Manchester City Draws FC Midtjylland, Aston Villa Draws FH in UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round

The draw for the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round was conducted this morning, and the two English clubs involved at this stage in the competition couldn't have come away happier. Both should defeat their respective Scandinavian opponents and advance to the First Round without too much difficulty.

After seeing off EB/Streymur in the last round, Manchester City will open this tie at home against FC Midtjylland. The Danish club finished second in their domestic league last season and have 4 points after 2 games so far in the '08-'09 campaign. Here in the US, they're most well-known for having former LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes defender Danny Califf on the roster. Califf has carved out a nice career for himself in Denmark, having just moved to Midtjylland after spending two seasons at Aalborg BK, where he was the captain and and played in an Intertoto Cup with the club. He's played both of Midtjylland's games so far and has 20 caps for the US National Team.

Aside from Califf, there's no real recognizable name unless you're a fan of the club or the Danish Superliga. Three players on the roster, including Califf, have represented their countries at the senior level, and five Nigerians can be found on the first team.

As I said earlier, City should progress with relative comfort. Mark Hughes would like his side to effectively end the tie in Manchester before going to Denmark for the return game, so expect him to field a full-strength side on August 14 in the first leg.

Villa is coming off a 3-2 aggregate victory against pesky Odense BK, another Danish side, in the Third Round of the Intertoto Cup. Their 1-0 second leg victory was marred by a horrific injury to left back Wilfred Bouma, who looks likely to miss the first half of the upcoming Premiership season with a dislocated ankle.

Their opponent in this tie is Icelandic club FH, short for Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (you can see why no one uses their full name!). They finished 2nd in the 2007 Úrvalsdeild Karla, Iceland's top flight, season, and sit on top of the league by a point this year after 13 of 22 games. Because of Iceland's harsh winter climate, the league schedule runs from May to September, so FH will be in full form against a Villa side just getting the new season underway.

That advantage still won't be enough for FH, however. The club is comprised solely of Icelandic players outside of two Danes, and needed a 5-1 victory in the second leg just to put away CS Grevenmacher from Luxembourg in the First Qualifying Round. Villa has the quality to finish this thing up in the first game. With the small first team roster that Martin O'Neill has right now, I wouldn't doubt that he'll use a number of backups and young players in the second leg if the end result isn't in doubt.

Villa and FH have both requested the order of games to be switched; right now, the first leg would be played at Villa Park with the return match at Kaplakriki, which holds 6000 spectators but seats only 2200. According to a press release on Villa's official website, "both clubs must now speak to their individual football associations before making a formal request (to swap home games) to UEFA."

Here's the complete draw, with all first legs to be played August 14 and the second legs played exactly two weeks later on the 28th. Teams listed first are home first:

Southern-Mediterranean Region
Široki Brijeg vs. Beşiktaş
Braga vs. Zrinjski Mostar
Lokomotiv Sofia vs. Borac Čačak
Vojvodina vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv
Aris Thessaloniki vs. Slaven Belupo
Litex Lovech vs. Ironi Kiryat Shmona
Deportivo vs. Hajduk Split
APOEL vs. Red Star Belgrade
Vllaznia Shkodër vs. Napoli
Maccabi Netanya vs. Cherno More
Omonia vs. AEK Athens

Central-East Region
Liepājas Metalurgs vs. Vaslui
Zürich vs. Sturm Graz
Stuttgart vs. Győri ETO
Lech Poznań vs. Grasshopper
Slovan Liberec vs. MŠK Žilina
WIT Georgia vs. Austria Wien
Young Boys vs. Debrecen
Legia Warsaw vs. FC Moscow
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk vs. Bellinzona
Interblock Ljubljana vs. Hertha BSC
Sūduva vs. Red Bull Salzburg

Northern Region
Djurgården vs. Rosenborg
Queen of the South vs. Nordsjælland
Gent vs. Kalmar
Manchester City vs. FC Midtjylland
Honka vs. Viking FK
Haka vs. Brøndby
Stabæk vs. Rennes
Copenhagen vs. Lillestrøm
Elfsborg vs. St. Patrick's Athletic
Aston Villa vs. FH

The 32 winners from this round will advance to the First Round, in which they'll join the 32 teams that are already entered and the 16 losers in the Champions League Third Qualifying Round. The draw for the First Round will be made on August 29, and you can find full coverage of that here on English Soccer Talk.

Manchester City Draws EB/Streymur in UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round

The draw for the first qualifying round of the 2008-2009 UEFA Cup took place yesterday, which ordinarily wouldn't have much significance at least as this site is concerned. This time around, though, an English club will be taking part.

Manchester City are playing in this competition based on their exemplary fair play record last season, not through their league position, and thus will have to start from the very beginning. Aston Villa likely will enter in the second qualifying round (they will if they advance out of the Intertoto Cup, which they should), and Tottenham, Portsmouth, and Everton all begin their respective campaigns in the first round, which is the group stage.

New manager Mark Hughes, who confirmed today's signing of Brazilian striker Jô for a club record transfer fee (officially, it's undisclosed but most sources are indicating a price of $38 million dollars), has very little time to get used to his surroundings, the club, and his players. The first leg of the tie will be played in about two weeks, on July 17, with the second leg two weeks later on July 31. His team will be on the road first, giving them the advantage of hosting the pivotal second leg, not that they'll need it.

City's opponent?

EB/Streymur, who is currently 10-2-1 and in first place in the Formuladeildin, more commonly known as the Faroe Islands Premier League. They finished second last year to powerhouses NSÍ Runavík. EB/Streymur's stadium holds only 1000 people, yes, 1000, and it is located in the northern half of a twin-village (Hvalvík is the southern village) with a combined population of just over 400. It is on the eastern coast of Streymoy, the largest and most populated island in the Faroe chain.

I know absolutely nothing about the team's roster except for the fact that as of June 23, it boasted three players from the Faroe Islands national team, so take what you will from that.

The first leg won't be played at EB/Streymur's own stadium; according to the club's director, it will take place in either Toftir or Tórshavn, the nation's capital. Both cities have stadiums with seating capacities of 6000, and there's no doubt the match will be sold out and a relatively raucous atmosphere (at least as far as that country goes) will await Mark Hughes and his men.

The second leg won't be played at Manchester City's own stadium either. Barnsley's 23,000-seat Oakwell will host that game as the City of Manchester Stadium is undergoing field maintenance, including a relaid surface, after a recent Bon Jovi concert and other events held there this summer.

Here's the complete first qualifying round draw, with its ties scheduled for July 17 and 31. It's made up primarily of sides you've probably never heard of, unless of course you support that team or follow the leagues in which these teams play. The team listed first plays at home first:

Southern-Mediterranean Region
Cherno More vs. Sant Julià
Pelister vs. APOEL
Vaduz vs. Zrinjski Mostar
Široki Brijeg vs. Partizani
Hapoel Ironi KS vs. Mogren
Koper vs. Vllaznia Shkodër
Interblock Ljubljana vs. Zeta
Juvenes/Dogana vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv
Hajduk Split vs. Birkirkara
Milano vs. Omonia
Marsaxlokk vs. Slaven Belupo

Central-East Region
Red Bull Salzburg vs. Banants Yerevan
Győri ETO vs. Zestaponi
Ararat Yerevan vs. Bellinzona
Dacia Chişinău vs. Borac Čačak
Tobol vs. Austria Wien
Hertha BSC vs. Nistru Otaci
Khazar Lenkoran vs. Lech Poznań
Legia Warsaw vs. Gomel
Spartak Trnava vs. WIT Georgia
MTZ-RIPO vs. MŠK Žilina
Shakhter Karagandy vs. Debrecen
Olimpik Baku vs. Vojvodina

Northern Region
FH vs. Grevenmacher
Vėtra vs. Viking
Racing vs. Kalmar
Honka vs. Akranes
Glentoran vs. Liepājas Metalurgs
Brøndby vs. B36 Tórshavn
Nordsjælland vs. TVMK
EB/Streymur vs. Manchester City
Olimps vs. St Patrick's Athletic
Djurgården vs. Flora Tallinn
Sūduva vs. The New Saints
Cliftonville vs. Copenhagen
Cork City vs. Haka 17
Midtjylland vs. Bangor City

Realistically, Manchester City should have no problem whatsoever advancing, and I'll go for a 6 or 7-0 aggregate scoreline. The draw for the second qualifying round, which already has 16 entrants, takes place August 1.

England Awarded Extra Place in the UEFA Cup

UEFA announced their continental fair play rankings today and -- honestly, this amazes me with some of the tackles we see on a weekly basis -- England has come out on top. As a result, an extra UEFA Cup spot will be granted to the highest-ranked team on the Premier League's own fair play table that hasn't already automatically qualified for Europe next season.

Right now, that team is Manchester City, who are fifth in the current table behind Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Liverpool, all of which have already booked their place in Europe next year.

Everton and Fulham are still in with a shout for the extra UEFA Cup place as well, but the Toffees likely won't need it because a point gained on Sunday against Newcastle would seal a berth in Europe's second-tier club competition through their league position. Fulham, remember, will be doing everything they can to try and beat Portsmouth on Sunday in hopes of retaining their Premiership status, and if it takes one or two red cards and five or six yellows in the process, so be it.

England's fair play rankings won't be finalized until after Sunday's games, obviously, so we won't know for sure who the extra English representative in the 2008-2009 UEFA Cup will be until then.

Cardiff City Granted European "Approval"...

...if the Bluebirds win the FA Cup final on May 17. The FA's professional game board has given their go-ahead, and now the main FA board and UEFA, which had already discussed giving Cardiff a wild card berth into the UEFA Cup, will make the final decision next week.

Remember, all of this talk will go for naught if Cardiff doesn't beat Portsmouth at Wembley, and let's make no mistake about it, the Premier League side is the clear favorite.

We've seen crazier things happen (Barnsley, cough cough) though, and I've been pushing for Cardiff to get into Europe's second-tier club competition ever since the possibility became realistic. There was debate about whether or not they'd be allowed to do so, as current FA rules don't permit Welsh teams to represent England in Europe, but that was such a red-tape issue that it was a disgrace to the game.

I don't think there's any question that if Cardiff does win the FA Cup final, they'll have played their way into the UEFA Cup and fully deserve to be there. As I said in my last post about this subject, there are other cases of teams based outside of the geographic boundaries of whatever domestic league they play in while still representing that other country in Europe. In the case of FC Vaduz, a team that plays in the Swiss Challenge League, they represent Liechtenstein in Europe as they're from that country and win their league cup almost every year.

If there's precedent, which there is, you can't legitimately argue that it shouldn't be allowed to happen in this specific instance.

Big Win for Portsmouth

Amidst all the Champions League hype yesterday, Portsmouth’s 1-0 away victory at West Ham, keeping their hopes of finishing in 5th place alive, more than sailed under the radar and I would be remiss to not talk about it and its ramifications a little bit.

England killer Niko Kranjčar scored on a terrific effort from just outside the penalty area in the 61st minute for his fifth goal of the year. David James made four saves to preserve another clean sheet, Portsmouth’s 21st of the season. The win was the team’s 9th in their last 11 games in all competitions.

West Ham had their chances, numerous chances actually, but just couldn’t finish. They had seven corner kicks; Portsmouth had four. They had the slight edge in possession, although I don’t find that stat to be particularly useful anyway. They had, obviously, the advantage of playing at Upton Park, where they’ve beaten the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool this seaon.

This is a team that is playing out the string now and aside from pride and for some, perhaps a place on next season’s roster, there’s just not much to compete for. The Hammers are in 10th place and have looked fairly lethargic over the past few weeks. Their spot in the standings appears nearly locked in as Tottenham, five points behind in 11th place, isn’t playing well either, and I can’t see West Ham climbing any higher.

This post is about Portsmouth, though, and I really can’t overemphasize how significant this win was for the South Coast side. With five league games still remaining, Pompey now trails Everton for that automatic berth into the UEFA Cup by four points. This would become moot, of course, if Portsmouth beats Cardiff in the FA Cup final on May 17 to play their way into Europe, but you can’t assume that that will happen.

Portsmouth has a much easier schedule heading down the stretch, with games (in order) against Newcastle, at a struggling Manchester City, against Blackburn, at Middlesbrough, and against Fulham to finish up the season. By comparison, Everton still has to play Chelsea (home), Aston Villa (home), who still has a chance to finish 5th, and Arsenal (away). The Toffees also have to pay a visit to Birmingham City this weekend, and a home date with Newcastle rounds off their year.

Although Portsmouth is behind by four points in the standings, it’s really a five point gap because Everton has the superior goal differential (+22 to +14). With that said, Portsmouth can definitely pad their total against the lesser quality of their opposition, while Everton will probably lose a few goals from that +22 figure.

Great win for Portsmouth yesterday. Their current deficit is more manageable than it would’ve been without that victory, particularly if West Ham would’ve knocked them off and left Portsmouth with nothing. In that case, the gap still would’ve been 7 points and it would’ve taken three out of the last five games to make that up. Look for the difference to be down to 2 points after this weekend, because I can see Everton only getting a draw at Birmingham and Portsmouth should beat Newcastle at Fratton Park. If both results come to pass, game on.

Cardiff City Should Be Allowed into the UEFA Cup

I'm not sure what the issue is here. There shouldn't even be any debate about it; if Cardiff City becomes eligible for the UEFA Cup based on winning the FA Cup, the Bluebirds should play in Europe. If Portsmouth qualifies for the UEFA Cup through their final league position, which is possible, that would give Cardiff a berth as well because they've reached the FA Cup final.

I don't care that geographically, Cardiff is a city in Wales. They play in an English-based domestic league, the Coca-Cola Championship. They don't compete in any Welsh competitions and haven't for a while.

FC Vaduz is based in Lichtenstein, but have qualified for European competition while playing in Switzerland's second division and winning the Lichtenstein Cup seemingly every year. AS Monaco is located, obviously, in Monaco, but they play in France's top flight and reached the Champions League final in 2004. Derry City plays their home games in Northern Ireland, but are part of the Irish league and have played in Europe as an Irish team.

Here in America, the Toronto Blue Jays (MLB), Toronto Raptors (NBA), Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, and Calgary Flames (all NHL) all are located in Canadian cities and play in American-based major professional sporting leagues, and there are countless other examples of this at the minor league and junior levels as well. If those teams reach the playoffs or win their respective leagues' championships, it's not like those accomplishments don't count because they're not American teams; they count the exact same.

Don't tell me that because the city of Cardiff isn't in England, their club can't represent England in the UEFA Cup. That's nonsense.

As usual, the English FA has taken a moronic stance towards this matter:

"Our position remains unchanged and should Cardiff win the FA Cup this season they would not be chosen as the FA's nomination for European competition.

Cardiff enter into English domestic competitions on this understanding and they are fully aware of the rules and regulations under which they take part.

These rules remain the same and there would be no scope for Cardiff, or any of the other Welsh clubs in the English system, to qualify for Europe as England's representative."

OK, fine. I understand that Cardiff, and other Welsh teams playing in England like Swansea and Wrexham, originally had some sort of verbal agreement and understanding that they couldn't play in Europe as a representative from England. That can surely be modified or altered in some way. Cardiff earned their way to the FA Cup final, and tradition, practice, red-tape, and geography were standing in their way.

Not so fast. I also don't applaud UEFA president Michel Platini very often, but I absolutely will for his recent commments concering this situation. Platini wants to look into giving Cardiff a "wild card" entry into the FA Cup if necessary, which is fair.

Again, this becomes a moot point if Cardiff doesn't win the FA Cup or Portsmouth doesn't qualify for the UEFA Cup automatically through league position. I hope the Bluebirds do end up playing in Europe though, because not only do I want to see egg all over the FA's face, but it's a true underdog story that deserves a storybook ending.

2010 Champions League Final in Madrid, 2010 UEFA Cup Final in Hamburg

The 2010 Champions League final will be held at the Bernabéu, home to the team that has won Europe's top club competition on more occasions than anyone else, Real Madrid.

The Spanish stadium has hosted the final three times, most recently in 1980, and was battling for this honor with Wembley and the Olympiastadion in Berlin. It can hold just over 80,000 people and will surely be filled to capacity come May 2010.

Personally, I think this event should always be held at a neutral venue, at least as long as UEFA wants to keep the final a one-off affair instead of a two-legged tie. If Real Madrid were to reach the final in 2010, something not out of the realm of possibility given Real Madrid's perennial status as a world power, it would be a huge advantage and one that isn't fair in the least.

UEFA also announced that the 2010 UEFA Cup final will be held at Hamburg's HSH Nordbank Arena, formerly (and more commonly) known as the AOL Arena.

This stadium was also used in the 2006 World Cup and, with its UEFA 5-star rating, is eligible to host the Champions League final as well. It's new; construction took two years to complete and was finished in 2000, and Hamburg SV routinely plays to crowds of over 50,000.

In other UEFA-related news, the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Super Cup matches will be played at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, as has become the custom. The 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was awarded to France, and the same year's U17 event to Liechtenstein, while Nyon, Switzerland will stage the 2009 UEFA European Women's U17 Championship.

Everton Misses Chance to Solidify 5th Place

I've been harping on the race for the UEFA Cup spots all season, especially lately since it looks like only two (one through league finish, one possibly through the Intertoto Cup) and possibly three (depending on UEFA Fair Play table results) teams will qualify for Europe's second-tier club competition. Results in the Carling Cup and FA Cup haven't really helped teams from 5th-10th place this season but have created a battle to finish in 5th and 6th.

Everton squandered an opportunity to really put a stranglehold on 5th today after their 1-1 draw with West Ham. Portsmouth, in 6th place, and Aston Villa, in 7th, both lost to lower-placed teams earlier in the day and with a win, Everton could've gone nine points clear of Pompey and ten of Villa, Blackburn, and Manchester City, which effectively would've ended the chances of those last three teams to finish 5th. Instead, Dean Ashton's equalizer for the Hammers (which Tim Howard should've saved) earned the East London club a share of the spoils and left the door open for the four teams I just mentioned.

There's a big difference between a 7-8 point and 9-10 point deficit, especially with so few games remaining in the season to bridge that gap. I'm not saying that Everton isn't in the driver's seat, but they had the opportunity to slam the door on three of the teams nipping at their heels and couldn't get the job done. The Toffees should've beaten West Ham, a team that has been awful lately and has nothing to play for, soundly at home today but they didn't.

Now, Portsmouth and Aston Villa have a decent chance to catch Everton because Liverpool’s second-most famous club has a difficult schedule to close out the season, one that includes a critical game against Villa and games against Chelsea, city rivals Liverpool, and Arsenal.

Portsmouth, by comparison, gets to play Wigan, Newcastle, Fulham, and Middlesbrough down the stretch, and their “toughest” game could very well be at West Ham, which is certainly winnable. Of course, Portsmouth could also qualify for the UEFA Cup by winning the FA Cup, which they would do if they beat Coca-Cola Championship side West Bromwich Albion at Wembley on April 5 and then either Barnsley or Cardiff City in the final on May 17.

Villa, as previously mentioned, have a chance to gain three points back against Everton when the two teams meet on April 27, and they also play Bolton, Derby, and Wigan. Their most difficult game is at Old Trafford next week, but Manchester United is their only remaining opponent outside of Everton in the top 9 in the standings.

Everton could’ve gone a long way towards sealing 5th place today. They didn’t. Will they regret it? It’s possible.

Pompey-Villa Looms Large Tomorrow

With all the hype surrounding the respective Champions League and UEFA Cup draws today, the Premiership seems to be flying under the radar a little bit and one game in particular tomorrow has huge implications.

Portsmouth will welcome fellow UEFA Cup spot hopeful Aston Villa to Fratton Park and the hosts are playing very well at the moment, having won five out of their last six games in all competitions. Jermain Defoe has been great for Pompey with five goals in as many league games since moving to the South Coast in January. His team is in 7th place in the league right now, just two points behind Villa, and they won 3-1 at Villa Park earlier in the season.

'Arry Redknapp is a very underrated manager in my opinion. This is a man who saved Pompey from near-certain relegation two seasons ago when he took the reins in mid-season and has compiled a 42-35-24 record in his second stint in charge at Portsmouth. While this doesn't look too impressive in itself, remember, Redknapp has had to rebuild this team and was only given significant financial backing to buy players last summer; he really had to create something out of nothing in the season and a half before and Pompey still finished 9th in '06-'07.

Similarly, Martin O'Neill hasn't had as much money to work with as he'd like at Aston Villa but has still done an impressive job this season with one of the smallest (in terms of numbers, not size) rosters in the Premiership. It's very likely that Randy Lerner, Villa's American owner, will be willing to spend more money in the summer but for now, O'Neill is winning with essentially an England U-23 roster. He's got young guys like Premiership assist leader Ashley Young, who I've been banging the drum for before it was fashionable to do so, Gabby Agbonlahor, Scott Carson, Nigel Reo-Coker, Craig Gardner, and the now-injured Curtis Davies who have all been integral pieces to the puzzle this season, mixed in with some good, useful veteran players like John Carew, Martin Laursen, and Gareth Barry.

Villa has lost only once in their last eight league games, although four of those matches have been draws. As I said earlier, they lost to Portsmouth 3-1 at home earlier in the season and really can't afford to lose again tomorrow. Pompey has the same number of ties (7) at Fratton Park as they do wins and losses at home combined, and Villa's road record is the exact same (5-7-2).

The numbers scream "draw" tomorrow, but I'm going to go with a 2-1 victory for Portsmouth, which would vault them into 6th place, six points behind Everton pending the Toffees' away match at Fulham on Sunday.

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.

Nightmare Saturday for Chelsea, UEFA Cup Spot Contenders

What a day.

For Liverpool, who are now just two points behind Chelsea for third place in the Premiership, although Chelsea have two games in hand, today couldn't be any better. Led by Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, who have been carrying the team all year, the Reds strolled to a 3-0 win over Newcastle.

For Reading, who picked up a much-needed 2-0 victory over Manchester City and escaped the relegation zone in the process, today couldn't be any better either. The Royals now sit in 13th place in the league, which is a bit deceiving due to the small points gap between themselves and 18th place Bolton, but it's clearly a better position to be in then the one in which they came into today's match.

For a few other teams, however, today was a day they'd love to forget.

We'll start with Chelsea, who crashed out of the FA Cup in shocking fashion at now multiple giant-killers Barnsley. The FA Cup represented the last real chance for silverware for the West London club, because they're not going to win the Premiership and in my opinion are the fourth most likely team in England to win the Champions League, not even factoring in the rest of the continent. I'm not saying a third place finish in the league and deep cup/tournament runs wouldn't be respectable, but that's not acceptable to Mr. Abramovich. Avram Grant could very well be replaced in the role of manager this summer..

As refreshing as it was to see Barnsley, a lower-league side, knock off Chelsea and advance to the FA Cup Semifinals, teams like Aston Villa, Everton, Portsmouth, Manchester City, and Blackburn have to be disgusted with the way these cup competitions have gone this year. With Spurs winning the Carling Cup and no "Big Four" teams left in the FA Cup, two UEFA Cup spots (those usually given to the league's 6th and 7th place finishers) have vanished, although Portsmouth could very well make it into the UEFA Cup through their league position anyway, even though now they have to be considered the odds-on favorite to win the FA Cup.

The fight is on for 5th place in the Premiership now, and in my estimation, three teams--Aston Villa, Pompey, and Everton--have a legitimate chance to finish up the season there. Everton, of course, are currently in 5th with a five point lead on Villa and a nine point lead on Portsmouth, so it would take a poor run of games for Everton for either of those other two clubs to take that spot.

I already mentioned Liverpool's victory over Newcastle. Newcastle and losing badly seems to just go together very nicely these days..

Do or Die Time for West Ham

The race for the UEFA Cup is in full swing, with essentially six or seven teams fighting for two spots. Tottenham's triumph in the Carling Cup Final guaranteed them a place in Europe next season, something they wouldn't have achieved through their league position, but that took away the UEFA Cup berth usually handed to the league's 7th place finisher. Depending on which teams advance to the FA Cup Final, it's also possible that another UEFA Cup spot, the one generally given to the league's 6th place finisher, would vanish.

Of course, multiple Premiership teams have already applied for next summer's Intertoto Cup, which leads into the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds if the team selected progresses through. That would, for all intents and purposes, replace the UEFA Cup spot taken away by Spurs, and England could gain another spot in Europe's second-tier club competition if it remains on top of the UEFA Fair Play standings through the end of April.

With all this said, today's game between West Ham and Liverpool is big, especially for the Hammers. The East London-based club is currently in 10th place in the league table, eight points out of what would be a UEFA Cup spot if the season ended right now, but with today's game in hand.

Current Standings (4th-10th):

4. Everton (53 points, 28 games played)
5. Liverpool (50 pts., 27 GP)
6. Aston Villa (48 pts., 28 GP)
7. Blackburn Rovers (45 pts., 28 GP)
8. Manchester City (45 pts., 28 GP)
9. Portsmouth (44 pts., 28 GP)
10. West Ham (40 pts., 27 GP)

West Ham has been consistently inconsistent up to this point in the season, having beaten Manchester United and Liverpool while also losing to Wigan and Newcastle. They seem to follow every good, even great, performance with a display that can be considered abject and dismal at best.

They can't afford a showing more like the latter today. A loss and the Hammers will be hard-pressed to get back into the European fight; they'd be hanging on by a thread. To their advantage, they still have games against Villa, Blackburn, Everton, and Pompey, fellow UEFA Cup spot contenders, but they would likely need to win three of those games instead of possibly earning a point, or even worse, losing, in a couple of those games and then making hay against the rest of their schedule.

Right now, these teams are like a fast-moving train and West Ham has to find a way to get onboard or risk being left behind for good. Today's game is at Anfield, where the Hammers have not won since September 1963, so there is no time like the present to fix that. A draw wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for West Ham; they'd still be on the train, but they'd be the ones being dragged along on the tracks.

For Liverpool, this is an important game as well. Three points behind Everton for the fourth and last Champions League spot, the Reds and captain Steven Gerrard have come to terms with the fact that 4th place is what they're playing for. This is a team that will play their next three league games, including today's match, and four of their next five, at Anfield, so the opportunity to make up ground is right in front of them.

It all starts today though, and Liverpool lost at Upton Park 1-0 on January 30. They'll need to reverse that scoreline and get a win because they don't want to make things more difficult down the stretch of the league season than they have to be, particularly because one would have to say that a deep Champions League run will be a focus given their disappointing Premiership campaign.

I've got Liverpool winning 2-0, with Gerrard and Torres both scoring for the home team. We'll see what happens though; both teams should come out desperate for these three points and that should make for a good game to watch. West Ham seems to come out for the big matches, which today's game certainly is, but you just never know which Hammers team you're going to get on a given day.

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

All Quiet on the Premiership Front

Very, very slow news day today.

Nothing much to talk about right now as it's an FA Cup weekend, and I already covered these matchups a little bit after the draw for this round was conducted. The first legs of the UEFA Cup Round of 32 ties will be finished up tomorrow as half were played today. I'll have a recap of sorts on that tomorrow night with a focus on the British teams in the competition.

I know what I'm doing tonight though, and all you American college basketball fans out there should join me in watching Maryland head down to Cameron Indoor Stadium to battle Duke. I'm also going to keep an eye on the Connecticut-Notre Dame game as the winner will solidify their status as the second best team in the Big East, and the Indiana-Wisconsin game in Bloomington. I'm curious to see whether Wisconsin can win a tough road game in a hostile environment like Assembly Hall; the Badgers still have to prove themselves to me away from home.

Premier League Will Likely Receive Extra UEFA Cup Spot

England’s position on top of the UEFA Fair Play rankings, calculated using a number of different criterion such as avoidance of yellow and red cards, crowd behavior, and the performance of club teams and national teams in European competitions, could lead to another UEFA Cup spot next season.

England would need to maintain their current position ahead of Norway and Germany until the end of April, when the final standings will be determined.

This is great news for those teams fighting tooth and nail for position in the bottom 5 or 6 in the top half of the table. As things stand right now, places 4-10 are separated by only 10 points and places 5-8, the usual UEFA Cup spots, are separated by just three points.

England could potentially send five teams to Europe’s second-tier club competition next year. If Tottenham beats Chelsea in the Carling Cup final on the 24th, Spurs would clinch the automatic UEFA Cup berth that comes with it, but that would also take away a spot from another team. Three teams (5-7) usually qualify for the UEFA Cup through their final league position; the 5th place team is guaranteed and the 6th and 7th place teams get in as long as both of the FA Cup finalists and the Carling Cup winner have qualified for Europe already, which has been the case in recent years. Another team could go through if they take care of business in the Intertoto Cup during the summer. One more team could now go if England gets that Fair Play spot.

Confused yet? The bottom line is that it’s very likely that four teams will be in the UEFA Cup next year, and there’s a good possibility that five teams will be there. That is, if Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel doesn’t rock the boat by picking up a few red cards before the end of the season, which he could very well do.

Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Everton, Blackburn, Manchester City, and possibly even West Ham all now have to fancy their chances of playing in Europe next season. With the way these teams have played so far this year, I think they all deserve it as well.

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

Great Day for Blackburn; Rovers Enter UEFA Cup, Sign Santa Cruz

A 4-0 win today over Lithuanian side FC Vetra in the third round of the Intertoto Cup advanced Blackburn Rovers to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup as they won the tie 6-0 on aggregate. Morten Gamst Pedersen scored twice and Jason Roberts and Benni McCarthy each talled a goal. Blackburn now face the challenge of playing in a major European competition.

They'll enter the Premier League season and the UEFA Cup with Paraguyan international striker Roque Santa Cruz, who signed a four-year deal to come over from Bayern Munich. Santa Cruz's fate with the German club was sealed when they brought in Miroslav Klose from Werder Bremen, and now he joins a club that's loaded with strikers. McCarthy, Roberts, Matt Derbyshire, and new acquistion Maceo Rigters are all very talented, productive players. I'm not sure if this logjam will benefit anyone, but we'll wait and see. Blackburn scored 52 goals in the league last year; I think they would have been better served to go out and spend money on a defender or two as Blackburn gave up 54 goals. Hopefully this move pays off for Blackburn, a club expected to challenge for a European spot once again this season.