cleazer
02 Dec 2003, 03:54 AM
The 3rd round draw for the UEFA cup is still 10 days off, but here's a little preview.
There will be 32 teams in the 3rd round: the 24 winners from the second round, and the 8 3rd place teams from the Champions League. Since the 3rd place teams won't be determined until next week, a few of our possible opponents are still up in the air, but most of them are finalized.
Newcastle will definitely be one of the 16 seeded teams next round, so we don't have to worry about playing the likes of Barcelona, Parma, Roma, etc. Of the 16 unseeded (lower-seeded) teams, 13 are definite:
Perugia, Benfica, Auxerre, Sochaux, Brondby, Levski Sofia, Teplice, Gaziantepspor, Valerengen, Genclerbirligi, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Groclin Grodzisk, and Debrecen.
The remaining 3 unseeded teams will be from the following list:
Rosenborg, Spartak Moscow, Villarreal, Besiktas, Maccabi Haifa, and Partizan Belgrade.
I'm not sure if there's a rule preventing us from playing Partizan in the next round or not. While no team that qualifies for the 3rd round should be considered an easy opponent, it's safe to say that drawing Valerengen, Dnipro, Grodzisk, or Debrecen would be highly preferable to drawing Perugia, Benfica, Auxerre, Sochaux, Gaziantepspor, or Genclerbirligi.
There will be 32 teams in the 3rd round: the 24 winners from the second round, and the 8 3rd place teams from the Champions League. Since the 3rd place teams won't be determined until next week, a few of our possible opponents are still up in the air, but most of them are finalized.
Newcastle will definitely be one of the 16 seeded teams next round, so we don't have to worry about playing the likes of Barcelona, Parma, Roma, etc. Of the 16 unseeded (lower-seeded) teams, 13 are definite:
Perugia, Benfica, Auxerre, Sochaux, Brondby, Levski Sofia, Teplice, Gaziantepspor, Valerengen, Genclerbirligi, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Groclin Grodzisk, and Debrecen.
The remaining 3 unseeded teams will be from the following list:
Rosenborg, Spartak Moscow, Villarreal, Besiktas, Maccabi Haifa, and Partizan Belgrade.
I'm not sure if there's a rule preventing us from playing Partizan in the next round or not. While no team that qualifies for the 3rd round should be considered an easy opponent, it's safe to say that drawing Valerengen, Dnipro, Grodzisk, or Debrecen would be highly preferable to drawing Perugia, Benfica, Auxerre, Sochaux, Gaziantepspor, or Genclerbirligi.