UEFA Cup Quarterfinal + Semifinal Draw

After tough, gut-wrenching exits from the UEFA Cup Round of 16 for Bolton, Tottenham, and Everton, Rangers are the only British team left in the competition. The Scottish giants will host Sporting Lisbon, who eliminated Bolton 2-1 on aggregate, on April 3 and travel to Lisbon a week later for the return leg.

Rangers also were fortunate to not be drawn into the same half of the bracket as tournament favorite Bayern Munich, who should waltz their way past Getafe and into the semifinals against the winner of the Bayer Leverkusen/Zenit St. Petersburg tie.

Complete Quarterfinal Draw (my pick to advance in bold); first leg home team listed first:

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Zenit St. Petersburg
Rangers vs. Sporting Lisbon
Bayern Munich vs. Getafe
Fiorentina vs. PSV Eindhoven

Note: All matches will be played April 3/10

Complete Semifinal Draw:

Bayern Munich/Getafe vs. Bayer Leverkusen/Zenit St. Petersburg
Rangers/Sporting Lisbon vs. Fiorentina vs. PSV Eindhoven

Note: All matches will be played April 24 and May 1

PK's Unkind to Spurs, Everton

Clubs from England, England, of all countries, struggling in a penalty shootout? Not surprising in the least.

Everton needed to reverse a 2-0 deficit heading into their second leg against Fiorentina at Goodison Park today and did so. Both teams had their chances late in normal time and then in extra time to win the tie but couldn't finish, and Fiorentina won the crapshoot that is PK's. All bets are off after 120 minutes, no matter who the home team is. Both goalkeepers, Sebastien Frey and Tim Howard, had very good games and each made some crucial saves, but Frey was able to parry Phil Jagielka's spot kick and Yakubu hit the post. Fiorentina converted all four of their efforts from 12 yards out to escape Liverpool and advance.

Like Everton, Spurs needed to overcome a deficit in Eindhoven as today's hosts won 1-0 at White Hart Lane in the first leg. Like Everton, Spurs were able to accomplish that. Like Everton, Spurs lost in PK's, although this shootout was more captivating. Tottenham had a chance to win the game but Jermaine Jenas' effort was saved by Eindhoven's goalkeeper, Gomes, and then Pascal Chimbonda's awful shot allowed the Dutch side to progress on penalties, 6-5.

Dick Advocaat-managed Zenit St. Petersburg continues to impress, coming from 3-1 down in the first leg and winning 2-0 today to advance on the away goals rule over Olympique Marseille.

I'll have a complete recap of the Round of 16 after the final two games tomorrow, both of which feature another British team -- Rangers in Bremen to take on Werder, and Bolton in Lisbon to take on Sporting.

UEFA Cup Round of 32 Recap; Round of 16 Draw

Wow, it's been an extremely busy week of cup competitions what with FA Cup Fifth Round action last weekend, Champions League Round of 16 first legs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and UEFA Cup Round of 32 second legs today.

Four out of the five British teams, including all three English teams, left in the UEFA Cup advanced to the next round after doing enough in their respective matches this evening. Draws for Bolton (0-0), Rangers (1-1), and Tottenham (1-1) sealed all three sides' places in the last 16.

Perhaps the most surprising of those three teams, Bolton came into today's game at Sergio Aguero-less Atlético Madrid with a 1-0 lead on aggregate and knew what they needed to do: just get a draw or lose by one goal while scoring at least one goal themselves. They had one shot (which was on goal), ONE shot, but in a performance former manager Sam Allardyce would've been proud of, the 4-5-1 formation more than did its job and the match ended scoreless. Atlético clearly missed Aguero; they showed little creativity in the attacking third and were stifled all game long.

Aberdeen needed a miracle performance in Munich to beat Bayern, having conceded two goals at home in the first leg. Virtually no one expected this tie to be even heading back to Germany, so just making this game mean something had to have been a bonus for Aberdeen. The Dons lost 5-1 today as Lukas Podolski bagged a brace for the hosts, and while perhaps they will be disappointed with their showing in this game, they'll surely take solace in reaching this stage of the competition.

Finally, Everton thrashed Norwegian side SK Brann 6-1 behind a hat trick from Yakubu and two goals from Andy Johnson. This was a tie Everton had always expected to win, but they have to be especially pleased with a performance like they gave today.

Round of 32 Final Aggregates (teams listed first advance):

Hamburg SV-3, FC Zürich-1
Bayer Leverkusen-5, Galatasaray-1
Anderlecht-3, Bordeaux-2
Olympique Marseille-3, Spartak Moscow-2
PSV Eindhoven-4, Helsingborg-1
Tottenham-3, Slavia Prague-2
Rangers-1, Panathinaikos-1 (Rangers advance on away goals)
Fiorentina-3, Rosenborg-1
Bayern Munich-7, Aberdeen-3
Sporting Lisbon-5, FC Basel-0
Getafe-4, AEK Athens-1
Everton-8, SK Brann-1
Bolton-1, Atlético Madrid-0
Benfica-3, FC Nuremberg-2
Zenit St. Petersburg-2, Villarreal-2 (Zenit St. Petersburg advance on away goals)
Werder Bremen-4, Braga-0

The draw for the Round of 16 was also released this afternoon, and the four British teams left will have their work cut out for them. The tie of the round could very well turn out to be Spurs-PSV Eindhoven, as both teams love to attack and play a fast tempo. These ties will be played March 6 and 12/13

Complete Round of 16 Draw (home teams listed first):

Anderlecht vs. Bayern Munich
Rangers vs. Werder Bremen
Bolton vs. Sporting Lisbon
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hamburg SV
Getafe vs. Benfica
Fiorentina vs. Everton
Tottenham vs. PSV Eindhoven
Olympique Marseille vs. Zenit St Petersburg

Note: British teams are in bold

Everton, Bolton, Spurs in the Driver's Seat; Dons, 'Gers Have Work to Do

Solid away victories for Everton and Tottenham, at Brann and Slavia Prague respectively, have propelled the two Premiership sides into great position heading into their UEFA Cup Round of 32 second legs next week.

Everton had the more straightforward road game of the two, although going to Norway in February really couldn't have been pleasant. The Toffees clearly came to win as manager David Moyes opted to play a 4-4-2 formation instead of the more traditional away 4-5-1, and Yakubu was back in the starting lineup after his benching last weekend.

Their sixth straight UEFA Cup victory didn't come easy for Merseyside's second team; it was a 0-0 game heading into halftime and Brann had their share of chances in the first 45 minutes. Midfielder Leon Osman opened the scoring for Everton, however, in the 59th minute, and Victor Anichebe put the match to bed with a goal two minutes before full-time.

The victors had 61% of the possession but as I've said time and time again, you can have the ball all you want but it only matters if you do something with it, and Everton was able to do that tonight.

Tottenham went into the Czech Republic and held on for a 2-1 victory despite an awful mistake by former Slavia Prague goalkeeper Radek Cerny that allowed the hosts to pull one back. Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov each scored in the first half for Spurs, giving the strike duo a combined 36 goals so far this season.

Juande Ramos went with a makeshift back four as Pascal Chimbonda (left back), Didier Zokora (center back), and Teemu Tainio (right back) all played out of their usual positions. Ledley King stayed on the bench as the freezing temperature would've put his sore knee at even further risk, and both Lee Young-Pyo and Younes Kaboul were also available if needed.

The two away goals scored by Spurs and Everton really set both teams up nicely for the home leg next week, where I would expect a win from them anyway.

Fellow Premiership side Bolton got a victory as well, a 1-0 triumph over Atletico Madrid at the Reebok. The Trotters also received a big bonus and trump card in the form of a Sergio Aguero red card, meaning he'll miss the return leg next week. Aguero, the Argentine wunderkid, is tied for 10th in scoring in La Liga with 9 league goals and has scored 5 goals in 5 UEFA Cup games this season as well.

El-Hadji Diouf scored a minute after Aguero's dismissal late in the second half to put Bolton ahead, but former Pompey left back/midfielder Matthew Taylor put on a man of the match-type performance in the victory. Taylor was also the victim of the spitting incident that earned Aguero an early trip to the showers after the former's challenge.

After countless low crowds this season, Bolton were boosted by their largest home crowd of the season (26,163).

The two Scottish clubs left in this competition, Rangers and Aberdeen, both have their work cut out for them next week. Both sides were the hosts for this leg and both came out with a draw.

Aberdeen will have to go to Munich and either win or score at least two goals in a draw to advance past Bayern, the odds-on favorites to win the tournament, as today's match ended at 2-2. England U-19 players Josh Walker and Sone Aluko scored for the Dons, who led this game on two separate occasions.

Bayern Munich didn't play a full-strength side and nearly paid the price. A few controversial refereeing decisions went against Aberdeen and would've resulted in PK's for the hosts if they would've been called. Instead, Bayern will thank fortune for being on their side and should win with relative ease next week to move on to the Round of 16.

Current SPL leaders Rangers were held to a 0-0 draw at Ibrox by Greek side Panathinaikos, who can advance with a win in Athens next week. They're undefeated at home in the league so far this season (8-2-0) and could pull off a surprise by defeating Rangers and progressing to the next round.

The only other surprise of this week's first leg was a 1-0 victory by Dick Advocaat-coached Zenit St. Petersburg over Villarreal.

Complete List of First Leg Scores: (Home team listed first)

Aberdeen-2, Bayern Munich-2
AEK Athens-1, Getafe–1
Bolton Wanderers-1, Atlético Madrid-0
Zenit St. Petersburg-1, Villarreal–0
Galatasaray-0, Bayer Leverkusen–0
Anderlecht-2, Bordeaux–1
Brann-0, Everton–2
FC Zürich-1, Hamburg SV–3
Rangers-0, Panathinaikos–0
PSV Eindhoven-2, Helsingborg-0
Slavia Prague-1, Tottenham–2
Rosenborg-0, Fiorentina–1
Sporting Lisbon-2, FC Basel-0
Werder Bremen-3, Sporting Braga-0
Benfica-1, Nuremberg–0
Marseille-3, Spartak Moscow–0

Note: British teams are in bold

UEFA Cup Draw--Rounds of 32, 16

Wow, we've had draws galore over the past couple days what with the Carling Cup semifinal draw yesterday and the UEFA Cup Round of 32/Round of 16 and the Champions League Round of 16 draws today. I'll get to the Champions League draw in my next post, but right now I want to shine the spotlight on Europe's second-tier club competition, the UEFA Cup.

Sevilla have won the UEFA Cup twice in a row now but won't have a chance to make it a trifecta. The Spanish side qualified for the Round of 16 in the Champions League this season, where they'll meet Fenerbahçe; but again, I'll discuss those pairings later on today.

The UEFA Cup final will be played at the City of Manchester Stadium this year, the first time it's been in held in England since the UEFA Cup switched from a two-legged final to a one-off affair in 1997-1998.

The draw for both the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 was made today in Nyon, Switzerland, the headquarters of UEFA. The eight UEFA Cup group winners were drawn against the eight third-placed teams, while the eight second-placed teams were drawn against the eight teams who finished third in the Champions League groups. Teams from the same country or the same group can't be drawn against each other.

Round of 32 draw: (Note--The team listed first plays at home first, then away)

Aberdeen vs. Bayern Munich
AEK Athens vs. Getafe
Bolton Wanderers vs. Atletico Madrid
Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Villarreal
Galatasaray vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Anderlecht vs. Bordeaux
Brann vs. Everton
Zurich vs. Hamburg
Rangers vs. Panathinaikos
PSV Eindhoven vs. Helsingborg
Slavia Prague vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Rosenborg vs. Fiorentina
Sporting Lisbon vs. Basel
Werder Bremen vs. Sporting Braga
Benfica vs. Nuremberg
Olympique Marseille vs. Spartak Moscow

The first legs are scheduled for February 13/14, and the second legs will be played on February 21.

Round of 16 draw: (Once again, the first team listed is home first, then away)

Anderlecht/Bordeaux vs. Aberdeen/Bayern Munich
Rangers/Panathinaikos vs. Werder Bremen/Sporting Braga
Bolton Wanderers/Atletico Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon/Basel
Galatasaray/Bayer Leverkusen vs. Zurich/Hamburg
AEK Athens/Getafe vs. Benfica/Nuremberg
Rosenborg/Fiorentina vs. Brann/Everton
Slavia Prague/Tottenham Hotspur vs. PSV Eindhoven/Helsingborg
Olympique Marseille/Spartak Moscow vs. Zenit St. Petersburg/Villarreal

The first legs will be played on March 6, and the second legs will be contested on March 12/13.

•British teams are highlighted in bold.

You have to believe that Bayern Munich are the favorites to win this competition. They are on top of the Bundesliga (tied with Werder Bremen) with 36 points from 17 games heading into the winter break. With Luca Toni, Lukas Podolski, Franck Ribéry, and Miroslav Klose, the German side are more explosive than anyone else left in the UEFA Cup and to be honest, I believe they would've qualified for the Round of 16 in the Champions League this year if that would've been possible.

As far as the British clubs go, Everton and Tottenham seemingly have the best chances to progress further in this competition. Everton should take care of SK Brann, the Norwegian champions, without too much trouble (although it'll be miserable when they go up to Norway to play) and Tottenham should handle Slavia Prague as well. Rangers should also progress to the Round of 16, but I don't like their chances against Werder Bremen whereas I think Everton would prevail over two legs against relative lightweight Rosenborg or Fiorentina and Spurs would likely do the same against PSV Eindhoven.

Here are my predictions to advance to the Round of 16:

Bayern Munich
Getafe
Atletico Madrid
Villarreal
Bayer Leverkusen
Anderlecht
Everton
Hamburg
Rangers
PSV Eindhoven
Tottenham
Fiorentina
Sporting Lisbon
Werder Bremen
Benfica
Spartak Moscow