UEFA Cup Knockout Phase

Here is the draw for the last 32, I've sectioned it off the last 16 draw too (e.g. winner of Bremen-Milan will play winner of Olympiakos-St.Ettien)

Werder Bremen -v- AC Milan
Olympiakos -v- St Etienne
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Aston Villa -v- CSKA Moscow
Shakhtar Donetsk -v- Spurs
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Lech Poznan -v- Udinese
Zenit St Petersburg -v- VfB Stuttgart
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Paris St Germain -v- Wolfsburg
Braga -v- Standard Liege
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Dynamo Kiev -v- Valencia
Sampdoria -v- Metalist Kharkiv
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FC Copenhagen -v- Man City
Aalborg -v- Deportivo La Coruna
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Marseille -v- FC Twente
Fiorentina -v- Ajax
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NEC Nijmegen -v- HSV
Bordeaux -v- FC Galatasaray
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Have put my picks for the winners of last 32 in bold and winners of last 16 in bold/underline/italic

The UEFA Cup has really become a bit like the FA Cup in England. I am not sure people care much about it any more. It certainly gets very little coverage on TV in Ireland or I think the UK.
Tie of the round:

Zenit St Petersburg -v- VfB Stuttgart

Thanks for putting that up in the form you did.

My only prediction is that Metallist Karkiv will beat Sampdoria over two legs.
One of the legs being 1-0 to Metallist.
And one of the three forwards for Dynamo Kiev Aliev, Medievev(?) or Banjoura(?) will score in each game.

I think the UEFA Cup is a 'soft' competition alright. But for me that gives it an unpredictability about it.

^ those Ukraine / Kyivan forwards, I think for one you mean Artem Milevskiy ???

Great player by the way! Malkhaz Asatiani (on loan from Lokomotiv) is a great player too, they have a great manager in Yuri Semin too, one of the old guard of Soviet football... had a great season back at Pamir Dushanbe in the 1980s

Some great games in there, moreso than the CL.

Bordeaux Galatasaray
Fiorentina Ajax
Bremen Milan
Kiev Valencia
Man City Depor

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

The UEFA Cup has really become a bit like the FA Cup in England. I am not sure people care much about it any more. It certainly gets very little coverage on TV in Ireland or I think the UK.

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Always live games from each round on ITV4 and Channel 5. TV3 used to have the Irish rights but I think Setanta Ireland have them now.

Watching Galatasaray : Bordeaux on bet365. Bordeaux just got two goals in two minutes. twenty minutes left. 3:3 on the night, 3:3 on agg.

After edit:

4:3 Sabri last 5 minutes.

Gala go through.

Udinese are 1-0 down to Lech Poznan at half-time in Udine. (2-3 agg)

AC Milan are out on the away goals rule. They drew 2 all with Bremen, after being 2-0 up. Pizzaro got both goals in the final 22 minutes

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Originally Posted by GUFCforlife

AC Milan are out on the away goals rule. They drew 2 all with Bremen, after being 2-0 up. Pizzaro got both goals in the final 22 minutes

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Brilliant, just brilliant! Werder had a bad last time but this "win" compensated for a lot. To be honest I didn't think they would be able to come back into the game, after they were 2:0 down.

Despite this great success, it was not a good day for german football. Stuttgart and Wolfsburg couldn't qualify for the next round. That's quite poor and disappointing.

The UEFA Cup is dieing on its feet, at least over this side of the world. None of the English sides' games were shown on tv and weakened sides were fielded by the English teams.

I remember a time when it was a big deal to qualify for Europe. Now it's try and qualify for the CL or avoid relegation. Nothing else matters.

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

The UEFA Cup is dieing on its feet, at least over this side of the world. None of the English sides' games were shown on tv and weakened sides were fielded by the English teams.

I remember a time when it was a big deal to qualify for Europe. Now it's try and qualify for the CL or avoid relegation. Nothing else matters.

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True in respect of most the English clubs and it really annoys me. Only City seen to care but it's all they have to play for as you say - they won't go down and they aren't contention for the CL places. There are smaller clubs all over Europe - think of the eL clubs - who'd kill to be in Villa's position. UEFA should realise that English clubs contribute nothing to that cup and reduce their places accordingly.

The ironic thing is that during the league season the clubs claim to want UEFA qualification but once they get there they treat the competition with contempt. OK, 'boro got to the final but right up until the latter stages they were saying the league is more important. It really highlights the curious business of sport. Fans want big matches and trophies, the owners want to avoid relegation.

City vs Copenhagen was on ITV4 btw.

Here is the full draw for the last 16 (1st leg 12th March, 2nd leg 18-19th March):

Werder Bremen v Saint-Etienne
CSKA Moscow v Shakhtar Donetsk
Udinese v Zenit St Petersburg
Paris Saint-Germain v Braga
Dynamo Kiev v Metalist Kharkiv
Manchester City v Aalborg
Marseille v Ajax
Hamburg v Galatasaray

Actually some very good ties there.

After the last 16 the whole thing is re-drawn and the paths of the quarters, semis and final are all drawn in one go (20th March).

I'd fancy Udinese to get past Zenit

It's a tough one, but Zenit have a strong squad, even without Arshavin they've still got players like Pogrebnyak, Zyrianov and Danny. Also Igor Denisov and Viktor Fayzulin are great young players, Fayzulin came onvs Stuttgart and pretty much tore their defence to pieces. I think Zenit's freshness may just give them the edge, though I think they may lose in Udine before turning it around. Their goalie, Malafeev, is pretty poor though - the sub Slovakian Kamil Contaflasky is better.

Dynamo v. Metalist. Is this the first Ukraine Derby in the UEFA Cup?

I think Metalist will take them, they're having a terricfic tournament.

For me, at least six even matches in this round of games.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

True in respect of most the English clubs and it really annoys me. Only City seen to care but it's all they have to play for as you say - they won't go down and they aren't contention for the CL places. There are smaller clubs all over Europe - think of the eL clubs - who'd kill to be in Villa's position. UEFA should realise that English clubs contribute nothing to that cup and reduce their places accordingly.

The ironic thing is that during the league season the clubs claim to want UEFA qualification but once they get there they treat the competition with contempt. OK, 'boro got to the final but right up until the latter stages they were saying the league is more important. It really highlights the curious business of sport. Fans want big matches and trophies, the owners want to avoid relegation.

City vs Copenhagen was on ITV4 btw.

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Very well put. Coverage only on ITV4 just about says it all.

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Originally Posted by HarpoJoyce

Dynamo v. Metalist. Is this the first Ukraine Derby in the UEFA Cup?

I think Metalist will take them, they're having a terricfic tournament.

For me, at least six even matches in this round of games.

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They played each other in the league last night in Kharkov, with Dinamo winning 2-0...

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uef...id=806668.html

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Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo

They played each other in the league last night in Kharkov, with Dinamo winning 2-0...

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uef...id=806668.html

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Cheers I didn't know they played.

I will now say I would like Metalist to win but wont be dissapointed if Dynamo go through, as conquerors of Drogheda.

Artem Kravets to score over 90 mins?

Milyevsky is a good bet to score for Dynamo, he takes their pks (usually does a Panenka chip too)...

first leg results:
CSKA Moscow 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Dynamo Kiev 1-0 FC Metalist Kharkiv
Hamburg SV 1-0 Galatasaray
Paris S-G 0-0 Braga
Werder Bremen 1-0 St Etienne
Udinese 2-0 Zenit
Man City 2-0 AaB Aaalborg
Marseille 2-1 Ajax

Saw the Zenit match on RU web TV, they conceeded 2 sloppy goals (one dubious pen) on 85 and 88 mins and had a man sent off. It's uphill for them next week but last year they were able to grind out decent results at the Petrovsky against Marseille and Villareal after dissapointing first legs. They picked up a red card and a few yellows so their back line could be a bit messy. A lot of the matches are finely poised and the second legs could be interesting - a shame the only one on TV here will be Man City Aalborg, which is probably the one that's the most decided thus far.

Great result for City. I would love them to win this out. Mark Hughes is a top man.

City through by the skin of their teeth last night against a "mighty" Aalborg thanks to peno saves by Shay in a peno shoot out. EPL doesn't really have much strength in depth behind the big 4.

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

The UEFA Cup is dieing on its feet, at least over this side of the world. None of the English sides' games were shown on tv and weakened sides were fielded by the English teams.

I remember a time when it was a big deal to qualify for Europe. Now it's try and qualify for the CL or avoid relegation. Nothing else matters.

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I think that says more about English football than the UEFA Cup. Everywhere else the UEFA Cup is treated with respect

Did Setanta show Galatasaray v hamburg last night? I thought I saw that advertised

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Coverage only on ITV4 just about says it all.

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But ITV4 is ITV's main sport channel. Welcome to digital TV.

Draw for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup:

Hamburg SV v Manchester City
Paris St Germain v Dynamo Kiev
Shakhtar Donetsk v Olympique Marseille
Werder Bremen v Udinese

And then from the above the semis are:

Winners Match 1 v Winners Match 4
Winners Match 2 v Winners Match 3

Could be a PSG - OM semi, or a HSV - Bremen semi, or a Dynamo - Shakhtar semi, all grudge derbies...

Dynamo Kyiv (nod to Drogs fans spelling.) beat PSG 3-0 with goals from Banyoura, Landreau OG and Vukojevic.
Drogheda Utd.'s interest continues in the competition.

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Originally Posted by HarpoJoyce

Dynamo Kyiv (nod to Drogs fans spelling.) beat PSG 3-0 with goals from Banyoura, Landreau OG and Vukojevic.
Drogheda Utd.'s interest continues in the competition.

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Nod to your own spelling, it's Bangoura.

Absolutely cracking game here between Man City and Hamburg.

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Originally Posted by brianw82

Absolutely cracking game here between Man City and Hamburg.

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Man City out. Delighted for Stephen Manchester. :D

werder vs udinesie or however its spelt was even better. 3-1 at one point and looking like they would get another goal and get to the semi, werder get 2 goals to make it 3-3. was watching it on the laptop while HSVvs man city was on.

absolutely detest hamburg as a club(see their fans with the rangers brotherhood signs) and im dissapointed for given, dunne and ireland. would have loved to see dunne lift a major trophy, even better on a european wide scale, but it wasn't to be. he was feckin disastrous in the first half, and ireland was nowhere. given made a top save from guerrero or petric cant remember.


ukraine vs germany in the final. i reckon dynamo kyiv will win it(lol drogs can claim they drew away with the european champions who would have though it?) and i reckon bremen will shock Hamburg in semis.

Did anyone see Landreau's howlers:eek:? One of them was an absolute shocker, one of the worst ever!

Got my tickets for the final today!

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Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo

Got my tickets for the final today!

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Cool. What pairing are you hoping for? think Hamburg v Dynamo Kiev would be the most attractive, history wise.

I'd like HSV v Dynamo too! I think that would be the most exciting game as both teams are good going forward. Having said that both Bremen and Shaktar have quality attacking players (Diego, Pizzaro; Fernandinho, Srna, Olexsei Hai)

From a selfish point of view I've probably got a spare ticket (a mate reckons he can't make it) and one of my former colleagues is a Bremen fan so that (Bremen going through) would be an easy option for me...

The German fans should be good craic anyway regardless. Not sure bout the Ukrainians!!

Gonna get to watch the semies today. Was supposed to be playing soccer but it's called off. Really looking forward to the Ukraine clash and there's bound to be goals in the other one. ITV4 and Setanta Ireland are both showing the games live and there's also highlights on ITV4 at 10:35pm.

Kick-off times:

17:30 Dynamo Kiev v Shakhtar Donetsk

19:45 Werder Bremen v Hamburg

Werder Bremen v Hamburg was a great game to watch, but was nearly ruined by that clown Howard Webb. He gave over 30 free kicks and 4 yellow cards in a game that was devoid of any malice. I've no idea why 3 HSV players got yellow cards, I guess Hamburg is marginally further from Old Trafford than Bremen :S

Whatever about the arguement of the Premier League being supposedly the strongest league in the world, English refs seem to be laughing stock of Europe.

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Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo

Werder Bremen v Hamburg was a great game to watch, but was nearly ruined by that clown Howard Webb. He gave over 30 free kicks and 4 yellow cards in a game that was devoid of any malice. I've no idea why 3 HSV players got yellow cards, I guess Hamburg is marginally further from Old Trafford than Bremen :S

Whatever about the arguement of the Premier League being supposedly the strongest league in the world, English refs seem to be laughing stock of Europe.

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I thought he was ok but I'm not a fan generally. I thought the ref's for the Champs Lge semies were excellent. Very good match alright, 2nd leg should be the same. Kiev match was brutal.

Wow! what a game!! The 1st match today (Ukrainian semi final) was good, but that one just now was fantastic - got to feel a bit sorry for HSV and the keeper nearly scored with an overhead kick at the death. The final should be great, you would think it would be one-sided but with Diego and Almedia out for Bremen I think Shakhtar have a good enough chance.