UEFA Cup opponents 2008-2009

[Kowalczyk]

The draw for the first two rounds of the knock-out stage of the UEFA Cup will take place on Friday 19 December, 13:00 CET, in Nyon, Switzerland. Mind you: this will be the draw for the 'Round of 32' and the 'Round of 16'.

K.

[Van basten]

Aalborg would be nice..

[Manneken Pis]

Aalborg would be nice..

Anything but Werder Bremen or Fiorentina is fine with me...

[Blind3]

I'd prefer to face Aalborg and not prefer any of the other seven. That despite Werder's uneven form this season.

[aveslacker]

Looks like it's Fiorentina. I think we can do it.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

We can always be confident...but reality is a little diferent, i'll be very surprised (and Happy ) if we make it trough.

[Ajaxfanuk]

Fiorentina , hmmm semi finalists last year, but I'd say they are potentially beatable if we are at our best, that could lead to a game against Twente! Very interesting. Im nervous about our chances but I think we've done well to get where we are given the injuries we've had, much much better than last years european catastrophy. Enjoy it boys!!!

[martinkohout]

Looks like it's Fiorentina. I think we can do it.

Sigh. I'll still be pulling for Ajax, of course, but la viola are my second-favorite club. I wonder if the defense can contain Gila and Mutu (assuming he stays healthy). And I think Bassy Frey is an outstanding keeper.

[ajaxusa]

Wow, Ajax could potentially meet Twente in the Round of 16... Innnnteresting...

[SE6Ajacied]

We might have lost to Aston Villa but at least they were nice enough to send me a Christmas Card which I thought I'd share (after I bought tickets in the Villa end over the internet)

http://www.anighttoremember.tv/ecard.as ... =800&h=500

From Aston Villa FC and their sponsor Acorns Childrens Hospice

[Kowalczyk]

For the record: the ties in the the round of sixteen of the UEFA Cup are as follows...

Olympique Marseille - AJAX
Hamburger SV - Galatasaray
Udinese Calcio - FC Zenit St. Petersburg
Paris St. Germain - Sporting Braga
SV Werder Bremen - Saint-Étienne
CSKA Moscow - Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City - Aalborg BK
Dinamo Kiev - Metalist Kharkiv

After this round, time for a new, fully 'open' draw.

As for the two Marseille games: we play the away leg at the Stade Vélodrome on Thursday 12 March (kick-off time t.b.a.). The return leg is six days later, on Wednesday 18 March, kick-off time 20:45 CET. That's on Ajax's 109th birthday!

K.

[Manneken Pis]

For the record: the ties in the the round of sixteen of the UEFA Cup are as follows...

Olympique Marseille - AJAX
Hamburger SV - Galatasaray
Udinese Calcio - FC Zenit St. Petersburg
Paris St. Germain - Sporting Braga
SV Werder Bremen - Saint-Étienne
CSKA Moscow - Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City - Aalborg BK
Dinamo Kiev - Metalist Kharkiv

After this round, time for a new, fully 'open' draw.

As for the two Marseille games: we play the away leg at the Stade Vélodrome on Thursday 12 March (kick-off time t.b.a.). The return leg is six days later, on Wednesday 18 March, kick-off time 20:45 CET. That's on Ajax's 109th birthday!

K.

Not only did some of the big boys like AC Milan get knocked out in the last round, there are some direct confrontations in the next round too (Hamburger SV - Galatasaray, Udinese Calcio - FC Zenit St. Petersburg) making it relatively "open".

Marseilles, for my money, is perfectly winnable if we show the same sort of application as we did last night.

[The Purple Cow]

I think this goes to show that that joke about the current version of the UEFA cup - that it's harder to get out of it than it is to get in it - is largely true. It's an over-blown load of old cobblers. No wonder several clubs put up their reserve teams last night, nobody cares any more. I think the final nail in it's coffin, was the ridiculous decision to parachute the losing teams from the C.L. into the later stages.

I heard this morning that the press-release that UEFA issued concerning next years EVEN MORE overblown load of old cobblers which will replace the UEFA cup - the Europa League (which idiotically features a cricket ball in its logo) - mentioned the words 'football' twice, 'sponsorship' five times, and 'marketing' seven times.

That's all you need to know about that.

[bryan]

The league format has destroyed the European Cup, now they want to do the same thing to the UEFA Cup. Ze fools.

Empty stadia all over Europe... when will the penny drop at UEFA?

[Manneken Pis]

I think this goes to show that that joke about the current version of the UEFA cup - that it's harder to get out of it than it is to get in it - is largely true. It's an over-blown load of old cobblers. No wonder several clubs put up their reserve teams last night, nobody cares any more. I think the final nail in it's coffin, was the ridiculous decision to parachute the losing teams from the C.L. into the later stages.

I heard this morning that the press-release that UEFA issued concerning next years EVEN MORE overblown load of old cobblers which will replace the UEFA cup - the Europa League (which idiotically features a cricket ball in its logo) - mentioned the words 'football' twice, 'sponsorship' five times, and 'marketing' seven times.

That's all you need to know about that.

You've been listening to the Guardian Football Weekly Extra podcast haven't you?

Good innit!?!

[ajaxusa]

I'm a little bit surprised that nobody has mentioned the vicious and cynical "tackle" that Felipe put on Van der Wiel. I honestly thought, "That's a red card." Especially on the replays, it's obvious that he drops his shoulder and goes straight for Van der Wiel. The fact that he did this right in front of two officials and didn't even get booked really stunned me.

I guess the bottom line is, it seemed to invigorate Ajax, and we got the result. Plus, Van der Wiel apparently wasn't seriously hurt.

Dirty bastard, though.

[Orange14]

I think this goes to show that that joke about the current version of the UEFA cup - that it's harder to get out of it than it is to get in it - is largely true. It's an over-blown load of old cobblers. No wonder several clubs put up their reserve teams last night, nobody cares any more. I think the final nail in it's coffin, was the ridiculous decision to parachute the losing teams from the C.L. into the later stages.

Not sure I agree with you regarding the "reserve team" play. Aston Villa were the only team to announce that they were doing this and did. They have a think squad and want to finish fourth in the EPL this season (the swift exit from this tournament may help them). Milan played their first team with the exception of Ronaldinho (who wasn't on the squad for this). Even Hamburg which had a 3-0 leg up on NEC put their starting 11 out on the pitch. Valencia likewise (and like Milan is now out).

[Manneken Pis]

I'm a little bit surprised that nobody has mentioned the vicious and cynical "tackle" that Felipe put on Van der Wiel. I honestly thought, "That's a red card." Especially on the replays, it's obvious that he drops his shoulder and goes straight for Van der Wiel. The fact that he did this right in front of two officials and didn't even get booked really stunned me.

I guess the bottom line is, it seemed to invigorate Ajax, and we got the result. Plus, Van der Wiel apparently wasn't seriously hurt.

Dirty bastard, though.

Good point ... it was dirty and cynical, and not Felippe's only offence.
Italian teams seem to get away with that crap though...
And as you say, I think it motivated Ajax if anything.

[SPL]

I could not understand why it was not a red.

[The Purple Cow]

You've been listening to the Guardian Football Weekly Extra podcast haven't you?

Good innit!?!

It's outstanding, I never miss it

I love James's puns as much as anything.

"There's no Stoke without Faye"

"Some clubs are heading for a trophy, and others for atrophy."

"Like an Egyptian fish, they are in denial."

"And now we move on to the subject of Ronaldo, the target of more clubs than a baby seal"

"Arsenal have a worse conversion rate than a vicar in Tehran"

"Liverpool's result looked like something out of Posh Spice's diary, Eight-Nothing" (‘Ate nothing’ – geddit?)

"More errors than a South African archery contest"

"More super cup action than a dyslexic person making a snack"

"Tasting defeat more often than a man eating a centipede"

“"Portsmouth are heading for the bottom quicker than a prune masala"

“Not since Ronaldinho discovered his girlfriend was a transexul have players battled so hard against going down.”

"More malaise (Malays) than FC Kuala Lumpar"

But my all-time favorite...

"Defeat in Istanbul leaves Liverpool fans wondering: 'is Benitez really the Bos-phor-us?'"


Genius.

**

Ken Early who compared the show last week is an O.T.F. - er like me and Bryan.

**
Oh, and I've enjoyed your contributions to Leander's weekly Eredivisie column, Manneken.

[SE6Ajacied]

Surprisingly it seems that Marseille coach Eric Gerets isn't a big fan.

http://www.soccerway.com/news/2009/Febr ... er-gerets/

Lets hope we send him home without a smile on his face

[Blind3]

Hey Eric old sod, I'd give you 1:2 odds, and you'd probably take them, that your reaction will be more chilly than Santiago (Chile).

[Philippe]

Here is the bookmakers view. Looks like we're underdogs.

Manchester City 5,50
CSKA Moskou 8,00
Hamburg SV 9,00
Werder Bremen 10,00
Zenit St Petersburg 10,00
Paris SG 15,00
Shakhtar Donetsk 15,00
Udinese 17,00
Marseille 17,00
Dynamo Kyiv 17,00
Galatasaray 21,00
Ajax 21,00
Metalist Kharkiv 25,00
Saint-Etienne 30,00
S.C. Braga 40,00
AaB Aalborg 50,00

very surprising, for instance for Manchester City considering their currently very poor results

[Kowalczyk]

It's not just a 'clean' representation/indication of chances.

Man City are also tops because the English always bet the most. The number of bets on Man City is probably the highest, so that pushes the odds down a bit.

Etcetera.

K.

[Over Pasanens Head]

But on Stan James betting website Ajax are 14.