The draw for the first round of the UEFA cup took place on Friday, with staff and fans of the home nation clubs waiting with baited breath to find out who they have to overcome if they are to make it to the moneymaking group stage of the tournament.

UEFA CUP SEEDING

Tottenham Hotspur were seeded in the draw after their successful run in the competition last season. The holders Sevilla could face Salzburg should they fail to win their postponed fixture against AEK Athens in the UEFA Champions League. The game was postponed due to the tragic death of defender Antonio Puerta.

British Team Fixtures

Rabotnicki v Bolton Wanderers
Larissa v Blackburn Rovers
Aberdeen v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Tottenham Hotspur v Anorthosis Famagusta
Everton v Metalist Kharkiv

Sammy Lee takes his Bolton Wanderers side to Macedonia to play Rabotnicki for the first leg, Blackburn Rovers also have an away fixture for the first leg of the first round. Rovers play Greek side Larissa. Tottenham have a home game against Anorthosis Famagusta from Cyprus, the fans could catch a little winter sun on the away trip, which could be their last if their form doesn’t pick up. Everton and Aberdeen both play teams from Ukraine. The toffees play Metalist Kharkiv while the Scottish side play Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Those with the hardest preparation for these fixtures will be the match commentators who will have to learn the pronunciations of the players names to avoid sounding silly on the night.

Full Draw For The 2008 UEFA Cup First Round

Midtjylland v Lokomotiv Moscow
Groningen v Fiorentina
Rabotnicki v Bolton Wanderers
Sevilla/AEK Athens v Red Bull Salzburg
Nurnberg v Rapid Bucharest
Everton v Metalist Kharkiv
Zenit St Petersburg v Standard Liege
Bayer Leverkusen v Uniao Leiria
Villarreal v BATE Borisov
Sion v Galatasaray
Atletico Madrid v Kayseri Erciyesspor
Bordeaux v Tampere United
Panathinaikos v Artmedia Petrzalka
Sparta Prague v Odense
FC Zurich v Empoli
Sochaux v Panionios
Rapid Vienna v Anderlecht
Pacos de Ferreira v AZ Alkmaar
Sampdoria v Aalborg
Spartak Moscow v Hacken
Hammarby v Braga
Larissa v Blackburn Rovers
Mlada Boleslav v Palermo
Dinamo Zagreb v Ajax
Rennes v Lokomotiv Sofia
Brann v Club Brugge
Bayern Munich v Belenenses
Aberdeen v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Heerenveen v Helsingborgs
Toulouse v CSKA Sofia
Hamburg v Litex Lovech
FK Sarajevo v FC Basel
Austria Vienna v Valerenga
AIK Solna v Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Aris Thessaloniki v Real Zaragoza
Dinamo Bucharest v Elfsborg
Tottenham Hotspur v Anorthosis Famagusta
Lens v FC Copenhagen
Getafe v Twente
Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski v Crvena Zvezda

2008 UEFA First Round Fixture Dates

The first leg matches will be played on the 20th of September and the second leg fixtures will be two weeks later on the 4th October.

Looking for the UEFA Cup First Round Draw?

The UEFA Cup first round draw takes place later today and the English clubs involved will find out who they must over come if they are to make the group stage.

Having had a successful UEFA Cup campaign last season Spurs will hope they are seeded to help them avoid some of the bigger teams in the draw.

Blackburn Rovers made the draw after beating MyPa from Finland, Everton will hope that they have a more successful time in Europe this time round, having been dumped out of the Champions League at the first hurdle last time round.

Home                                            Away

Oct 2, Roma (h)                            Sep 19, Sporting (a)
Nov 7, Dynamo Kiev (h)             Oct 23, Dynamo Kiev (a)
Nov 27, Sporting (h)                    Dec 12, Roma (a)

An explosive start lies ahead for Manchester United as they host Roma, last season there was violence in both legs. So much violence that it managed to detract from the fantastic on pitch display, where Manchester United spanked the Italians 7-1 at Old Trafford in April. The trip to Ukraine could be tricky for United as the cold weather could have an massive influence on the result if the players are not correctly prepared, especially if United are still strikerless.

Home                                                 Away

Oct 3, AC Milan (h)                            Sep 18, Shakhtar Donetsk (a)
Nov 6, Benfica (h)                               Oct 24, Benfica (a)
Nov 28, Shakhtar Donetsk (h)         Dec 4, AC Milan (a)

Having needed penalties to help them qualify, Gordon Strachan’s Cetic will have to put that behind them and focus on the task ahead. They face last years winners AC Milan for the second year running. They also get to visit Portugal, home of their famous European Cup victory in 1967 against Inter Milan which will please Celtic fans and give the former players another reason to celebrate their win.

Home                                 Away

Sep 19, Stuttgart (h)         Oct 2, Lyon (a)
Oct 23, Barcelona (h)       Nov 7, Barcelona (a)
Dec 12, Lyon (h)                Nov 27, Stuttgart (a)

Rangers first game in the group of death sees Walter Smith and Ally McCoist prepare their men for the visit of the German Bundesliga Champions Stuttgart. Then they have a trip to France where they will play the French champions Lyon, before they play Barca at Ibrox. It will be an uphill struggle for the Gers to even make the UEFA Cup place from this group, however the bank manager will be happy with the funds the group stage will bring home to Glasgow.

Home                             Away

Oct 3, Marseille (h)      Sep 18, Porto (a)
Nov 6, Besiktas (h)       Oct 24, Besiktas (a)
Nov 28, Porto (h)         Dec 11, Marseille (a)

Last years finalists have Marseille visit Anfield for this seasons first Champions League fixture as they try to go one better. To help them succeed Rafa Benitez has added to his squad Torres, Babel, Benayoun and Voronin. These additions should help Liverpool compete in both the Premier League and the Champions League, something they haven’t really done for a number of years.

Home                                    Away

Sep 18, Rosenborg (h)         Oct 3, Valencia (a)
Oct 24, Schalke (h)              Nov 6, Schalke (a)
Dec 11, Valencia (h)             Nov 28, Rosenborg (a)

Jose Mourinho will begin this seasons attempt to win the Champions League playing host to Rosenborg at Stamford Bridge. Although they have kept their spending to relatively modest sums during the transfer window they have still brought in Malouda, Sidwell, Ben Haim, and Alex who will provide the strength in depth that the lacked last year.

Home                                                Away

Sep 19, Sevilla/AEK Athens (h)     Oct 2, Steaua Bucharest (a)
Oct 23, Slavia Prague (h)                Nov 7, Slavia Prague (a)
Dec 12, Steaua (h)                            Nov 27, Sevilla/AEK Athens (a)

The Gunners begin this years UEFA Champions League campaign at home to Sevilla or AEK. Having reached the final two seasons ago, Arsene Wenger will hope his new breed will be more successful in the new era after Henry.

The draw for the Champions league was populated with the usual suspects and some new fringe teams. There were no less than six British in the draw. The big four from England Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are joined in the draw by the old firm from north of the border. Glasgow Rangers will welcome the windfall from the group stage, the £10m should help ease their current financial situation. Celtic scraped through the last round beating Spartak Moscow in a penalty shoot out to earn a place in the draw for the group stage.

UEFA Champions League GROUP A

Liverpool FC (England)
FC Porto (Portugal)
Olympique Marseille (France)
Besiktas (Turkey)

Last years beaten finalists Liverpool will hope their newly strengthened squad can go the extra mile this year, but they may be distracted with their domestic campaign. They will have trips to Portuguese side Porto who have been successful in the competition in recent years. Marseille are back in the big time after recovering from the scandals of the last decade, they may do well enough to compete for the second spot although they might settle for for the UEFA Cup spot. Besiktas will enjoy their participation in the Champions League, they are familiar with the format having played in the UEFA cup last season.

UEFA Champions League GROUP B

Chelsea FC (England)
Valencia (Spain)
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Rosenborg (Norway)

Premier League runners-up Chelsea will be confident of their progression from Group B, their assembly of stars should cruise through the group as they try to secure the one trophy that has eluded Jose Mourinho in his tenure as Chelsea manager.

Chelsea’s toughest test will come against Spanish side Valencia, who they managed to beat in last years quarter final. Although it must be said that Schalke and Rosenborg will be no push overs as they fight for the second qualification or UEFA Cup place, Schalke finished second in the Bundesliga last year behind Stuttgart.

UEFA Champions League GROUP C

Real Madrid (Spain)
Werder Bremen (Germany)
Lazio (Italy)
Olympiakos (Greece)

Spanish League winners Real Madrid have Germany’s third placed team Werder Bremen in their group along with Italy’s third place side Lazio, which will suit Madrid’s new man in charge Bernd Schuster who has recently strengthened his squad, adding names like Robben, Sneijder and Heinze. The fourth team in the Group C is Olympiakos from Greece.

UEFA Champions League GROUP D

AC Milan (Italy)
Benfica (Portugal)
Celtic (Scotland)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

2007 Champions Milan will face Glasgow Celtic again this season after playing them last year.  Benfica, Celtic and Shaktar Donetsk will be competing for the second place and the UEFA Cup place, unless they manage to raise their game to upset the Champions.

UEFA Champions League GROUP E

FC Barcelona (Spain)
Olympique Lyon (France)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Rangers (Scotland)

Instantly recognised as the ‘Group Of Death’ Glasgow Rangers will struggle to make even the UEFA Cup place. Winners from 2006 Barcelona who are fresh from a pre-season tour of Scotland will be favourites to top Group E. Barca & Celtic are joined in the group of death by winners of their respective leagues Lyon who won in France and Stuttgart who won the Bundesliga.

UEFA Champions League GROUP F

Manchester United (England)
AS Roma (Italy)
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)

The English and Italian authorities will hope there is no rekindling of hostilities between Manchester United and Roma, after the violence that erupted in last seasons clash. The new and improved United squad will want to try and better the 7-1 result they managed last season. Ronaldo and Nani will face their old club Sporting Lisbon. The fixture that could cause the upset will be Dynamo Kiev, clubs that have a trip to Kiev in late October early November in the bitter cold may not perform well allowing the Ukrainians to exploit their familiar conditions.

UEFA Champions League GROUP G

Inter Milan (Italy)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)

Another group where trips to a freezing cold Moscow could be a deciding factor in who is successful in the group. Italian Champions Inter Milan should finish top of the group, then it is a three way scramble between PSV, CSKA & Fenerbahce for the other two places.

UEFA Champions League GROUP H

Arsenal (England)
Sevilla (Spain) or AEK Athens (Greece)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

England’s fourth placed team face two eastern European sides in Steaua Bucharest and Slavia Prague, having dispatched the Czech Republic’s other entrant to the competition Sparta Prague in the qualifying round. The fourth club to be in the group has yet to be decided. The game between UEFA Cup holders for the last two seasons Sevilla from Spain, had their game against AEK Athens postponed following the death of Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has given his management team till the close of the Transfer Window to secure the services of the World’s most flamboyant player. Even though his buy out clause is reportedly £85m, the Russian businessman has allegedly met with the players advisors.

Barca Could Pay The Cost Of Increasing Taxes

Ronaldinho is due to naturalised and awarded Spanish nationality as he has been resident in Spain for five years. Naturalisation is usually what most Brazilian players look for when they join clubs in Spain and Portugal, however they do not earn as much as Ronaldinho, his naturalisation would see him lose his overseas status with the Tax Man, almost doubling his tax bill to the Spanish government.

His reluctance to pay this level of tax and the recent arrival of Thierry Henry who has reignited his friendship with Eto’o, and there is no love lost between the African and the Brazilian. All of these factors could be the cause of the increased interest from Stamford Bridge.