Shake EUR-OP-A!!

BRING ON THE GROUP STAGES!!!

Fun. A European Cup Draw that means something!!

 

Well yuck, I can't say I particularly feel good about this group and Fulham's chances. This will be harder than expected. My picks for each group in italics. And of course, it is just fun being a part of this, but let's give it our best!

Group A
Ajax
Anderlecht
Dinamo Zagreb
FC Timisoara

Group B
Valencia
Lille
Slavia Prague
Genoa

Group C
Hamburg
Celtic
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Rapid Vienna

Group D
Sporting Lisbon
Heerenveen
Hertha Berlin
FK Ventspils

Group E
Roma
FC Basel
Fulham
CSKA Sofia

Group F
Panathinaikos
Galatasaray
Dinamo Bucharest
Sturm Graz

Group G
Villarreal
Lazio
Levski Sofia
Red Bull Salzburg

Group H
Steaua Bucharest
Fenerbahce
FC Twente
FC Sheriff

Group I
Benfica
Everton
AEK Athens
BATE Borisov

Group J
Shakhtar Donetsk
Club Brugge
Partizan Belgrade
Toulouse

Group K
PSV Eindhoven
FC Copenhagen
Sparta Prague
CFR Cluj

Group L
Werder Bremen
Austria Vienna
Athletic Bilbao
Nacional

 

CSKA Sofia next on Thursday.

I suggest we don't rest on our laurels and result away at their place. This may be quite a bit tougher now. Anything less than a Fulham win will all but end our European excursion.

 

With Fulham's spate of injuries (and the *#@?!# refs), I no longer have much confidence in getting out of the groups. Is Fulham going to adopt the "Moyes Gambit'08" and go 4-6-0 for the CSKA match?

Regardless, I will continue to watch Fulham on Thursdays with glee.

 

We be hosting Sofia, Basel at Roma. A win and at least the last game will mean something (the least we deserve w/the Roma decisions). An away win for the Swiss and they're through (tall order since it will be 14 v 11), which means some of their reserves for the final match.

 

I like the way you think SoCal. Still, I think WE need to get the boys fired up for this one and leave nothing to chance.

I'll be depressed if we are out in the group stages.

 

Anyone else think CSKA's emblem would look pretty good on a beer bottle??

 

Dare WE consider....

Juventus??

Atletico Madrid might be nice, or Sporting Lisbon if we are REALLY lucky.

 

Bring 'em all on, and we'll take 'em down one by one. The sky's the limit for our in-form Fulham right now!

 

A simple, yet time-consuming question:

Who do you want for FULHAM in the next round?

 

I'm not sure how the draw is organized, but the following clubs would be dream matches for me:
1. Juventus
2. Turkish Club (Fenerbahce, Galastaray) [away!]
3. Ajax
4. Valencia
5. German Club (Werder, Hamburg, Wolfsburg)
6. Marseille

 

We can only be drawn to play the Group winners and the 4 better Champions League sides (of the 8 that drop to Europa). First leg will be at the Cottage. Looks like these are the most likely candidates to draw from to date.

Benfica
Fenerbahçe
Galatasaray
Juventus
Marseille
PSV Eindhoven
Red Bull Salzburg
Roma
Shakhtar Donetsk
Sporting CP
Unirea Urziceni
Werder Bremen
Wolfsburg
Anderlecht
Hamburg
Hapoel Tel Aviv

I don't know if you can be drawn against a team from your old group, but I want no part of that crooked Roma side. I'm thinking the easier the better, so Red Bull Salzburg or Hapoel Tel Aviv sound good.

 

1. Sporting
2. Hapoel
3. Galatasaray
4. Anderlecht
5. Marseille

We cannot get Roma again in this round.

 

Ha! How far the once mighty have fallen. Slumin' in the Europa League with the likes of other unseeded English teams, like US and Everton.

---------------

EUROPA LEAGUE NEWS
Liverpool miss out on seeding for Europa League draw

December 17, 2009

Liverpool face the prospect of potentially tough opponents in their first experience of the Europa League after UEFA confirmed they will not be seeded for Friday's knockout stage draw.

Poor goal difference in the Champions League groups means Rafael Benitez's side miss out on being among the 16 top seeds for the new-look competition, which replaces the UEFA Cup.

It means Liverpool - along with Everton and Fulham, who are both also unseeded - may have to play strong teams including a trio from Germany - holders Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg and Hamburg - as well as Italian giants Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine and Turkish club Galatasaray.

A UEFA spokesman said: "Liverpool will not be one of the seeded teams. The top seeds are the 12 groups winners from the Europa League and the best four third-placed sides from the Champions League.

"Among the clubs dropping down from the Champions League, Juventus and Unirea Urziceni won more points than Liverpool, while Marseille and Wolfsburg had a better goal difference."

The seeded teams are also given the advantage of playing the second leg at home. The round of 32 starts on February 16 with the final in Hamburg on May 12.

 

You can't get a team from your group or a team from your home FA in the opening game. Both rules go out the window for the round of 16.

 

Speaking of Jessica Alba, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't there a push on this site to get her as a celebrity Fulham fan a loooooooooong time ago?

 

Shakhtar Donetsk

 

Hmmm...don't like their Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Shakhtar_Donetsk

"The club won the 2009 UEFA Cup final, defeating German side Werder Bremen 2-1 after extra time."

 

It's all right - their home kit looks like Hull City's, so we should be fine :-D