UEFA CUP DRAW
Details of British teams' opponents will appear here
UEFA CUP DRAW (all times BST)
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By Chris Whyatt
1205: "Don't forget St. No EDF takeover of British Energy ...
I'm staying at Arsenal - Adebayor ...
Defender Riise in talks with Roma ...
Porto lose Champions League place ... Patrick's Athletic, they caused a massive shock just getting here, beating Elfsborg 4-3 on aggregate and could end up facing AC Milan." cheese666 on 606
Yep, Irish side St Patrick's Athletic are also in the hat. For the draw, the clubs have been split into eight groups of ten, with five seeds in each pool to be drawn against any of the five unseeded sides. So each club can only draw one of five teams. Here we go....
1200: The tension would be hard to slice through with a samurai sword. The presentation/ preamble for the draw has started bang on time. Chris Hall is the host at the Grimaldi forum. More packed than it was for yesterday's Champions League draw (because there are many more teams involved).
1156: Perhaps that description of the Uefa Cup is unfair. All the Brits bar Motherwell are seeded in the draw today so, yes, it's likely most teams will be trekking off to parts of the continent which even the most obscure budget airlines struggle to find a market for.
But despite the presence of countless unpronouncables, some of Europe's biggest clubs - and its best players - are in the hat today.
Ronaldinho's AC Milan are the pick, while Ajax, Benfica, Napoli, Feyenoord, Schalke 04, Galatasaray, Valencia and CSKA Moscow all boast recent pedigree or an illustrious history - some both.
1153: Just three British clubs have won the Uefa Cup in the past 30 years but with six teams peppering a pot of 80 at this first-round knockout stage - prior to those bizarrely-organised group stages which will thankfully be axed next year - hopes will be high one of them can make it four in 2008.
Man City, Aston Villa, Spurs, Portsmouth, Everton and Motherwell won't care that it's the neglected outcast cousin of a competition to Uefa's spoilt star child Champion's League. Will they?
Your thoughts on the Uefa Cup first-round draw
1145: Fancy seeing your team lift a colossal chunk of sculpted silver in Istanbul come May? Thought so.
But hold on. It's its the glitzy principality of Monaco for now, so welcome one and all to the Uefa Cup first round draw.
(BBC)
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