Champions League: Grasshopper Club UEFA Cup: FC Basel, Yboung Boys Bern, Neuchatel Xamax Intertoto Cup: FC Zurich, FC Thun The Thounois start in the 1st round of the competition, and the Zurichois start in the second round. FC Thun will play the qualfier from Latvia (21/22 of June and 28/29 of June). FC Zurich will play the winner of the match Czech 3 and Armenia. Those matches will be 5/6 July and 12/13 of July.
I believe FC Zurich will play the winner of Brno/FC Kotayk Abovyan. From what I understand Brno will be the third Czech team in the Inter-Toto.
From the Tages-anzeiger: Translation: FCZ declines to participate in the Intertoto Cup - Wil gets the spot instead. Well there goes the last shred of hope of getting a team into the Uefa cup through the Intertoto Cup... Updated List CL: Grasshopper-Club Zurich (2nd Qualification Round) UC: FC Basel (1st Round) UC: Neuchatel Xamax (Qualification Round) UC: BSC Young Boys (Qualification Round) UI: Thun (2nd Round) UI: Wil (1st Round)
From what I could gather on their website, the main reason seems to be the Letzigrund. Apparently some work will be done on the track and the stadium would not have been available during the Intertoto cup. The only other option would have been to play the games at the Hardturm. This is fine with me - we don't need their idiot fans to vandalize our stadium again...
If Servette and FC Zurich were playing in the Intertoto Cup, I would feel better about the chances of a Swiss team getting into the UEFA Cup that way. AS it stands with Wil and Thun, It would be great if they both could advance out of the first round. I think that Thun could go farther. If Wil was to play like they did during the three week stretch where they had some really good results, they could be dangerous.
One more UEFA Cup spot possible: FC Aarau is in the Fair Play award draw for a UEFA Cup spot. There are eight teams, and one will be drawn to recieve a UEFA Cup spot. In the wildest dreams, Wil and Thun qualify out of the Intertoto, Aarau gets the spot, add Basel, Xamax and YB and you have a lot of Swiss presence in the UEFA Cup! The draw will take place at the Swiss-Russia U-21 game in Fribourg. Link: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UEFACup/news/Kind=1/newsId=72673.html
Intertoto Cup The Swiss teams now know their opponents: 1st Round FC Wil 1900 vs. FC Dinaburg (LAT) - First leg 21/22 June, Second leg 28/29 June * Opponent in the 2nd round: Willem II (HOL) * Opponent in the 3rd round: RC Lens (FRA) 2nd Round FC Thun vs. FC Brno (CZE) / FC Kotayk (ARM) - First leg 5/6 July, Second leg 12/13 July * Opponent in the 3rd round: En Avant Guingamp (FRA) Yeah, it looks pretty bad for Wil and Thun...
OUCH!!! I could see both winning the first game, but after that, I think it will be really hard. Wil having to face Willem II and Rc Lens! Looks like a short run for them.
Wil could get a break with RC Lens earning a UEFA Cup spot through the fair-play. That gives the Intertoto spot to FC Nantes Atlantique. Wil could have an easier time with them. Not a whole lot, but it is possible.
FC Wil will play their first leg on Saturday (21 June) away in Dinaburg... The Uefa Cup draw for qualifying will be on June 20.
Uefa Cup Qualifying The Uefa Cup draw is in about 15 min. -- It can be followed live on the Uefa website. Info on the drawing process: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UEFACup/news/Kind=1/newsId=75772.html Possible opponents for Young Boys: - Myllykosken Pallo-47 (FIN) - FK Ventspils (LAT) - FC Vaduz (LIE) - Coleraine FC (NIR) Possible opponents for Xamax: - FHK Liepajas Metalurgs (LAT) - Grindavík (ISL) - Valletta FC (MLT) - FC Zhenis Astana (KAZ) There is a possible SFL match-up. YB vs. Vaduz - how cool would that be?
I would love a YB-Vaduz match, but I hope that they dont play each other so I can root for both teams. I think any of the match-ups should be victories for the two Swiss teams, plus FC Vaduz has a chance to advance also.
Myllykosken Pallo-47 (FIN) - Young Boys FC Vaduz - FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) Harder draw for YB. Vaduz can hope for an upset...
Its possible. Vaduz did quite well last year... Oh well, gotta go. btw, I see both teams play these games in their own stadiums (Maladiere, Neufeld)...
FC Wil lost 1-0 in their away leg. That puts them in an interesting position. They have to win by shut-out, or by two goals to advance. Lets hope that FC Saint Gallen sends over some of their fans to help FC Wil go through. Only 1-0 in the first UEFA competition ever is very respectiable. More so considering that the team they have now is vastly different from that which played in LNA last year.
For the Austrian clubs it looks like this: Champion's league qualification: Austria Wien (joins in qualification round three) Graz AK (in Round 2 against Dinamo Tiflis from Georgia or SK Tirana from Albania) UEFA-Cup: FC Kärnten (against Grindavik from Iceland) SV Salzburg (joins in later) UI-Cup: SV Pasching (against WIT Georgia, already played the first leg. It finished 1:0 for Pasching).
YB in Basel YB will play their home game against Mypa in the St. Jakob Park (Uefa ruled that the Neufeld isn't suitable for any type of international games). Xamax will play their home leg in the Maladiere...