Aston Villa, Featured, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Tottenham, Uefa Cup
UEFA Cup draw: What lies ahead for Spurs, Villa, Pompey and City
Jonathan O'Shea looks at the English quartet's chances of progressing into the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup.
Mighty Milan at Fratton, Ajax at Villa Park, and… well, PSG at Eastlands. OK, so the UEFA Cup may not have the immediate glamour and allure of its bigger brother, the Champions League, but Tuesday’s group stage draw threw up an exciting array of fixtures to look forward to between now and the end of the year.
In what surely must be the strongest, toughest competition since the induction of the ill-conceived group stage, the UEFA Cup – in its final year before it’s clunkily rebranded as the UEFA Europa League – actually threatens to reclaim the attention of Europe’s football fans. Supporters of the Premier League clubs involved will also be relishing a series of Thursday night treats, despite the almost inevitable consequences (absence of Saturday 3pm kick-offs, slipping league form, etc).
It is Aston Villa, who arrived at this stage via the midsummer slog of Intertoto qualification, that have possibly landed the toughest task of the four English sides.
Group F features three former European Cup winners, including Martin O’Neill’s club. The Irishman’s clash with Marco Van Basten’s Ajax – so far inconsistent in the Eredivisie – should prove a stern test of both coaches’ attacking principles. The Amsterdammers arrive in Birmingham on October 23. Subsequent trips to Martin Jol’s impressive Hamburg and then Prague to face Slavia will mean that progression to the knockout rounds will be far from straightforward for the Villans, who also play host to Slovak club MŠK Žilina.
Likewise for European new boys Portsmouth. Sure, they’re an ageing side on the wane and the UEFA Cup is hardly a priority while they continue to struggle domestically; yet Milan’s visit on November 27 is already being eagerly anticipated, and the Italian giants will be welcomed to the South Coast in typically raucous fashion.
Ex-Bayern boss Felix Magath’s Wolfsburg feature the expensively procured Italian defensive duo Andrea Barzagli and Cristian Zaccardo, and will prove obdurate opponents. Heerenveen – despite selling most of their promising talent each year – are also no pushovers.
Harry Redknapp already knows well of the perils of a trip to Portugal, but Sporting Braga are in poor form and certainly must be overturned if Pompey are to make the top three.
Floundering Tottenham probably need UEFA Cup participation like they need a kick in the Comollis, what with their current domestic travails, but still harbour the potential to make a mark on the competition. Their campaign kicks off in Udine, where they will find Pasquale Marino’s team in fine form and hardened by several recent European adventures. Udinese forwards Toto Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella can run ragged the best of defences, while Gokhan Inler is a midfield general much-desired across the continent (and particularly by Arsene Wenger).
Fortunately, Spurs have drawn home ties against both Dinamo Zagreb, from whom they recently negotiated the purchase of Luka Modric, and Spartak Moscow; therein avoiding arduous trips to the formidable Maksimir and Luzhniki stadia. Spartak – former home of Spurs’ Roman Pavlyuchenko – have lately been left trailing in the wake of their numerous city rivals and, of course, the emergent Zenit St Petersburg. However, they’ll hope the appointment of ex-Getafe coach and Denmark legend Michael Laudrup will spur them onto greater things. NEC Nijmegen, of the Netherlands, have sold last season’s strike partnership and star defender Jonas Olsson to West Brom, so should be considered there for the taking.
It’s possible that the Abu Dhabi-based ownership of Manchester City may make the competition a priority this year – as a means of re-establishing their new club’s profile in Europe, with the Premier League title only a pipe dream until next season at least. First off, Steve McLaren will be bringing his FC Twente side (and his dodgy Dutch accent) to Eastlands on November 6. The Enschede club overcame Rennes in the first round proper, following their Champions League exit at the hands of Arsenal.
City must then visit Gelsenkirchen to take on Schalke – managed by ex-Twente boss Fred Rutten. The Ruhr team have plenty of recent European experience: departing only in the quarter-finals of the Champions League just last season. They also boast the likes of Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan amongst their attacking options.
PSG are only now beginning to regain their footing following years in the doldrums – a humiliating relegation scrap in 07/08 was the nadir (they qualified for Europe via a League Cup win). Paul Le Guen has somehow managed to lure veterans Claude Makelele and Ludo Guily to aid the cause, but City should still be strong favourites for a win on home turf. Racing Santander – European debutants – shocked La Liga fans with last year’s 6th place finish and have endured a tough start to the domestic season.
Each club will surely be delighted to have swerved Group C – inevitably tagged the Group of Death. La Liga high-flyers Sevilla, 06/07 Bundesliga champions Stuttgart, Sampdoria (featuring the talents of Antonio Cassano), Everton’s skilful conquerors Standard Liège and Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade will battle it out for a place in the last 32.
Meanwhile, illustrious clubs such as Benfica, Valencia, Olympiakos, Galatasaray, Feyenoord and ’07 UEFA Cup winners CSKA Moskow will each expect to progress from the remaining groups to take a shot at the title post-Christmas.
It’s the final UEFA Cup as we know it. It may not be the most desired trophy in football, but it is important to recognise the competition’s distinguished history – and that the Champions League is not the only show in town.
Tags: AC Milan, Ajax, Aston Villa, Dinamo Zagreb, FC Twente, Hamburg, Heerenveen, Manchester City, Martin Jol, NEC Nijmegen, Portsmouth, PSG, Racing Santander, Schalke, Slavia Prague, Spartak Moscow, Sporting Braga, Steve McClaren, Tottenham Hotspur, Udinese, Uefa Cup, Uefa Europa League, Wolfsburg, Zilina
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4 comments for “UEFA Cup draw: What lies ahead for Spurs, Villa, Pompey and City”
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“Sure, they’re an ageing side on the wane and the UEFA Cup is hardly a priority while they continue to struggle domestically”
What on earth are you on? Pompey is an aging side - how do you figure that exactly? And given that we’re currently 7th in the table after a difficult schedule to start the season (we only got 1 point from the corresponding opening 6 fixtures last season), I struggle to see how you have come up with such a statement???
We’ve got a squad good enough to qualify, but it won’t be easy…
I think he means Milan are an aging side mate…we’re far from that, esp with traore, belhaj, gj etc in our starting 11.
Pompey are obviously not on the wane, but I do think they will find it tough in their group. That said, they are a strong counter-attacking unit, with a fair contingent of players with Euro experience. But can Harry afford to accomodate both Crouch & Defoe in the games against better quality opposition?
Crouch and Defoe will give any defense a headache. Both in good form, both are good strikers who can score a goal from nothing. I think Portsmouth will be forced to be more attacking this season, because packing the midfield with 5 6ft plus players isnt an option for them at the moment. Good for it as well, because they were sporadically entertaining last season, but on the whole they were a bit dull for me..