Uefa Cup draw favours English clubs
The first round draw took place in Monaco today
Also In The News
|
England youngsters Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad put on a remarkable eighth-wicket partnership of 99 to guide their team to a tense victory over India in the fourth one-day international at Old Trafford. |  |
Friday, 31, Aug 2007 02:26
England's four representative teams in this year's Uefa Cup competition have been handed what look to be fairly straightforward draws in the first round.
Martin Jol's Tottenham Hotspur have been paired with Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta, with the first leg to be played at White Hart Lane.
Despite struggling in the Premier League so far this season, Bolton Wanderers manager Sammy Lee will be confident of qualifying for the group stage of the competition after drawing Macedonian champions FK Rabotnicki.
Everton have been paired with little-known outfit Metalist Kharkiv, who finished third in the Ukrainian league last season, meaning David Moyes' men face a trip to the eastern reaches of Europe in a bid to make the group stage.
And Blackburn Rovers, who successfully qualified for the Uefa Cup first round by coming through the Intertoto Cup, have drawn Larissa FC of Greece.
Rovers beat Finnish outfit MyPa-47 over two legs in the qualifying round of the competition, winning last night's second leg 2-0 at Ewood Park thanks to goals from David Bentley and Jason Roberts following their 1-0 away victory.
Scotland's sole representative in the first round proper, Aberdeen, face a potentially tricky tie against another Ukrainian side, Dnipro, who are former European Cup quarter-finalists but finished fourth in their domestic league last season.
But the most intriguing ties see former European champions Ajax handed a difficult trip to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb.
And Champions League regulars Bayern Munich, who missed out on the premier European competition after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga last term, have been drawn against Portuguese side Belenenses.
The ties will be played over two legs, on September 20th and October 4th.
Uefa Cup first round selected ties:
FC Groningen (Netherlands) v Fiorentina (Italy)
FK Rabotnicki (Macedonia) v Bolton Wanderers (England)
Sevilla/AEK Athens v FC Salzburg (Austria)
Everton (England) v FC Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
FC Zurich (Switzerland) v Empoli (Italy)
Rapid Vienna (Austria) v Anderlecht (Belgium)
Larissa FC (Greece) v Blackburn Rovers (England)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) v Ajax (Netherlands)
Bayern Munich (Germany) v Belenenses (Portugal)
Aberdeen (Scotland) v FC Dnipro (Ukraine)
Heerenveen (Netherlands) v Helsingborgs (Sweden)
Tottenham Hotspur (England) v Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus)
Lens (France) v Copenhagen (Denmark)
Getafe (Spain) v FC Twente (Netherlands)