EUROPA DRAW

FULHAM have Drawn Shakhtar Donetsk ...Home leg First at Craven Cottage

 

CRAP!

If we advance, we play the winners of Ajax/Juventus.

CRAP.CRAP!


So exciting though!

 

Tough draw, but they all are tough draws.

Looooooooooong, cold trip -- Ukraine in February -- dress warm --

From soccernet --

So, to clarify the Third Round draw:
Hamburg/PSV v Bilbao/Anderlecht
Rubin/Hapoel v Villarreal/Wolfsburg
Atletico/Galatasaray v Everton/Sporting
Hertha/Benfica v Coppenhagen/Marseille
Panathinaikos/Roma v Liege/Salzburg
Lillie/Fenerbahce v Liverpool/Unirea
Ajax/Juventus v Fulham/Shakhtar
Brugge/Valencia v Twente/Werder Bremen


At least we are not going to Istanbul to face the mentalists there -- I think that would be last on everyone's wish list.

That Twente/Werder Bremen matchup should be a good one.

 

While we're not considered one of the "great" teams in this competition, I don't think any of the three teams we're set to potentially face are happy with drawing Fulham. They know that we're well organzied, difficult to break down, and capable of beating Top 16 Champions League teams.

Plus, on a happier note, we're the only English club that's not facing a potential trip to Turkey in the round of 16.

 

Everton got a VERY good draw.

 

WhitesBhoy's Europa CRISTAL Ball:

PSV v. Anderlecht = PSV
Rubin v. Wolfsburg = Rubin
Galatasaray v. Everton = Galatasaray
Benfica v. Marseille = Marseille
Roma v. Salzburg = Roma
Fenerbahce v. Liverpool = Liverpool
Juventus v. Shakhtar = Shakhtar (Sorry, but they are good.)
Valencia v. Werder = Werder

Assuming all of those go through, should be exciting with so many different leagues represented.

 

There were tougher draws, but this one ranks up there.

Luckily for us, Shaktar will not have restarted their league campaign until after this round [2/28]. So it'll be vital to catch them off guard in the first leg at the cottage.

 

Excellent point. Another reason for hope!

 

Um...you're kidding, right? Their draw is arguably tougher than ours.

 

Hmmm. Let's take a look, shall we?

EVERTON's Potential Competition:
Sporting. 7th in their league. Sucky this season and underachieving.
Atletico Madrid. 14th in their league, and that sucks even if it is one of the most competitive leagues in the world.
Galatasaray. 2nd in their league, but not exactly the most competitive league in the world, much less Europe.

FULHAM's Potential Competition:
Shakhtar. UEFA Cup Champions & Runners-Up in very competitive domestic league, which they have been Champions or Runners-Up for every season since 96-97.
Ajax. Currently 3rd position in a considerably competitive league, and historically one of the best clubs in Europe.
Juventus. It's freakin' Juventus dude!

Nice try, but you've GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, ANDY!!
I rest my case.

 

I disagree. Everton got punked by Benfica and can't be looking forward to going back to Portugal. If Saha is injured that week, they have no strikers. Again.

 

Sounds like more of an Everton problem than a competition problem.

 

But now they have LANDON DONOVAN!!!!!!! :banana: :banana:

Tough, tough, tough draw for Fulham, as it can't get much more difficult than a trip to Ukraine in February - should be nice and toasty for the lads.

I've watched a handful of Shakhtar's matches over the past year and I agree with my esteemed colleagues that they are very good; they feature a couple of Brazilian fekkers with skill.

Fulham pull this one off and I get my dream match up with Turin's Old Lady. Please make it happen, Roy.

COYW!

 

Shakhtar has a pretty cool new stadium.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... rena_7.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _Arena.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... rena_2.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... rena_9.jpg

 

Wow, that's an understatement. Talk about the difference between perception and reality. Very impressive.

 

Wow, no wonder it is a host stadium for Euro 2012.

"Last year was a great success for Ukrainian football with Dinamo Kiev reaching the semi final as well so we couldn't have asked for a much tougher draw. On the other hand we have battled hard to get through the group stage and we were hoping for a good game, an interesting game.''
- R. Hodgson

 

Playing with house money. Good point from timmy on catching them not in mid-season form. Hope to get past this one and play one of the European giants in the final 16 (Juve or Ajax?? HELL YEAH!!!)

 

I agree, Fulham is probably the last team anytime wants to face in the tournament.

 

The timing didn't hurt them or Kiev last year. I don't like our chances in this one and think we'll exit the tournament here. Of course the last time I said that we won and advanced, so knock on wood.

I would definitely agree that we'd have to be low on anyone's wish list at this point.

 

14th in Spain is better than 1st in Ukraine or Holland and the Portuguese league ranks above them as well. I'd rate the Turkish league over the Ukrainian one and on top of that, Turkey is probably the toughest place to play away at in the Cup. So yeah, I stand by my statement - I don't think there's much between the two draws and the only real argument for us having a tougher one is Juve, who may or may not care about the "2nd Cup". I'd rather face Ajax than any of Everton's three possible opponents.