Intertoto Cup

[SportBoy333]

Which French teams are entering ? Do you think Marseille is entering and can they win it to get a spot in the UEFA Cup ?

[gaijin]

As of now - Marseille, St-Etienne, Lens.

It is up to them, to accept it or not.

I think they all should imo.

[HalfManHalfAmazing]

What are the financial considerations like for French teams? I assume that very few "name" draws enter the inter-toto cup. So is it worth it to play in a tournament with no prestige?

[guignol]

What are the financial considerations like for French teams? I assume that very few "name" draws enter the inter-toto cup. So is it worth it to play in a tournament with no prestige? besides the gate, some of the games may be televised as they take place in a season of football drought. also, UEFA makes money off it from the participating lotteries and i assume this is shared with the participating clubs. still, for a club like OM, it's not exactly a windfall.

most of the teams are, as you say, practically nameless, but not all. there's borussia dortmund this year, for example.

but the real incentive is a chance to get into the UEFA cup, and if you seed directly into the 3rd round, like OM this year, it's only 5 matches to play, which is what they might have scheduled in friendlies anyway (albeit at dates of their choosing, not UEFA's, and not in places like moldova or the faroe islands!)

[iougs]

The problem is that you have to play in the off-season and it may screw up the preparation of the team ... also there is the risk of injury before season begins ... does not make that much sense to me though.

Personally, I think it's silly to turn it down .. what do you have to lose really ?

iougs-

[sl7vk]

What you have to lose is your domestic season. Look at the domestic record of teams that played in the Intertoto? It's abismal.
Marseille have said that they will be playing.

[RandyNA74]

A couple of years ago Perugia played in Intertoto and eventually made it to the UEFA Cup quarterfinal. What did it cost them? Well, they got relegated that year...

[iougs]

so you guys are saying that if you do the toto cup, you will have a bad season ... could be just coincidences or poor management ... I'd like to see some stats before being led to such a conclusion ... but whatever.

note: I don't really care either way.

iougs-

[RandyNA74]

Well, it's complicated. It depends on how deep the team is, etc. Some clubs can handle the jump. Others may not necessarily have the means to compete in multiple competitions and suffer as a consequence, especially since these clubs will be more inclined to focus on the UEFA competition (which they don't see often) rather than focus on the league as they normally would.

In the case of Perugia, progressing that far in the UEFA Cup meant they treated the majority of league matches as being of secondary importance since they often had a UEFA match to prepare for. Consequently, their performance in the league sucked and they went down.

We had a lengthy discussion on this issue on the Livorno thread. Gotta find the link for it...

[iougs]

What's better in the long run ?

to get to the 1/4 finals uefa cup and go down

to maybe (and that's a big maybe) stay in top flight one additional season

dunno ... you got to take chances once in a while.

all comes down to management ... if euro cup is more important to you than domestic, then so be it ... a choice was made and the consequences known ... same thing for domestic cup ... some clubs and for good reasons think the cup is most important and are willing to take some risks to get it.

iougs-

[sl7vk]

Well, domestic competition has to be your biggest priority. Getting relegated is death. Loss of revenue, having to sell players, attendance cut in half. It really is catastrophic. Going out in the first round of the UEFA cup is a blow, but nothing that can't be recovered from.
And didn't Ipswich Town run into the same problem as Perugia a couple of years back?

[SportBoy333]

The UEFA Cup is very important for the French teams. We have never won it so we need as many teams in there as we can so are potential to win it can increase. We have Rennes, Strasbourg, and Auxerre in it now and thats not a really strong 3. Marseille, Lens, St.Eteinne are all big clubs with large fanbases and we need one of those 3 in there because they could do some damage. It would be very hard for a visiting team to win on one of those 3 grounds because the atmosphere and crowd are so great. Plus those teams are still signing players and they will sign good ones. Better ones than Strasbourg and Auxerre will sign.

[Nanbawan]

The trick is to try and field your second string line-up as much as possible in the early stages.

[guignol]

What's better in the long run ? to get to the 1/4 finals uefa cup and go down... to maybe (and that's a big maybe) stay in top flight one additional season... dunno ... you got to take chances once in a while... all comes down to management ... iougs- precisely.

when OL started their rise, they finished 2nd in 94/95.

next year they did well in the UEFA cup (heartbreaker against forest), and got to the league cup final, but only finished 11th in the league. just like the man said, it can risky. but if your management really has ambition, the club has to be ready to play in lots of competitions, maybe as much as 60 matches. and OL had that ambition.

the next year they qualified for intertoto and won. the next year they qualified direct for the UEFA cup. then 3rd, 3rd; 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st... and europe every year, and always doing their best to win EVERY competition they're in.

[guignol]

here's the draw:

1st round (1st leg: 18-19 june, return leg : 25-26 june)
Smederevo (SEM) - Pobeda (MCD)
Beitar Jerusalem (ISR) - Sileks (MCD)
La Vallette (MLT) - Buducnost Podgorica (SEM)
Slaven Koprivnica (CRO) - Ptuj (SLO)
Olympiakos Nicosie (CYP) - Gloria Bistrita (ROM)
Cluj (ROM) - Vetra (LIT)
Dinamo Tirana (ALB) - Varteks (CRO)
Karvan (AZE) - Lech Poznan (POL)
Ranger's (AND) - Sturm Graz (AUT)
Vasas (HUN) - Dubnica (SLK)
Lernagorts-Ararat (ARM) - Neuchâtel Xamax (CH)
Lombard-Papa (HUN) - WIT (GEO)
Neman Grodno (BLR) - Zlin (CZ)
Tiligul Tiraspol (MOL) - Pogon Szczecin (POL)
Victoria Rosport (LUX) - IFK Goeteborg (SWE)
International Turku (FIN) - Akranes (ICE)
Bangor City (WAL) - Dinaburg (LAT)
Zalgiris Vilnius (LIT) - Lisburn Distillery (NI)
Bohemian (IRL) - Gent (BEL)
Trans Narva (EST) - Lokeren (BEL)
Skala Itrottarfelag (FER) - Tampere United (FIN)

2nd round (1st leg: 02-03 july, return leg : 09-10 july)
A: La Corogne (ESP) - La Vallette (MLT) or Buducnost Podgorica (SEM)
B: Saint-Etienne (F) - Lernagorts-Ararat (ARM) or Neuchâtel Xamax (CH)
C: Trans Narva (EST) or Lokeren (BEL) - Young Boys Berne (CH)
D: Wolfsburg (GER) - Rangers (AND) or Sturm Graz (AUT)
E: Skala Itrottarfelag (FER) or Tampere United (FIN) - Charleroi (BEL)
F: Slovan Liberec (CZ) - Beitar Jerusalem (ISR) or Sileks (MCD)
G: Lens (F) - Karvan (AZE) or Lech Poznan (POL)
H: Cluj (ROU) or Vetra (LIT) - Athletic Bilbao (ESP)
I: Sigma Olomouc (CZ) - Tiligul Tiraspol (MOL) or Pogon Szczecin (POL)
J: Hambourg (ALL) - Smederevo (SEM) or Pobeda (MCD)
K: Ankaraspor (TUR) - Vasas (HUN) or Dubnica (SVK)
the rest of the matches are between two first leg winners

3rd round (1st leg: 16-17 july, return leg : 23 july)
Lazio Rome (IT)
Marseille (F)
Newcastle (ENG)
Uniao Leiria (POR)
Valence (ESP)
Egaleo (GRE)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Roda Kerkrade (NL)
will enter the fray...

may the least bad team win! ;)

[sl7vk]

precisely.

when OL started their rise, they finished 2nd in 94/95.

next year they did well in the UEFA cup (heartbreaker against forest), and got to the league cup final, but only finished 11th in the league. just like the man said, it can risky. but if your management really has ambition, the club has to be ready to play in lots of competitions, maybe as much as 60 matches. and OL had that ambition.

the next year they qualified for intertoto and won. the next year they qualified direct for the UEFA cup. then 3rd, 3rd; 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st... and europe every year, and always doing their best to win EVERY competition they're in.

Not every team is Lyon......

[guignol]

Not every team is Lyon...... but OM could and should be.

[sl7vk]

but OM could and should be.
could should but aren't. OM are as likely to win the L1 as they are to get relegated. They are the most eratic team in L1 and it all starts at the top. There is no Aulas at OM, and there probably never will be as long as Dreyfus sucks the life out of that team.

[Lensois]

Don't forget Lille played the Intertoto last season and they had a fairly good season. There was debate among Lens supporters last year if we should go into the tournament and when Lille did we all thought, "there goes their season." We were just a bit off in our prediction!

[RobtheAggie]

From the swiss perspective FC Thun did well in the intertoto cup and finished second in the Super League. They have a spot in the CL. Xamax won 3-0 at Ararat and will most likley win the series. St. Etienne - Xamax should be an interesting series. I think that St. Etienne will win, but good series for both teams. Xamax is in a transition, their top two scorers are leaving, M'Futi to Istres and Rey to retirement if I remember correctly.

OM will most likley play YB another swiss team. They are pretty good also.