7

Robxxx7 wrote:

Well draws just been made and we have Slavia Prague away .. not a bad start .... and not a bad place to visit either

You beat me to it Ronan, But yes i believe their owners are also ENIC ... could be interesting

Andrew 83

Happy with Slavia, felt inevitable we'd get Leverkusen particularly with the Berbatov signing! Didn't know that about ENIC but I'd imagine UEFA will look into it a la Chelsea and CSKA.

therecklessone

Posters on COYS and FTL suggest that ENIC surrendered control of Slavia a while back to avoid this very thing. I remember there was some controversy about Rangers (part ownded by ENIC) and Slavia meeting in Europe before.

therecklessone

19,000 capacity.

Flights with EI on Wed-Fri costing €300+
Flights with CSA on Thu-Fri costing €650 :eek:

Guess I'll be staying at home...

Robxxx7

those prices are steep :eek:

Just checked the flights from Cork with Czech airlines

Wed -Fri Eu432.77
Thu - Fri Eu 775.45
Thu - Sun (No flights Saturday) Eu287.77

Apart from the last flight, still a bit pricey

therecklessone

Lifted from COYS, article from The Times today:

Enic, the British investment company, owns about 32 per cent of Tottenham and has a stake in Slavia. Enic previously owned more than 95 per cent of the Czech club, but it has reduced their share to “less than 30 per cent” apparently to ensure they did not fall foul of Uefa rules.

Uefa has investigated Enic’s levels of involvement with Tottenham and Slavia and decided to allow the teams to participate in the tournament. The European governing body’s regulations prevent two clubs from entering the same competition if they have the same majority shareholders.

“Our rules and regulations are clear,” William Gaillard, a Uefa spokesman, said. “All clubs taking part in Uefa competitions have to give proof of ownership. If the owner of one club owns more than 50 per cent of shares in another, one team has to be withdrawn. We needed to check this with Tottenham, Slavia and Enic.”