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Champions League
Topic Started: Aug 1 2008, 07:30 AM (4,223 Views)
Merengue
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I know some preliminary round games were played this week but today the draw was held for the third and final round of qualifying which brings in some truly big names and this makes it feel, at least to me, like the Champions League is really beginning. Here is the 3rd round draw,

Winner of Anorthosis FC (CYP) / SK Rapid Wien (AUT) - Olympiacos (GRE)
Vitoria Guimaraes SC (POR) - IFK Göteborg (SWE) / FC Basilea (SUI)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) - NK Domzale (SVN) / NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
FC Schalke 04 (GER) - Atlético Madrid (ESP)
Aalborg BK (DEN) / FK Modrica (BIH) - Rangers (SCO) / FBK Kaunas (LTU)
FC Barcelona (ESP) - Beitar Jerusalem FC (ISR) / Wisla Cracovia (POL)
Levski Sofia (BUL) - Anderlecht (BEL) / FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
Standard de Liege (BEL) - Liverpool (ENG)
Inter Baku (AZE) / FK Partizan (SRB) - Fenerbahçe (TUR) / MTK Budapest (HUN)
Twente (NED) - Arsenal (ENG)
FC Spartak Moscow (RUS) - Drogheda United (IRL) / FC Dinamo Kiev (UKR)
Juventus (ITA) - Tampere United (FIN) / Artmedia Petrzalka (SVK)
SK Brann (NOR) / FK Ventspils (LVA) - Olympique Marseille (FRA)
ACF Fiorentina (ITA) - SK Slavia Praha (CZE)
Galatasaray AS (TUR) - FC Steaua Bucarest (ROU)
Panathinaikos (GRE) / FC Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) - FC Sheriff (MDA) / AC Sparta Praga (CZE)

Schalke playing Atletico Madrid of course is the matchup which really draws your attention. A tough one to pick but Atletico will have the slight advantage of playing the 2nd leg at home. But Schalke were quarterfinalists last season. One of these two teams will end up getting relegated to playing the UEFA Cup next season.

English fans will be inetreste din Arsenal playing Steve McLaren's new club, Twente. If Dinamo Kiev get past their 2nd round opponents from Ireland then they will renew their old rivalry from the Soviet Union with Spartak Moscow. Galatasaray-Steaua Bucarest is anothe rintriguing matchup in this round. I'm looking forward to this as August brings us a return of European football!
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Manzanares
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Atletico certainly weren't given any favours in this draw. Then again neither were Schalke. Atletico are notoriously poor starters to a season but that will have to change if they expect to make the group stages of the Champions League. I don't know when the Bundesliga begins but in Spain the season won't start until 30 August so Atletico will have to play both matches against Schalke prior to beginning their league season. yet another reason for them to take these preseason games seriously. Unfortunately Aguero will miss the first leg but I believe the Olympics should be finished by the time of the return match so he should be available. The same should apply to Schalke's Rafinha who will be playing for Brazil.
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Simon
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And to give us some insight into who might complete the line-up for that 3rd Qualifying Round, here are the first leg scorelines from the 2nd Qualifying Round:

Brann 1-0 Ventspils
İnter Bakı 1-1 Partizan
Drogheda 1-2 Dynamo Kyiv
Rangers 0-0 Kaunas
Tampere United 1-3 Artmedia
Sheriff 0-1 Sparta
AaB 5-0 Modriča
Beitar Jerusalem 2-1 Wisła Kraków
Fenerbahçe 2-0 MTK
Göteborg 1-1 Basel
Anderlecht 1-2 BATE
Anorthosis 3-0 Rapid Wien
Panathinaikos 3-0 Dinamo Tbilisi
Domžale 0-3 Dinamo Zagreb

Some interesting ties here. None of these teams have ever been European champions, though Partizan Belgrade and Panathinaikos have been runners-up. Fenerbahce, quarter-finalists last season, and UEFA Cup-finalists Rangers both have to take part at this early stage and while the Turks should be okay after their 2-0 win at home to MTK of Hungary, Rangers are in some difficulty after being held at home by Kaunas. I'm pleased to see IFK Gothenberg back in the big time, although they too are in trouble after a 1-1 draw with Basle. I recall going to a thrilling game between United and Gothenberg in 94/95, when both teams were in all-out attack mode from start to last. It eventually finished 4-2 to United, and it was an unforgettable game. The Swedes beat us 3-1 in the return game and eventually finished top of a tough group that had also featured Barcelona and Galatasaray. It would be nice if they could recapture some their former glories. One other result that struck me was Anorthosis stuffing the Austrian champions Rapid Vienna 3-0. I remember the Cypriots knocking Trabzonspor out a couple of years ago, it seems they're not to be underestimated! A third round tie between them and Olympiakos would be two good occasions.
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Martin
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Thanks for the prelim round scores Simon. Also note Anderlecht lost at home. Like IFK Gothenburg, Anderlecht were a European power, multiple UEFA Cup winners if I recall, in the early 80's. But in this sport that was eons ago. And like Belgium's national team, the country's premier club have fallen on hard times.

Schalke v Atletico Madrid would be a good matchup if it happened in the octave or quarterfinals. That it is taking place in the preliminary round is extraordinary.
Club Sportivo Desamparados
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historyman
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Defintely some mouth-watering ties in the draw. That Schalke/Atletico Madrid game is easily the pick of the bunch, and it's noteworthy that both sets of fans come from traditional working-class strongholds in their respectives cities and regions.

I love the fact that Atletico's stadium is situated by the river, beside a brewery, whereas the Bernabeau is located in the heart of Madrid's commercial district. A 'tale of two cities'.

Schalke and Gelsenkirchen are situated in the Ruhr region of Germany, one of the major industrial regions of Western Europe, and so their fanbase is still largely drawn from that sector.

With the ever increasing commercialisation of football, it's nice to have a fixture like this to remind us of the traditional heartlands of the game.
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Mr. Pither
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The 2nd preliminary round began it's 2nd leg games yesterday and look who got eliminated:

Ventspils (Latvia) 2 Brann Bergen (Norway) 1
(2-2 on aggregate, Brann Bergen won on away goals)
Kaunas (Lithuania) 2 Rangers (Scotland) 1
(Kaunas won 2-1 on aggregate)

Not only are Rangers out of the Champions League but unbeknownst to me, losers in the 2nd prelim round don't even drop down to the UEFA Cup. So Rangers are now out of Europe! UEFA Cup finalists last season, out of Europe in this one.
P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD
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historyman
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It was a shock alright! Rangers got to the UEFA Cup final last year on the strength of their away performances.

Walter Smith was already under pressure before this match, and he may be in for a rough ride in the weeks ahead. Financially this is a catastrophe for an already cash-strapped club.
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Simon
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Let's round this off with the 2nd leg scorelines:

Dynamo Kyiv 2-2 Drogheda (Dynamo win 4-3 on agg)
BATE 2-2 Anderlecht (BATE win 4-3 on agg)
Dinamo Tbilisi 0-0 Panathinaikos (Panathinaikos win 3-0 on agg)
Rapid Wien 3-1 Anorthosis (Anorthosis win 4-3 on agg)
Modriča 1-2 AaB (AaB win 7-1 on agg)
Artmedia 4-2 Tampere United (Artmedia win 7-3 on agg)
Sparta Prague 2-0 Sheriff (Sparta win 3-0 on agg)
Basel 4-2 Göteborg (Basel win 5-3 on agg)
Partizan 2-0 İnter Bakı (Partizan win 3-1 on agg)
Wisła Kraków 5-0 Beitar Jerusalem (Wisla win 6-2 on agg)
MTK 0-5 Fenerbahçe (Fenerbahce win 7-0 on agg)
Dinamo Zagreb 3-2 Domžale (Dinamo win 6-2 on agg)
Ventspils 2-1 Brann (2-2 on agg, Brann win on away goals)
Kaunas 2-1 Rangers (Kaunas win 2-1 on agg)

So besides Rangers being out, Anderlecht also crash out to lowly BATE Borisov. A far cry from the days of Rensenbrink, Van Himst and Morten Olsen! Also interesting to see how very close Dynamo Kiev came to being eliminated by Drogheda.

So the complete line-up for the 3rd Qualifying Round is:

Spartak Moscow v Dynamo Kyiv
Levski Sofia v BATE Borisov
Shakhtar v Dinamo Zagreb
Anorthosis v Olympiacos
AaB Aalborg v Kaunas
Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest
Juventus v Artmedia
Sparta Prague v Panathinaikos
Partizan Belgrade v Fenerbahçe
Brann Bergen v Marseille
Schalke v Atlético Madrid
Twente Enschede v Arsenal
Standard Liege v Liverpool
Guimarães v Basel
Barcelona v Wisła Kraków
Fiorentina v Slavia Prague



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shelsoccer
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OK, I'll bite. What country is BATE Borisov from?
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Martin
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shelsoccer,Aug 7 2008
01:18 PM
OK, I'll bite.  What country is BATE Borisov from?

Belarus.

As we talked about previously the Schalke v Atletico Madrid matchup is the really enticing series in this upcoming final preliminary round. But the renewal of the old Soviet Union battles between Spartak Moscow and Dinamo Kiev will have plenty of interest too. Many of these other matchups have a clear favorite but nevertheless, Galatasaray v Steaua, Sparta Prague v Panathinaikos and Partizan v Fenerbahce coudl also turn out to be some interesting series. And for those who think the others will be pushovers for the favorites, ask Rangers and Anderlecht about that! But seeing how Barcelona are scoring in their preseason, I wouldn't admire Wisla Krakow right now!

With Levski Sofia playing BATE Borisov and Aalborg playing Kaunas, the Champions League will be guaranteed at least two teams from countries which ordinarily don't make it to the group stage. See the tournament is diversifying itself without Platini's plan to give more spots to the "smaller" nations!
Club Sportivo Desamparados
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Merengue
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The first leg results,

Fiorentina 2-0 Slavia Prague
Spartak Moscow 1 - 4 Dynamo Kyiv
Levski Sofia 0 - 1 BATE Borisov
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 0 Dinamo Zagreb
Anorthosis 3 - 0 Olympiakos Piraeus
AaB Aalborg 2 - 0 Kaunas
Galatasaray 2 - 2 Steaua Bucuresti
Brann Bergen 0 - 1 Marseille
FC Twente Enschede 0 - 2 Arsenal
Juventus 4 - 0 Petrzalka
Schalke 1 - 0 Atletico Madrid
Sparta Prague 1 - 2 Panathinaikos
Partizan Belgrade 2 - 2 Fenerbahce
Standard Liege 0 - 0 Liverpool
Vitoria Guimaraes 0 - 0 Basel
Barcelona 4 - 0 Wisla Krakow

Barcelona and Juventus with big wins at home which virtually assure their classification, Arsenal with a convincing road win, Liverpool needed a Pepe Reina penalty save to tie at Standard Liege, Luis Aragones' new team Fenerbahce got a good road result in Belgrade (a tie) plus scored 2 away goals, the same can be said for Steaua Bucharest at Galatasaray. shelsoccer's new favorite team BATE Borisov won on the road in Bulgaria which forced the beaten Levski Sofia coach to resign! But the two most shocking results to me were Cyprus' Anorthosis winning by 3 goals at home over Olimpiacos, a team which often makes the octave finals in the Champions Legaue. The other shocker was Dynamo Kyiv's 4-1 win in Moscow over Spartak!

Finally Manzanares' Atletico Madrid are still alive after losing by a lone goal at Schalke.
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Manzanares
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I can't complain too much about Atletico's game against Schalke. A 1-0 loss against a team of Schalke's calibre on the road isn't a bad result. Nice free kick goal by Pander for Schalke but it was set up by an error in distribution by Antonio Lopez who compounded it with a foul which created the fateful free kick. Later Lopez was expelled for double yellows. I thought Atletico's midfield played well and Sinama in particular had the opportunities to score but couldn't put them away. Sets up a good return game in 2 weeks.

Twente had their chances too against Arsenal but couldn't take advantage of them and paid the price when Arsenals cred twice in the 2nd half. Barcelona meanwhile just ran Wisla Krakow ragged. The form they've shown in the preseason continued in this game. No shock that Eto'o scored twice. Dani Alves and Keita look like they've been playing forever with their teammates.
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Dr. Z
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A few 2nd leg preliminary round games were played on Tuesday, Juventus drew 1-1 with Artmedia but won 5-1 overall, Barcelona lost 1-0 in Poland against Wisla Cracovia but advanced 4-1 while Panathianikos defeated Sparta Prague 1-0 for a 3-1 overall victory. Tomorrow's games are when there should be more drama.
Poniendo el pecho a las balas!
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Manzanares
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Yesterday's loss in Poland was Barcelona's first of the summer but with their 4 goal first leg advanatge they played like they didn't give a damn.

Atletico Madrid gets Kun Aguero back tonight against Schalke and maniche will also start in midfield. Schalke will be without Farfan, Rakitic and goalie Neuer. Atletico are a traditionally slow starting team but this game requires them to be playing near their best if they want to overturn the 1 goal deficit against Schalke.
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Pepe
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Manzanares must be celebrating tonight as Sergio Aguero sparked Atletico to a much easier than expected 4-0 win over Schalke to advance to the Champions League for the first time in 11 years! Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus held off Olimpiacos to qualify for the first time as did BATE Borisov of Belarus and Aalborg of Denmark. Basel of Switzerland also made it as the smaller countries are breaking through into the Champions League.

Liverpool needed a goal from Kuyt 3 minutes from the end of extra time to advance 1-0 overall past Standard Liege. Marseille struggled to beat Brann Bergen too but they made it as did Luis Aragones' Fenerbahce and Steaua Bucharest who eliminated Galatasaray. But for me last year's octave finalist Olimpiacos elimination was the big news today. That and the ease of Atletico's victory over Schalke.
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