The Draw For That Other Cup
By: Martha | August 31st, 2007
Holding the UEFA Cup draw a day after the Champions League groups are set will inevitably make the former pale by comparison, but today is nevertheless a massive day for four clubs in Italy with hopes of finishing the season with a bit of European silverware. Palermo, Fiorentina and Empoli all qualified for the UEFA Cup first round automatically by virtue of their finishes least season, while Sampdoria had to squeak by Hajduk Split (by a 2-1 aggregate score) to earn their way into the first official round.
All four clubs came out of the draw in good shape facing very winnable matches — most of them against clubs we’ve never heard of — to advance to the group stage. Samp will face fellow qualifiers Aalborg, Fiorentina take on Groningen, who finished all of eighth in the Netherlands last season, Palermo will play Mlada Boleslav out of Croatia, and European debutants Emopli have what Channel 4 calls “arguably the sternest test” of the four, facing Swiss champions FC Zurich.
The first round matches will be played on September 20 and and October 4, with the winners advancing to the real thing, AKA the group stages.
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I guess this is gonna be like last year when I was asked this: ‘Anthony, who’s playing Palermo in the uefa cup?’ ‘Uh this Turkish team, fenerbasomething or other. Yea, they’re pretty bad ass. I’ve seen their ultras on Youtube. They all jump at the same time.’
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