I want Uefa cup




http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/n...sid=723639.html

<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>Slight editing of title and moved to the Football Discussions forum.
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All talk about the 2008-2009 UEFA Cup here!

Thanks tennie !!

Damn!

Comon look at the bright side, at least its a cup Milan hasn't won yet

I too hope Milan wins it next year and join Barcelona, Bayern and the zebras. The only clubs that won all the 3 european cups.

Early odds for the winners, top 10 favourites.

1st - AC Milan 6/1
2nd - Sevilla 16/1
=2nd - Valencia 16/1
=2nd - Everton 16/1
=2nd - Tottenham 16/1
6th - Ajax 25/1
=6th - Hamburg 25/1
=6th - Man City 25/1
9th - Sampdoria 33/1
=9th - Aston Villa 33/1
=9th - Portsmouth 33/1
=9th - Stuttgart 33/1
=9th - Feyenoord 33/1
=9th - Benfica 33/1

So Milan are heavy favourites right from the start!

None of those teams scare me, but I still don't see us winning.

Plus the 3rd place CL group teams will be in later on

I think a lot will depend on whether or not Milan will bring its A team or its B team to the Uefa Cup games. It's not unknown, at least in the early stages, for teams to rest the 'regular' starters for Uefa Cup games and if the league really is a top priority next year, I wouldn't be too surprised if that were to happen.

I generally think UEFA Cup teams > CL dropouts. There's usually an exception if somebody actually decent like Rangers gets knocked out, but usually it's average teams from average countries.


I think Miln will go for the league. Then again, the UEFA Cup could be an excellent excuse not to buy anybody. Buy nobody, do average in the league, win the UEFA Cup. And there we go, it's a succesful season.

Final is in Istanbul!

I want us to face Aston Villa. At least then it will be interesting cause otherwise I don't really care!


... ...

I hope that doesn't happen. So in a way, I want milan out of the UEFA Cup!

Milan's first game in the UEFA Cup campaign will be on September 18. The return leg, which will be played at the San Siro, will be on October 2.

The draw for that round of play will be made on August 29. (This follows the first two preliminary rounds).

link

Milan start September 18th!? We start our campaign mid-July.. it's gonna be a long season.

Well that spells our doom right away...

Personally would like to see Ajax win it. And as Tennie said, if we are actually serious about the league I can't see us going all out to win this. But it could be great seeing us trying to go for both, but personally I don't think our team can handle both competitions, even if the UEFA Cup compared to the CL is much more easier in terms of teams we will play against




This made me laugh for some reason. Imagine us going to the final there again, even though it's not the CL I would still hope that we could win a final there. Or maybe the stadium is cursed for us

But don't be surprised if we get both!
Forza Milan!
I look forward to next season!

I won't mind the UEFA Cup along with the League. Yum, yum. Another thing to add to our title list.

I would not say it's cursed... Shee-va scored 4 there the season after the final. It's not cursed anyway... if I believed in God I'd say he fell asleep that night and did not even watch the game on replay... otherwise he would have certainly changed the result!

But... thank God I'm an atheist!

Mediaset has placed a bid to the rights for exclusivity of the UEFA cup matches in Italy. Mediaset has never bid for such rights before, but as it seems, the Berlusconi family doesn't want Milan to be left alone, but at least followed by TV ...

Great news, hopefully they'll get the rights

UEFA Europa League..

They can call it Pam's Boobs Cup and make her boobs the logo of it. Still nothing would change... it still would be thought of as a second-class competition cause simply that's what it is...

And we're in it!

The European Cup is a 2nd rate competition nowadays. Apparently finishing 4th in a league makes you a "Champion"

I'll not respect that competition again until only the holders + league winners are in it.. and maybe the domestic cup winners, otherwise it's stupid.

Agreed.. but the compatition seems to get better and better in the uefa cup.. or Pam's Boobs Cup.. or whatever each year. I mean in my view Bayern Munich was a very solid team last year and still couldnt win it. Granite they got eliminated by the Champions.

2nd rate? How is it second rate? It'd certainly be more fair if each country's champion team entered but then the quality would be significantly lower.
You said some time ago that you think the Euro is stronger than the WC cause in the WC there are more small teams...
Well I think this is the case here too... if only champions were allowed then the difficulty of the competition would be lower.
So when you talk about 2nd rate, what do you mean? Second rate in terms of quality? I totally disagree with you on that! If you mean second rate in terms oh how accurately the name of it the competition subscribes its participants then yeah...
But really... second rate compared to what? It's the competition in which the strongest teams of Europe take part? Does the name annoy you so much? What if it was called European Cup again, would anything change?


It is a very good competition in terms of quality and it's there that you I think you get to see more great matches but I do think of it as a not prestigious competition anyway...

I don't think the UEFA Cup will have to stay a 2nd rate competition. 10-15 years ago it was a highly respected and prestigious trophy.
And of course there's still a lot of big teams playing there. Not Champions League big...but this year it has Milan, Valencia, Samp, Sevilla and Hamburg.

And the Champions League is like the World Cup. Too many small teams, so I'm being consistant with my opinion. The old European Cup didn't have many small teams - only those that were fortunate enough to win their league title, that's why I prefer that format, that's all I'm saying.


2nd rate doesn't mean you have to be 2nd best to something in my opinion. Like some would consider Celtic and Rangers 2nd rate teams, yet they're two of the most - if not THE most - succesful teams in the history of the sport.


The name doesn't annoy me, I just think it sounds stupid.



I've always seen the UEFA Cup as a decent trophy. Look at some of the teams that've won it recently - Porto and Sevilla inparticular - and they're hardly crap sides. One nearly won La Liga, the other won the European Cup.

Exactly. And don't forget the CL dropouts who'll join in after the group stages. It's no cigar, but I'll smoke it. Particularly now that Milan is in it this year.

Considering the number of teams that enter the final stage of the competition there's no doubt that it's as powerful as it gets. It's a fact that for example Moldova's champions are not a better team than Italy's / Spain's / England's 4th team...
The only way to increase the quality of the competition is to lessen the number of teams allowed to participate. Then only the truly great teams would be allowed to enter... but in my opinion the 36 that get in are rightfully there.
I still don't understand how you'd like things to be though. Would you care explain?

I really can't see why you say the CL is 2nd rate... it's the most prestigious competition and every single player longs to play in it... your own Barry said he wants Liverpool in order to play CL football. It surely is CL football he is after cause he does not have more chances to win the PL with Liverpool than he has with Villa...

As for Celtic and Rangers, they are considered 2nd rate because their championship is considered 2nd rate, 1st rate being Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga.
Same for Ajax. They have won so many but still they are now low in prestige because the Dutch league is comparatively weak.


This is one of the reasons I don't rate the UEFA Cup... it's like... OK you are not good enough for the CL... so we send you to the UEFA Cup...

If i were to rate the Uefa cup.. i see it pretty much at the second(lesser) champion of europe.. It gives teams like Zenit, Galatasaray, & Feyenoord a chance to win something in europe because we all know they would not have enough depth in their squad to truely compete in the CL

Well, unless they completely revamped it, to be something like a true Champions League (with home and away matches, instead of a tournament), and then devise another as the European Cup, we'll have to live with it. Having a true League format will mean much more $$$, so maybe we'll see the idea go through.

Milan won't do so well in that format, then. Leagues and Milan don't go hand in hand. It's the knockout style tournament that's our forte. Much like Liverstools.

The latter stages of a competition means nothing, it's the competition as a whole. In this format you get about 20 crappys teams, in the European Cup format, alot, lot less.


The way they were before. Because it's getting 'too easy' to forfeit your own league to do well in the Champions League - like Liverpool and Milan have done alot recently. In modern day football, there aren't too many teams who have won the league to earn their right into the competition, then done well in the league AND Champions League the next season. Does it not seem stupid to you that Liverpool were the best team in Europe a few years ago, while being the 5th best team in their own league?


Of course they want to play in it, but I bet that it'd be considered even more prestigious if only the league winners got in it. Because you wouldn't take it for granted when you are in it, even Chelsea and United players would really appreciate it, but in its current format they have as much chance of winning the Champions League as they do the Carling Cup.

Then again, on here I'm talking to people who get to see their team play in the Champions League year after year, and even being in the UEFA Cup is considered a massive failure, so I'm not sure you get it really.


But then you're saying that crappy teams in Serie A are better than Celtic/Rangers, which is not the case. Because they're in a first rate league they must be a first rate team, surely?

I don't get what you mean here.


You see, I don't link the CL with the domestic championships this way. I mean... certainly, to me, Milan winning it in '07 and Liverpool in '05 while doing crap in the league is not the same as United winning both or even Chelsea challenging for both. But the competition itself is not less challenging because teams tend to do that. If anything, it's more challenging. What I'm saying is, the clubs make their own choices and I don't agree with focusing on one target but their choices on this matter don't spoil the competition.

And I'm with you, I'd love it if only champions entered but only in a 16 team format with a ranking system as in Tennis. Otherwise it'd be utter crap.
But by the way things are I think the competition is very strong and very high in quality. I don't know what you mean by 2nd rate but to me it sounds bad and I certainly don't think the CL is anything but a great competition.
I think you are stuck with the idea that only champions should enter? Why should only the champions enter? Is it meant to be just for those teams? Why shouldn't more teams have a chance? Why are lower league teams allowed to participate in the domestic cups, do they not deserve to?
If the CL should only be for the champions then by the same logic the FA Cup should only be for Premier League clubs. The other have nothing to do with it, they are of lower quality...


Agreed. I understand what you're saying. That's why, even if I despise Real, I always thought that what they did back when the EC first took place was amazing.


Rangers played Serie A's fourth team, Fiorentina in the semis of the UEFA Cup last season. They were not worse than the Viola but they were not better either...
I think the differences have widened and now the gap in quality is huge between the top leagues and the rest of them. There are only one or two good teams in them and even those are not better/much better than the top leagues' top 4 or 5 teams. And I'm talking about the mid-quality championships. The rest cannot even be compared.

You said something to do with only the real powerful teams make the latter stages of the competition, but that means nothing to me really. Powerful teams can make the latter stages of any domestic competition too.

I sort of agree with what you're saying, but I don't think it's right that you win that tournement while doing bad in your league. In my view you have to win the league the previous season (To qualify for it by right in my eyes) or win the league in the same season, otherwise I consider it a '2nd rate win'. That's just how I feel.


No, the FA Cup is the Football Association Cup, so anybody who is a member of the FA can enter. The League Cup on the other hand is only for league teams, so the ametuers can't enter. So this makes sense to me.


Celtic beat Man U the other year, Fenerbahce beat Sevilla this season. So it doesn't always work that way.


Winning a league is winning a league. If teams that finish 2nd in Italy, Spain and England think they deserve the spot more than somebody that wins the Maltese championship then there's just one thing to tell them. Shut up and win your own league, simple as that.

But that's the problem with todays football. The World only cares about the best teams in the best leagues. Not only does a team that finishes 4th in Italy/England/Spain get into the Champions League, they get seeded as well! Not only that, but they have a group stage, as an insurance policy that if they do have a bad game, they still have plenty of time to qualify, whereas in a knockout competition, a bad game means you'll probably go out.

That's jus my opinion. I believe it should just be the league Champions + the holder of the competition in a straight draw knockout with no seeds. But UEFA is too bothered about protecting it's favoured countries and teams, so it'll never happen.

By final stage I meant from September onwards... you really think that out of the 32 team that participate 20 of them are crap?
Then that means 4 of the teams that make the final 16 are also crap... that can't be right...


Yeah, that's how I feel too.


Now this is what I meant when I said you stick to the title... what if the CL was called the UEFA Cup? Then would it be right that every team should have a chance in it, including non-league winners?
It's just how they call it, the competition in its essence is just the same.


Yes it works both ways because the teams under discussion are not so far apart in terms of quality.
In terms of quality I think the way the teams are picked is the right one. Of course I'm a romantic and like you I'd like to see only the champions in it but that certainly would be a downsize in quality.
I've talking about quality right from the start here, not how things should be.


It's all a matter of how you look at it.
In terms of quality the 2nd/3rd/4th team in those competitions are much stronger than the Maltese champions.
In terms of achievement it's the same. I don't think the Maltese champions would be able to finish in the same position as they do.
But in terms of the heart and core of football the champions are champions and the Maltese champions should get a place.

It's only a matter of what the criteria is. Right now, the criteria is quality of the team and that's what you disagree with it, isn't it?


To me it's not a problem. I'd enjoy the competition in any case... for different reasons.

Sort of, yes.

I still enjoy it, but it's easier to enjoy it if you support Milan as they're one of the 'protected' teams. While Villa will rarely ever qualify, and when we do will probably be put in a group with 2 top teams, instead of maybe getting a fairer draw if it was done properly, so there's almost no point in most teams qualifying.

It has nothing to do with Milan. I will be still enjoying it next season... and I surely had great time watching the latter stages when Milan were knocked out last season.
I even said I would not watch the Chelski vs Football's Britney Spears encounters cause the I was disappointed by their previous clashes but I still could not do it... and I like neither of those two teams.

In my opinion there should be no draws. They should do what's been done in Tennis, even in the group stage.

That wouldn't be the worst idea ever.

But we have jack@sses in charge of UEFA, well, they're not quite at the level of a jack@ss yet, they're not that good.

Haha personally I think there should be no draws in football at all.. I hate them, and I hate P.K's, I think they should play untill some one scores and truly wins. But maybe thats just cuz im American and none of our major sports ever end in ties.

No penalties!? Even though we suck at them, I don't think anything creates more drama in the sporting World than a penalty shoot-out!

Drama, no nothing compares. But a true winner, i dont think so, example of this would be Rangers vs Florintina. Rangers didnt even attack it pissed me off so much cuz they knew that they had a better chance winning in pks than actually playing football the way its supposed to be played

But even if you had that 'next goal wins' scenario, it could still be the same. Fiorentina could dominate the whole game, then Rangers score a fluke goal and win it, that's no different to penalties, except with penalties you have 5 chances to make amends, with next goal wins, there's no chances.

Penalties or not, I would not really mind. Like Kurt said, the drama in it is immense but I think it's an unfair way to end a tie. What I think should be done if a game ends in a draw is a repeat of the game if it is possible (like in a final) or extra time periods of 25 or so minutes with 3 substitutions allowed in each one and even a player substituted allowed to come on again from the 2nd period onwards. Or maybe that's just crazy.

No that does not sound crazy at all that similar to the idea i was thinking about. I guess im not a fan of Pk's cuz two years in a row my team lost in the state finals on Pk's when the team we were playing had like 2 shots on goal the whole game. I would rather lose on a fluke goal cuz then some one ligitamently scored. And when Milan lost to L.P on Pks i got sick for like a week.

Villa just played their InterToto game against Odense, finished 2-2 in the away leg.
-Carew gave us the lead after 7 minutes.
-Sidwell had a debut, not to remember, putting into his own net, thought he couldn't do much about it to be fair.
-Laursen scored with 15 remaining to put us 2-1 up in his homeland.
-A really over-the-top dive from former Villan Djemba-Djemba somehow wins him a free-kick, which they put in the box and scre from in the last minute!

Bad refereeing by this Italian guy, looked like an ametuer. Not sure he made one correct deicision from either team.

Should wrap it up at home.

Napoli won their game away at Panionios, 0-1. Goal by Bogliacino. Napoli's Rinaudo was red-carded 15 minutes from time. Note: they didn't have Lavezzi in the squad for this one.

Napoli are a good team. I would expect them to have a good season

InterToto Finals, 2nd leg.

Tavriya Symferopol 1 - 0 Rennes
[1-1 on agg. Rennes win 10-9 on pens.]
Aston Villa 1 - 0 OB Odense
[Villa win 3-2 on agg.]
FC Vaslui 2 - 0 FK Neftchi
[Vaslui win 3-2 on agg.]
Burgas 0 - 1 Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers win 4-0 on agg.]
Braga 3 - 0 Sivasspor
[Braga win 5-0 on agg.]
Budapest Honved 1 - 2 Sturm Graz
[Graz win 2-1 on agg.]
Deportivo La Coruna 1 - 0 Bnei Sachnin
[Deportivo win 3-1 on agg.]
Napoli 1 - 0 Panionios
[Napoli win 2-0 on agg.]

And for those that haven't seen it. Freddie Bouma's knee/ankle horrible injury HERE.

forza naopli, its always great to see an italian club winning except for the merda ofcourse