Monaco determined to blunt Basel
Trailing to David Degen's decisive 78th-minute strike after the first leg of their UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie against FC Basel 1893, AS Monaco FC will look to make home advantage pay in the return encounter at the Stade Louis II. But the Swiss side will be buoyant after recording their first triumph – and goal – against French opposition in four attempts, including a 2-0 defeat by RC Strasbourg in their opening fixture of the group stage.
• Amara Diané and Arthur Boka were both on target in that surprise win, but Basel bounced back with a 2-1 victory against FK Crvena Zvezda in their next outing. Julio Rossi was the hero, rifling in a last-gasp winner to seal three points, which Christian Gross's team doubled in an absorbing 4-3 win against Tromsø IL. Basel had no answer to AS Roma in their final group outing as they lost 3-1, but with Strasbourg holding Crvena Zvezda elsewhere, they still qualified.
• Like Basel, Monaco's Group A campaign also got off to a poor start when the side suffered an unexpected 1-0 defeat at Viking FK on Matchday 1. The 2003/04 UEFA Champions League finalists bounced back with an impressive 2-0 victory against Hamburger SV at the Stade Louis II and from then they did not look back. They overcame SK Slavia Praha by the same margin, before sealing their progress as section winners with a 2-1 triumph at home to PFC CSKA Sofia.
• Remarkably, despite playing over 140 games in UEFA competition, the first leg against Basel was Monaco's first meeting with Swiss opposition. For Gross's team, the Strasbourg defeat earlier in the competition had stretched their record against French sides to three games without a goal, before David Degen saw an end to that.
• Basel were also drawn against French opposition in the Round of 32 last season, when they were paired with an in-form LOSC Lille Métropole. After the first leg ended all-square at St. Jakob-Park, goals from Matt Moussilou and Milenko Ačimovič earned Lille a place in the last 16.
AS Roma take a one-goal advantage into second leg of their UEFA Cup Round of the 32 tie against Club Brugge KV at the Stadio Olimpico - a significant deficit for the Belgian visitors bearing in mind Roma's majestic form in 2006. Despite being reduced to ten men for the majority of the match at the Jan Breydelstadion, Luciano Spalletti's side won 2-1 courtesy of an own goal from Günther Vanaudenaerde and a Simone Perrotta strike either side of Javier Portillo's second-half equaliser. Ominously, the Giallorossi, who began the new year with a stunning sequence of victories, have never lost to Belgian opposition.
• It was all very different for Roma in the first half of the season, and they needed a 3-1 Matchday 5 victory against FC Basel 1893 to book their place in the UEFA Cup knockout stages after an inconsistent Group E campaign. It started off well; Leandro Cufré's late strike earning a 2-1 victory against Trømso IL in Norway, but their progress was slowed by a 1-1 draw against RC Strasbourg. A 3-1 defeat at FK Crvena Zvezda left them on the brink of elimination before their final-day win against Basel.
• Club Brugge were always up against it after being drawn alongside FC Bayern München and Juventus in UEFA Champions League Group A. They lost to each team by a single goal in their first two fixtures before back-to-back victories against SK Rapid Wien cemented third place and a UEFA Cup consolation. A narrow defeat by Juve followed but Jan Ceulemans' side ended the campaign on a high, earning a battling 1-1 draw against Bayern.
• Club Brugge and Roma have met once before in UEFA club competition when they were paired in the third round of the 1975/76 UEFA Cup – and it was the Belgian team that came out on top. Julien Cools scored the only goal of the first leg at the Jan Breydelstadion, before Raoul Lambert sealed their passage to the quarter-finals with the only goal of the game in Italy. Club Brugge then saw off AC Milan, eventually going on to reach the final where they were narrowly defeated by Liverpool FC.
• Two years later the Belgians reached another final, in the European Champion Clubs' Cup, after overcoming a one-goal first-leg deficit against Juventus. Alfons Bastijns's early goal forced extra time, paving the way for René Vandereycken to steal victory with four minutes of the additional half-hour remaining. Liverpool again awaited in the showpiece and, like two years earlier, Club Brugge were denied.
• Now coach at the Jan Breydelstadion, Ceulemans was part of the Club Brugge team that lost 1-0 on aggregate to AC Milan in the second round of the 1990/91 European Champion Clubs' Cup. That proved the start of a barren run against Serie A teams that has seen the Belgian outfit win just once in six games, losing four.
• By contrast, Roma have not lost to Belgian opposition in nine games since 1975, including victories home and away against RSC Anderlecht in the second round of the 1990/91 UEFA Cup. The Giallorossi went on to reach the final where they lost against FC Internazionale Milano.
Espanyol chase home victory
RCD Espanyol go into the second leg of their UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie against FC Schalke 04 knowing they must score to keep their European ambitions alive. Marcelo Bordon and Fabian Ernst scored second-half goals as the Bundesliga outfit came from behind to defeat an injury-hit Espanyol side 2-1 in the first leg at the Arena Aufschalke. The Spanish team have a fine record against German opposition, however, and will be keen to rekindle that form at the Olímpico de Montjuic.
• The first-leg defeat was the Barcelona-based side's first reverse in this season’s competition, having won twice and drawn twice in the group stage. Raúl Tamudo's second-half strike ensured they opened up with a narrow victory at FC Lokomotiv Moskva, before successive 1-1 draws against US Città di Palermo and Brøndby IF. The Barcelona outfit needed to win by a bigger margin than Palermo on Matchday 5 to claim top spot but once again they could only muster a solitary goal against Maccabi Petach-Tikva FC.
• Schalke themselves had designs on claiming a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, after recovering from a sluggish start to Group E. Defeat at PSV Eindhoven and draws against AC Milan and Fenerbahçe SK left them with just two points from their opening three games but they lifted themselves off the foot of the section with a 2-0 win in the rematch against the Turkish team. Levan Kobiashvili then scored a hat-trick in a comfortable win against PSV but a 3-2 defeat at Milan consigned Schalke to third.
• Schalke and Espanyol have never before met in UEFA competition, and both have mixed track records against teams from their opponents' countries. The German side have now met Spanish opposition nine times, and their record currently stands at four wins, three losses and two draws.
• The first occasion came in the quarter-finals of the 1958/59 European Champions Clubs' Cup when they were comprehensively defeated by Club Atlético de Madrid. Almost 38 years to the day, they recorded a UEFA Cup quarter-final victory against Valencia CF and after overcoming another Spanish team, CD Tenerife, in the semi-finals they went on to lift the trophy.
• In 2001 they lost 1-0 at home to Tenerife's Balearic neighbours RCD Mallorca in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, with Samuel Eto'o scoring the only goal of the game. Memories of that defeat were soon vanquished, however, with a comprehensive 4-0 reverse at the Son Moix.
• Espanyol also have mixed memories of German opposition, despite winning four of their seven games to date. The importance of aggregate early round UEFA Cup wins against TSV Eintracht Braunschweig and VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach paled by comparison to the final of the 1986/87 competition against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
• The Barcelona outfit looked on course for their first European trophy after winning the first leg 3-0, but second-half goals from Milton Tita, Falko Götz and Bum-Kun Cha took the game into extra time in the return in Germany. From there, Leverkusen went on to win on penalties.
Sevilla set to stall Lokomotiv
Sevilla FC will defend a one-goal lead when they welcome FC Lokomotiv Moskva to the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán stadium for the second leg of their UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie. A second-half strike from Jordi López gave the Spanish side the initiative in freezing conditions in the Russian capital as Slavoljub Muslin endured a disappointing debut at the Lokomotiv helm.
• But the Moscow outfit cannot be written off, having surged through to the knockout stages despite picking up a solitary point from their opening two Group B games against RCD Espanyol and US Città de Palermo. They went 2-0 down early in their next outing against Brøndby IF, but fought back as Dmitri Loskov scored a hat-trick in a stunning 4-2 comeback win. The striker was on target again on Matchday 5, scoring the opener as Vladimir Eshtrekov's side claimed third place in the group with a 4-0 win.
• Sevilla also had to draw on their reserves to escape a congested Group H as section winners. Frédéric Kanouté (2) and Javier Saviola were both on target in a 3-0 win against Beşiktaş JK, but the latter's goal at FC Zenit St. Petersburg proved little more than a consolation as the Spanish side lost 2-1. The Argentinian scored twice more at home to Vitória SC and Sevilla completed qualifying with a 1-1 draw against Bolton Wanderers FC.
• The first leg was the first time the teams have met in UEFA club competition, but both have played opposition from their respective countries. History does not bode well for Lokomotiv, for whom the first-leg defeat represented their seventh loss in ten games against Spanish opposition, and they have lost all four of their previous matches on Spanish soil.
• Sevilla have met Russian sides on four occasions, losing twice. They will take some heart from the fact that the only home game to date ended in victory in the second round of the 1990/91 UEFA Cup, when they beat FC Torpedo Moskva. However, they were nevertheless eliminated as the Russian outfit had triumphed 3-1 in the first encounter.
• Over 14 years later Sevilla drew 1-1 with Zenit in the group stages of the same competition, but could not repeat the feat when the two teams were drawn together again this season. Aleksandr Kerzhakov proved the scourge of Juande Ramos' side, scoring twice to set up a 2-1 win.
Goalkeeper Kamil Contofalský kept out a first-half penalty and pulled off a series of top-class saves to give Zenit, playing European football after Christmas for the first time in their history, a famous victory against a side that featured in the UEFA Champions League in the first half of the season.
---------------------------------------------------------
RC Strasbourg rode their luck but came away with a priceless away win against PFC Litex Lovech and a two-goal advantage to take back to France for the second leg of their UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie next week.
not much more to mention really. Lemme look at some odds and see what i fancy myself.
Palermo 1/2 generally in uk high street. Did they show enough in the first game? Could have done. Slavia prague are 7/1 with sporting odds mind whilst as low as 11/2 with most. Artmedia can be had at 9/2 in the high street. Surely thats too big?
Rosenburg are 9/2 bet365 but the 4/1 in the high street could still appeal to me. similary Litek. AZ v betis looks like a low scoring draw imo. bet365 go 11/10 on marseille but i could still take the slight odds on in the high street.
Monaco in a double with someone at 4/7? Roma poss but the high street dont get close to the ukbetting and totalbet price of 1/2. they give you a free 25 quid bet too i believe.
Espanyol shalke looks a bit drawy to me too and i dont know if i could trust seville at that price.
They should have too much for a Stuttgart side with lots of problems it seems. Gerry wrote this for the last leg.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theGerman ..mhh... Stuttgart played bad in the first german league.They fired Trapp and Armin Veh signed in Stuttgart.Veh has no experience on the international soccer stage! He played 4 times as player in the UEFA Cup - 4 times as midfielder of gladbach.
Armin Veh trained the with abrasive methods.He said in an Kicker Interview that he want to come back to fight and powerful football.Trappatoni is a very passive coach with not so much fight.But Stuttgart need bite for the UEFA Cup.
Hardly inspiring situation for the Germans at the minute it would seem and Boro seem a worthwhile punt for me.
Boro to win @ 1.95
Yes .. Kiko,I wrote this for the first leg.I´m sorry my english isn´t the best at the moment. I didn´t practise it in the last weeks and months.But on the last post for this match (in the quote) and now,my english is a little bit better isn´t it?
..The Situation of Stuttgart is not change till tomorrow.They have a good team,but the time for Armin Veh is to short to built a team that win versus Boro.Boro is very good at the moment and bite a lot great teams in the premiere league - look to Kikos post.They won versus Chelsea,Arsenal,ManU and didn´t lose versus Pool, great!
Stuttgart is the outsider and I promise that the germans have not a big chance to win the match!
my punt:
Boro win with one goal more than Stuttgart
Beat Loko Plovdiv 2-1 in both legs of the 1st round tie.
Anyway, my two bets for tomorrow:
Palermo v Slavia The Palermo coach has said his team is gonna keep it tight and try and nick a goal on the counter-attack. Slavia don't need to score, just need to keep a clean sheet. Under 2.5 @ 1.85
AZ Alkmaar v Real Betis AZ at home, Betis manager and players already looking towards next league game. "I'm committed to helping Betis through in the UEFA Cup but I will field a team with Sunday in mind. AZ are a daring team, difficult to control. We have a two-goal advantage but if we concede an early goal, we could be knocked out" Hardly words to inspire confidence in any Betis backers. AZ Alkmaar AH(-0.5) @ 2.025
This competition is a load of wank in my opinion, would rather bet on african nations and friendly games
SAy what you mean mate ... don't hold back.
I think that you're right for bigger clubs ... but I reckon that AZ Alkmaar are just the right sort of side to be backing here.
Typically a mid-rank Dutch club, they went out to a last minute goal in the UEFA Cup semi-finals last year and would like to do at least as well.
THrow in the fact that they're doing so well in Holland this season (3rd behind PSV and Feyenoord - but ahead of Ajax) and you have a pretty good side.
A price of even money on the home win looks a reasonable punt to me...
I still look forward to the UEFA coupon thinking that there might be some nice picks but I can`t pick my arse when it comes to this competition. German teams are the worst.
Before xmas, I had a sizeable bet on Hertha to beat someone, cant remember who at home. They drew 0-0. Hertha were brutal. Done my homework and all. Then Samp..they were on form, at home,their manager wanted euro success,full strength, they`re at home to my friends from hertha. Whacked a good load on Samp, they drew 0-0...same thing with Hamburg last week. Its a joke competition not worth betting serious money on
I think that the problem with both choices (with the benefit of hindsight) is that the Germans and Italians think that they're too good for the UEFA Cup. It's Champions LEague that they want.
They field half-strength sides and eventually it tells.
Sides like AZ Alkmaar, Boro and Bolton have no illusions - right now THIS CUP is their great Euro experience - and you can see that in thier play and in the attitude of their players and fans.
For sides like AK this is a chance for them to grab a bit of glory for themselves.
Probably don't qualify for European football too often and will be trying
their very best to make it last as long as possible.
I quite like backing a team that have lost the first leg by a goal or two
away from home, as they are likely to give it a real go at home in the
second leg.
AZ are quite strong at home, losing only one game in 13 and scoring 38
goals in the process. Betis are dire away from home, losing 7 from 12 and conceding 24 goals......
10/11 or Evs looks a very fair price to me.
Just need to find someting to double them with now.....
With the obvious reservation of not wanting to back a team who does not need an outright win to qualify and the inherent mistrust of anything Eastern European when it comes to betting, this looks like a stonking good punt for a home win at an attractive price.
I read that Berlin will be fielding a side minus 9 first team players, they have a manager on the brink of dismissal and their overall form is mediocre. A cauldron of enthusiastic home support awaits them. A big test of character to come away with any sort of result.
UEFA Cup 23rd Feb
.GIF "Thumb(1)")
