UEFA Cup Draw: A Tasty Treat

The re-branded UEFA Cup may play second fiddle to the Champions League, but it continues to be a tasty alternative to its big-eared cousin.

The draw was held this morning, and if you're into conspiracy theories, then an anti-England bias is your flavor of the day. Sarcasm aside, the groups are brutal and ultra-competitive for all the competitors. Manchester City has some miles of travel on its docket with trips to Germany, France, Spain and Holland. Tottenham too; Spurs bound for Russia, the former Yugoslavia, Italy and Holland. Same goes for Portsmouth and Aston Villa.

As is custom, if we're looking for a Group of Death, may I suggest, well Group A. Not only is the nouveau riche of City in the Group, but the equally dangerous Schalke, Racing Santander, Paris St. Germain and FC Twente.

Here are the groups:

Group A
Schalke 04
Paris St Germain
MANCHESTER CITY
Racing Santander
FC Twente

Group B
Benfica
Olympiakos
Galatasaray
Hertha Berlin
Metalist Kharkiv

Group C
Sevilla
Stuttgart
Sampdoria
Partizan Belgrade
Standard Liege

Group D
TOTTENHAM
Spartak Moscow
Udinese
Dinamo Zagreb
NEC Nijmegen

Group E
AC Milan
Heerenveen
SC Braga
PORTSMOUTH
Vfl Wolfsburg

Group F
Hamburg
Ajax
Slavia Prague
ASTON VILLA
MSK Zilina

Group G
Valencia
Club Brugge
Rosenborg
FC Copenhagen
Saint-Etienne

Group H
CSKA Moscow
Deportiva La Coruna
Feyenoord
Nancy
Lech Poznan

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UEFA Cup final: Hypocritical Advocaat Turns Cheers to Jeers

I don't have an emotional investment in today's UEFA Cup final between Zenit St. Petersburg and Rangers (2 p.m. ET Fox Soccer Channel), but if you're on the fence like me, you may want to check out Martin Samuel's column today in the Times of London on Zenit manager Dick Advocaat.

By the time you're done, you'll be saying "Go Rangers."

Seems the Russian club has a long-standing policy (83 years) of not hiring black players. Advocaat, former Holland coach, defending his refusal to buck that policy. He told a Russian journalist:

“I don’t want to sign a player who won’t be accepted by the fans. The fans are the most important thing that Zenit have and that is why I have to ask them outright how they will react if we sign a dark-skinned player. The only players who can make Zenit stronger are dark skinned. Look at the Brazilians who play for CSKA Moscow. For us, it would be impossible. I would be happy to sign anyone, but the fans don’t like black players. I do not understand how they could pay so much attention to skin colour. For me, there is no difference; but they care.”

Great, Dick, thanks for clarifying.

I'll let this hypocrisy speak for itself. I'm sure Advocaat has some money socked away somewhere, and has the coaching pedigree to get another job in Europe. Does he need to work for Zenit that badly? Couldn't he have resigned on principle when he first got wind of this foul breeze? Why perpetuate it? Why perpetuate the climate of racism doing enough damage to this game already?

It's too bad this is allowed to go on. Where's UEFA been with this garbage? Why hasn't the game's governing body stepped in and banned this club until it gets its act together on race? This is shameful.

I no longer admire Zenit's remarkable run in the UEFA Cup, laying waste to among others, Bayern Munich, in its wake. I no longer want to see Cinderella be the belle of the ball. I no longer want to hear anything about this club, or this manager.

Go Rangers!

UEFA Cup Draw: Quarterfinals Ready

Sporting Lisbon's 1-0 win over Bolton yesterday capped off the round of 16 and eliminated the remaining English team from the UEFA Cup. Tottenham has been eliminated on Wednesday by PSV and Everton by Fiorentina--both by penalty kicks (why can't the English make a PK when it counts?).

This morning, the quarterfinal draw rendered some spicy matchups, namely Sporting-Rangers and PSV-Fiorentina. Rangers lead the Scottish Premier League, while Sporting is still alive in the Portuguese Cup and is looking to return to the UEFA Cup final as it did in 2005. PSV, meanwhile, leads in the Netherlands while Fiorentina is fighting for a Champions League spot in Italy.

Favorites Bayern Munich take on Getafe, which upended Benfica. Bayern leads in Germany, while Getafe is middle of the table. Coached by former Danish star Michael Laudrup, Getafe has a bunch of Real Madrid loans on its roster and could be a challenge for Bayern.

The final matchup pits Bayer Leverkeusen and Zenit St. Petersburg. Bayer is fourth in Germany nine points behind Bayern. Of note here: Should Bayer and Bayern win, you'd have an all-German semifinal and guarantee one spot in the final for the Bundesliga.

UEFA Cup Round of 16 First Leg Preview

For sheer intrigue, it's no secret I'm a fan of this year's UEFA Cup. I'm under no illusion that it's better than the Champions League, but I am willing to argue this tournament may be more competitive than the race for the big-eared cup.

Tottenham, already having won the Carling Cup this year, isn't settling for just one piece of silverware. Juande Ramos' magical touch has his players talking confidently about winning the UEFA Cup. Goalie Paul Robinson isn't fazed by PSV six point lead over Ajax in the Dutch league and says there's no reason Spurs cannot go all the way. Spurs are home in the first leg and need a quick start and cannot afford to go to Holland needing an away goal to advance.

As for the German clubs; not only do Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg keep it in-country with a spicy tie, but Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich have to travel to legendary Belgian club Anderlecht, which already has one of these shiny cups on its mantle. Werder Bremen, meanwhile, is the sleeping giant here only four back on Bayern for first place. It must go to Scotland and face Rangers. Bremen may be without two starters, Hugo Almeida and Ivan Klasnic. Both will be evaluated prior to the match. Rangers is four points up on Celtic in the Scottish Premier League and haven't lost since December when Lyon beat them in the Champions League and Hibernian domestically.

Sporting Lisbon, struggling to find its form at home, has had no such problems in the UEFA Cup after destroying Basel in the first knockout round. Sporting was put in a thankless group in the Champions League with Manchester United and Roma, and it held Roma to a 2-2 draw in the last match, beat Dyanamo Kiev twice and lost a pair of one-goal decisions to United. At Bolton today, Sporting runs into a team struggling to avoid relegation. The Wanderers have lost three straight in the Premier League, yet managed a 1-0 win and a scoreless draw against Atletico Madrid to stay alive in the UEFA Cup.

Benfica is the other Portuguese team alive. Ironically, Benfica and Sporting tied 1-1 over the weekend. Benfica needed a miracle to escape the first knockout round against Nuremburg. It travels to Getafe of Spain. Benfica is second to F.C. Porto domestically, while Getafe is middle of the table and has two wins and four draws in its last seven matches.

Fiorentina-Everton pairs two fourth-place Champions League contenders; Fiorentina coming off a 3-2 win over Juventus over the weekend, while Everton has won five straight and is undefeated in seven straight.

Marseille and Zenit St. Petersburg clash again; the Russian side eliminated Marseille a year ago.

UEFA Cup Thriller: Benfica Rallies

I'm not a Benfica fan, but its come-from-behind tie yesterday against Nuremberg that clinched its round-of-32 tie was not only thrilling, but it kept in play the possibility of a Sporting-Benfica matchup down the road. I cannot find the complete UEFA Cup draw tree to see how they're matched up--if someone can help please do.
The Champions League has glorious matchups right now, but UEFA Cup has some grassroots appeal with a bevy of big names and potential dustups between country-mates that makes it impossible to ignore.
Here's the round-of-16 draw:

• Anderlecht (Belgium) v Bayern Munich (Germany)
• Rangers (Scotland) v Werder Bremen (Germany)
• Bolton Wanderers (England) v Sporting (Portugal)
• Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) v Hamburg SV (Germany)
• Getafe (Spain) v Benfica (Portugal)
• Fiorentina (Italy) v Everton (England)
• Tottenham Hotspur (England) v PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
• Olympique Marseille (France) v Zenit St Petersberg (Russia)
• * First leg ties to be played March 6, second legs to be played March 12 and 13.

UEFA Cup Preview: Bayern Munich Hosts Aberdeen

All eyes are on Munich today where Bayern hosts Aberdeen in the second leg of their round-of-32 UEFA Cup tie.

Aberdeen nearly pulled off a massive upset, giving up a late goal at home for a 2-2 draw I the first leg. At home today, Bayern are huge favorites to win the cup making a slipup at home today a monumental flub. Bayern will also be without Frank Ribery.

I’ve written before about intriguing I find this year’s UEFA Cup because of the big names left in it; some are teetering on elimination.

Atletico Madrid and Villareal are in trouble today. The two Spanish sides lost 1-0 in the first leg to Bolton and Zenit St. Petersburg respectively. Madrid’s Luis Garcia promised fans to treat this match like a “final.”

Sporting and Benfica are in good shape to move on to the Sweet 16. Sporting beat Basel 2-0 at home last week and should be able to finish the Swiss side today. Benfica travels to Nuremburg with a 1-0 advantage in tow, while Sporting Braga’s exit is all but assured against Werder Bremen after blowing two penalties in a 3-0 loss.

After today, the UEFA Cup could be overflowing with German, Portuguese and English teams.

Today's Matches:

• Hamburg SV v FC Zürich
• Bayer Leverkusen v Galatasaray
• Spartak Moscow v Marseille
• Panathinaikos v Rangers
• Bayern Munich v Aberdeen
• Getafe v AEK Athens
• Atlético Madrid v Bolton
• Villarreal v Zenit St Petersburg
• Bordeaux v Anderlecht
• Helsingborg v PSV Eindhoven
• Tottenham v Slavia Prague
• Fiorentina v Rosenborg
• FC Basle v Sporting Lisbon
• Everton v SK Brann
• Nurnberg v Benfica
• Braga v Werder Bremen

UEFA Cup: Europe’s ‘B’ Championship Resumes

Finally, Europe resumes international play today with some tantalizing UEFA Cup draws. Probably the biggest shocker of the day is Rangers’ nil-nil home draw against Panathinaikos. Rangers figures to be in for some heavy labor in Athens in the second leg.

Otherwise, this suddenly stacked tournament held to form.

Intriguing Sporting shut out Basle, 2-0, at home while Bremen blanked Braga, 3-0. Tim Wiese saved two penalties for the Germans. Anderlect, PSV, Marseille and Everton were among the other winners.

Tomorrow, Benfica hosts Nuremberg, Rosenborg hosts Fiorentina, Aberdeen entertains Bayern Munich and Hamburg visits FC Zurich.

This tournament generally doesn’t get the splash the Champions League gets, nor does it usually deserve it. For American readers, UEFA Cup definitely plays NIT to the Champions League’s NCAA Tournament.

But the stellar names still in the running for Europe’s second biggest club title are intriguing. Common sense says Bayern Munich wins this in a cakewalk, but it won’t be easy. Many of these clubs still in UEFA Cup contention are floundering on the domestic front and may decide to focus on winning the UEFA Cup. That means Bayern will have a tough road against the Aberdeen’s, Sportings, PSVs and Fiorentinas of the tournament--not to mention the presence of fellow domestic foes Bremen, Leverkusen and Hamburg.

UEFA Cup Loaded With Quality Teams

I've always looked at the UEFA Cup as the N.I.T. to the Champions League's NCAA Tournament; it's nice if my team's in it and contending for the cup, otherwise, who cares.

This year's UEFA Cup, however, may be a different story. It's loaded. Bayern Munich is the big dog, but don't dispel PSV, Marseille, Atletico Madrid, Villareal, Fiorentina, Benfica, Tottenham ,Sporting, Hamburg and a few others that could be considered a contender.

The UEFA Cup was a bigger deal back in the day when the Champions League was the European Champions Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup was still contended. The UEFA Cup was essentially a deeper tournament and its two-leg final always produced a worthy champion.

When the ECC became the Champions League, and the Cup Winners' Cup sadly went away, the UEFA Cup was relegated to a distant afterthought. But if you look at the past winners, include if you wish the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and you'll see Juventus in six finals, winning three of them. Sevilla has won the last two; Inter and Liverpool have three titles, Parma and Real Madrid have two, among others. Ask them if they'd give those back.

The final two days of the current round of the UEFA Cup are today and tomorrow. The Champions League castoffs join the fray in the next round and that's when the fun starts. The matchups could be juicy and there will be a lot of national pride tossed about.

SoccerOverload has the final day group stage schedules. UEFA.com has previews on each match.

Give UEFA credit for at least trying to inject some new life into the tournament. Next year, there's a new format being introduced for at least three years. Most notably, the group stage will include 12 groups of four teams. Qualification changes too to include domestic cup winners, Fair Play winners and the Intertoto Cup has seen its final days and those teams will be included as well.

Manchester United Advances in Champions League; Sir Alex Schools Bento

Manchester United won its Champions League group today by virtue of a 2-1 win over Sporting at Old Trafford. Sporting was valiant, taking a 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, which is exactly where the game was won. Sir Alex Ferguson schooled his counterpart Paolo Bento in the second half, inserting Ryan Giggs and shifting the tide of play in midfield. Giggs outclassed the injury-plagued Sporting side which had no adjustments to match Ferguson's.

The irony has to be thick for Sporting, which supplied Man. U. with its future in recent years, having sent over Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. Sporting's academy is is a sensational venue for young talent, and such sell-offs are the way of life for a big fish in a small pond such as Sporting, which has to sell its best players to satisfy shareholders. The club is a perennial contender in Portugal, an occasional winner and once in a while, pulls off something special like its 2005 run at the UEFA Cup final. But much like that day against CSKA Moscow and yesterday against United, Sporting comes up short in talent and resources.