Lost in all the transfer talk and U.S. Open Cup coverage Tuesday was the announcement of the UEFA Champions League draw. SBI correspondent Carl Setterlund has it covered for us.
While nearly all the European powers have already sealed their place in the group stages of this year’s UEFA Champions League – I say nearly in remembrance of all the AC Milan fans out there – a few substantial clubs find themselves mentioned in the second round qualifying draw, released yesterday.
Turkish giants Fenerbahçe, second-place finishers in the Super Lig behind Galatasaray, face perhaps the toughest battle as they’re pitted against Hungarian champion MTK Budapest. Remember, the Istanbul club made it to the quarterfinals last season where they were knocked out by Chelsea, 3-2, on aggregate.
DaMarcus Beasley will also be in action as Rangers take on the winner of FC Santa Coloma (Andorra) vs. FBK Kaunas (Lithuania), while third-place Greek team Panathinaikos will face FC Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) or NSÃ Runavík (Faroe Islands).
Serbian champion Partizan Belgrade will oppose the winner of FK Inter Baki (Azerbaijan) vs. FK Rabotnicki (Macedonia), and Ukrainian power Dynamo Kiev will take on either Drogheda United FC (Ireland) or FC Levadia Tallinn (Estonia).
In other Champions League news, Romanian club Steaua Bucharest will remain in the UCL, despite being found guilty on charges of corruption. Docked seven points in league play,that did not impact their second-place finish. UEFA ruled that Steaua should still be allowed to compete while an investigation into bribing continues.
Tired of the news of corruption in soccer? Think Fenerbahçe will have a tough time repeating last year’s performance? Will Rangers make it back to the group stages? Share your thoughts below…
There’s no way Rangers don’t get back into the group stage of this year’s ECC. They’ve got talent and class to spare, they’ve become a staple of the group stages and while they often take a bow after 6 matches they still belong there. I’d rather see Rangers give 3 other teams a great match than FC Nobody from middle Europe. It’s good for the tournament and it’s great for our star left wing midfielder, DMB. I even love how they have T-shirts in Scotland that say “Run DMB” very clever and I can’t wait to get my hands on one.
Go Drogs! Kiev don’t stand a chance. (and I’m senile!)
Check out some of the other teams that will entering the competition at the same stage as Gooch’s Standard Liege squad and Adu’s Benfica assuming they both are still at their clubs:
Third Qualifying Round
FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool, Juventus, Fiorentina, Marseille, Schalke 04, Benfica, Steaua Bucharest, FC Twente, Spartak Moscow, Shakhtar Donetsk, Standard Liège, Slavia Prague, Galatasaray, Olympiacos and Levski Sofia.
I recently was taking a look at the club coefficients and noticed that if none of the big clubs that are in the third qualifying round get bounced out, then Juventus would be in pot 3 for the group stage draw. I would NOT want to be in their group if I was a Pot 1 or 2 team!
Romanian Champions CFR Cluj start in the group stage. Wow, that surprises me.
Dinamo Zagreb is in the first qualifing round again. Last year, they almost lost to a team from Azerbaijan. The first leg was a 1-1 draw while Dinamo won the second leg 3-1 in extra time.
Barca joins in the third round, so they will play one of the winners of the second round games.
Ives,
Who will Barcelona play to qualify for CL?