First Round games: 30 June Ventspils (LVA) 2-0 Vikingur (FRO) Levadia (EST) 1-1 HB (FRO) NSI (FRO) 0-2 Shakhtyor (BLR) AIK (SWE) 2-0 Bala (WAL) Göteborg (SWE) 5-0 Llandudno Town (WAL) Midtjylland (DEN) 1-0 Sūduva (LTU) Valur (ISL) 1-4 Brøndby (DEN) KR (ISL) 2-1 Glenavon (NIR) Breidablik (ISL) 2-3 Jelgava (LVA) Connah's Quay (WAL) 0-0 Stabæk (NOR) Odd (NOR) 2-0 Mariehamn (FIN) Shamrock Rovers (IRL) 0-2 RoPS (FIN) Atlantas (LTU) 0-2 HJK (FIN) The three teams entering in the second round and their coefficient ranking: Strømsgodset (NOR) 7.850 Häcken (SWE) 5.975 SønderjyskE (DEN) 3.720
First Round Aggregate Results: Ventspils (LVA) 4-0 Vikingur (FRO) Levadia (EST) 3-1 HB (FRO) NSI (FRO) 0-7 Shakhtyo7 (BLR) AIK (SWE) 4-0 Bala (WAL) Göteborg (SWE) 7-1 Llandudno Town (WAL) Midtjylland (DEN) 2-0 Sūduva (LTU) Valur (ISL) 1-10 Brøndby (DEN) KR (ISL) 8-1 Glenavon (NIR) Breidablik (ISL) 2-3 Jelgava (LVA) Connah's Quay (WAL) 1-0 Stabæk (NOR) Odd (NOR) 3-1 Mariehamn (FIN) Shamrock Rovers (IRL) 1-3 ROPS (FIN) Atlantas (LTU) 1-3 HJK (FIN)
Second Round games: 14 July AIK 1-0 College Europa (Gib) Piast(Pol) 0-3 Göteborg Häcken 1-1 Cork FC Midtjylland 3-0 FC Vaduz (Lie) Hibernian(Sc0) 0-1 Brøndby (DEN) SønderjyskE 2-1 Strømsgodset Pas Giannina (Gre) 3-0 Odds BK KR 3-3 Grasshoppers (Sui) RoPS 1-1 NK Zagreb (Cr0) Beroe(Bul) 1-1 HJK
Just a side-note ... the funny thing about FC Vaduz is that though they represent Liechtenstein in Europe, they are actually playing in the Swiss Super League, where they finished in 8th place last season ... obviously Liechtenstein is way too small to have their own league ... this is also why they are not represented in the Champions League, so this is their only team playing Europa Cup ... last season they reached the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa league, where they narrowly were eliminated on away goals (0-0 and 2-2) by another team from the Swiss league, FC Thun ...
Third Qualifying round, draw : Hertha Berlin (GER) v Brøndby (DEN)/Hibernian (SCO) Videoton (HUN)/Čukarički (SRB) v Midtjylland (DEN)/Vaduz (LIE) Partizan (SRB)/Zagłebie Lubin (POL) v Strømsgodset (NOR)/SønderjyskE (DEN) AZ Alkmaar (NED) v Giannina (GRE)/Odd (NOR) AIK Stockholm (SWE)/Europa (GIB) v Panathinaikos (GRE) Genk (BEL)/Budućnost Podgorica (MNE) v Häcken (SWE)/ Cork City (IRL) Piast Gliwice (POL)/IFK Göteborg (SWE) v Beroe Stara Zagora (BUL)/HJK Helsinki (FIN) RoPS Rovaniemi (FIN)/Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO) v Vorskla Poltava (UKR) KR Reykjavík (ISL)/Grasshoppers (SUI) v Apollon Limassol (CYP)
Selected Highlights : First Round : Brøndby (DEN) v Valur (ISL), 6-0 Glenavon (NIR) v KR (ISL) , 0-6 Second Round : Piast(Pol) v Göteborg, 0-3 FC Midtjylland v FC Vaduz (Lie), 3-0 SønderjyskE v Stromsgodset, 2-1
Second Qualifying round, 2nd leg Results : Brøndby (DEN) 0-1 Hibernian (SCO) - Brøndby advances 5-3 on penalties Vaduz (LIE) 2-2 Midtjylland (DEN) - Midtjylland advances 5-2 Strøm Midtjyllandsgodset (NOR) 2-2 SønderjyskE (DEN) - SønderjyskE advances 4-3 AET Odd (NOR) 3-1 Giannina (GRE) - Giannina advances 4-3 AET IFK Göteborg (SWE) 0-0 Piast (Pol) - Göteborg advances 3-0 Europa (GIB) 0-1 AIK Stockholm (SWE) - AIK Stockholm advances 2-0 Cork City (IRL) 1-0 Häcken (SWE) - Cork advances 2-1 HJK Helsinki (FIN) 1-0 Beroe Stara Zagora (BUL) - HJK advances 2-1 Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO) 3-0 RoPS Rovaniemi (FIN) Zagreb advances 4-1 Grasshoppers (SUI) 2-1 KR Reykjavík (ISL) GCZ advances 5-4 Third Qualifying round Matches: Hertha Berlin (GER) v Brøndby Videoton (HUN)/Čukarički (SRB) v Midtjylland Partizan (SRB)/Zagłebie Lubin (POL) v SønderjyskE (DEN) AIK Stockholm (SWE) v Panathinaikos (GRE) IFK Göteborg (SWE) v HJK Helsinki (FIN)
Third Qualifying round Matches: Hertha Berlin (GER) v Brøndby (DEN) Videoton (HUN) v Midtjylland (DEN) Zagłebie Lubin (POL) v SønderjyskE (DEN) AIK Stockholm (SWE) v Panathinaikos (GRE) IFK Göteborg (SWE) v HJK Helsinki (FIN) ________ Some interesting and tight looking games there ... btw ... perhaps to spice up the Hertha game, Brøndby has just signed the 21-yo German youth international and former Hertha talent Hany Mukhtar, on loan from Benfica ... Brøndby also recently signed the German coach Alexander Zorniger, so this is going to be interesting ...... last season the former Southampton talent Tim Sparv scored a decisive goal against his former club, when FC Midtjylland managed to eliminate Southampton.
28 July: Third Qualifying round Matches: Hertha Berlin (GER) 1-0 Brøndby (DEN) Videoton (HUN) 0-1 Midtjylland (DEN) Zagłebie Lubin (POL) 1-2 SønderjyskE (DEN) Panathinaikos (Gre) 1-0 AIK Stockholm (SWE) IFK Göteborg (SWE) 1-2 HJK Helsinki (FIN)
Good performance by Brøndby in Berlin, in a match dominated by Hertah, though they grew tired as the second half progressed so Brøndby were on top the last 30 minutes or so, almost scoring a goal ... the result seemed fair in a match with few big opportunities to either side. Highlights : Full game : SønderjyskE was a "Leicester" kind of surprise in the Danish Superliga last season, suddenly finding themselves at the top of the table fighting for medals ... and this is their very first Europa cup season ever ... but while they have been doing well in Europe so far, they are 3rd from the bottom in the Superliga this season after the first 3 games, so the question is if they will be forced to rethink their strategy and pay less attention to the Europa League, or if they will keep fielding all their best players, trying to do their best in Europe as well as in the Superliga ... Pione Sisto has been absolutely brilliant for FCM in Europe this season, but was nowhere to find in the Midtjylland roster for the Superliga game against Silkeborg this weekend, and he seem to be on his way to Celta Vigo, according to Spanish media ... FCM on the other hand seem close to signing Rafael van der Vaart as his replacement ... 33-yo van der Vaart is not at all happy at Real Betis that also seem to be interested in letting him go, and his 23-yo Dutch girlfriend Estavana Polman is playing for Esbjerg in the Danish team handball league, not far from Herning and Midtjylland, so van der Vaart was in the stands watching Midtjylland playing against Silkeborg this weekend, but was also there to negotiate a possible transfer ... and obviously FCM are in need of a classy looking attacking midfielder now when Sisto seem to be moving abroad.
Just want to add that Sisto has now been sold to Celta Vigo ... the price tag was originally said to be around $6 million (€ 5.4 m), but several Spanish clubs have been trying to land him, and Celta Vigo were very eager to close a deal today, so I'm guessing that they offered a bit more to land him straight away.... as written then Rafael van der Vaart and his agent was among the VIP's at the game between Midtjylland and Silkeborg ... according to the FCM director of sport, he was just there to have lunch and "have a look at the stadium", but considering that his girlfriend is in Rio de Janeiro, getting ready for for the Olympics, he was not in Denmark to visit her.
It now seems sure that Midjylland are signing Rafael van der Vaart ... after having visited the club and stadium he used the next day to negotiate his personal terms with Midtjylland ... he also had dinner with Jesper Grønkjær, who now is a football commentator, asking him questions about the Danish Superliga and about Grønkjærs own successful return to the Danish league back in 2006 ... and now Dutch Voetbal International are writing that he has agreed to sign a 2-year contract with Midtjylland ... http://www.vi.nl/nieuws/van-der-vaart-en-fc-midtjylland-mondeling-akkoord.htm ... according to Danish media, Real Betis are ready to let him go on a free transfer, but considering that they also got him for free and he has 2 years left of a contract still worth 2 million euros, Betis will probably also need to pay him around 1 million euro, as a kind of sign-off fee to terminate the contract ... this is the part of the deal they are negotiating right now ... Midtjylland on the other hand, seem to have agreed to pay him around ½ a million euros a year ... so now it's all up to Betis ...
4 August: Third Qualifying round Matches: Brøndby 3-1 Hertha Berlin (GER) - Brøndby advanced 3-2 Midtjylland 1-1 Videoton (HUN) - Midtjylland advanced after extra time SønderjyskE 1-1 Zagłebie Lubin (POL) - SønderjyskE advanced 3-2 AIK Stockholm 0-2 Panathinaikos - Panathinaikos advanced 3-0 HJK Helsinki 0-2 IFK Göteborg - Göteborg advanced 3-2 Rosenborg will join the Europa League with the Playoff Round The Playoff draw is tomorrow. Only Midtjylland will be seeded.
The Danish teams did exactly what they had to do, to advance, though surprisingly SønderjyskE were looking more comfortable while doing the job in compare to the horrible performance by Midtjylland against a Hungarian side that even had a player send off ... Hertha seemed in much better physical shape in compare with the first leg and were able to dominate a much more tired looking Brøndby team the last 25 minutes or so, in a highly entertaining match with plenty of good opportunities ... but the Hertha defense still looked quite rusty, which Brøndby were able to take advantage of, mainly thanks to Pukki and former Hertha talent and German youth international Hany Mukhtar, who was involved in all 3 Brøndby goals, so that investment really paid off ! ... Highlights:
PLAYOFF Matches: (18 and 25 August). Brøndby - Panathinaikos (GRE) Midtjylland - Osmanlıspor (TUR) SønderjyskE - Sparta Praha (CZE) AIK Stockholm 0-2 Panathinaikos (GRE) Göteborg - Qarabağ (AZE) Austria Wein (AUT) - Rosenborg
Not a good round for the Scandinavian teams. Only Göteborg should be favored to advance. PLAYOFF Matches: (17,18 August). Panathinaikos (GRE) 3-0 Brøndby Midtjylland 0-1 Osmanlıspor (TUR) SønderjyskE 0-0 Sparta Praha (CZE) Göteborg 1-0 Qarabağ (AZE) Austria Wein (AUT) 2-1 Rosenborg
PLAYOFF SHUTOUT! Brøndby 1-1 Panathinaikos (GRE) - aggregate 1-4 Osmanlıspor (TUR) 2-0 Midtjylland - aggregate 3-0 Sparta Praha (CZE) 3-2 SønderjyskE - aggregate 3-2 Qarabağ (AZE) 3-0 Göteborg - aggregate 3-1 Rosenborg 1-2 Austria Wein (AUT) - aggregate 2-4
really expected better from Midtjylland, SønderjyskE was closer than I expected and Brøndby was roughly where i expected (even if I had hoped they would be closer) Meanwhile I recall Qarabag getting good results at home in Europe the last couple of years, so Göteborg was going to have an not easy time at it ... didn't really have a good enough feel of Austria Wien to know what to expect from Rosenborg
SønderjyskE were leading 2-0 in the away leg, but somehow slipped where they usually are best ... SønderjyskE were creating excellent opportunites and could have score 3-4 goals, but the Sparta keeper saved the day for a home team that were not allowed to produce any opportunities in open play, but still managed to score 3 goals at corner kicks and after a free kick near the corner flag .... this fact the SønderjyskE coach was feeling very bitter about after the match, because defending at set pieces is usually SønderjyskE's strongest feature ... just not in this game ... I'm guessing that SønderjyskE slipped because they got a very slim squad that in the end was not able keep 100% focused because it has been tough for them to play Superliga and in Europe at the same time, which they have never done before ... they really did try to do their best and it did look like they would progress to the group stage, but in the end they slipped. Midtjylland unfortunately are far from the same team that did so well last season ... first of all, they sold their key defender Erik Sviatchenko, while Kristian Bach has retired, which has been a huge loss for them ... Nikolay Bodurov, who was suppose to add some needed quality and experience to their defense, was no solution and was returned to Fulham ... they also sold Duncan to AGF, lost Marco Ureña to Brøndby and let Daniel Royer go, leaving a talented but very young looking squad, that still managed to progress to the EL play-off's, but mainly due to the flair and goals from Pione Sisto who they then sold before this play-off tie ... they did sign Rafael van der Vaart, to replace Sisto and not least add some experience to a very young team, but it will take a few more games before he can be of real help. Brøndby actually looked good in the away leg in Greece, but then got two men send off, which totally ruined it all for them ... in the home leg they really dominated and could have been leading 3-0 at half-time, but when it did not happen and Panathinaikos then managed to score in the 2nd half, they gave up and setteled for a 1-1 draw.... so it was not poor play but two red cards that really made the difference.