One day after that of the Champions League, the draw for the First Round of the UEFA Cup 2008-09 took place in Monaco Friday.
Lots of teams involved, but of course right now we’re only concerned with the Serie A clubs, which didn’t fare too badly to be quite honest.
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2008/09 UEFA Cup
First Round
to be played September 18 and October 02
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Dortmund | Udinese | ![]() |
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AC Milan | Zürich | ![]() |
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Sampdoria | Kaunas | ![]() |
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Napoli | Benfica | ![]() |
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AC Milan probably have it easiest facing against FC Zürich, who came in 3rd last year in the Swiss Super League (after having won it in 2006 and 2007). Some of the Rossoneri will remember their stadium (Letzigrund), because Italy played two of their Euro 2008 games there (vs. Romania and France). Looking back at ancient history one also finds that, believe it or not, Zürich also managed to reach the Semi-finals of the European Champions Cup (now called UEFA Champions League) in 1964 and 1977. Ya, we’re all thinking the same thing: eons ago.
Sampdoria will play against FBK Kaunas, current Lithuanian champions. Wow… Lithuania? Easy right? Not so much. FYI, these guys eliminated Glasgow Rangers in the UCL second qualifying round (2-1 aggregate), then went on to lose 0-4 aggregate to Aalborg. Hard to gauge therefore. With Antonio Cassano in fine form though, Walter Mazzarri’s boys should breeze through.
As for Udinese and Napoli, well… the draw could have been better. The North-Eastern Bianconeri were a seeded team, but still managed to pick Borussia Dortmund (a team with a prestigious football past, but which in the past 5-6 years has been doing sh*t), while the Azzurri probably got one of the toughest opponents in SL Benfica (who by the way just signed striker David Suazo from Inter today).
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Full UEFA Cup First Round Draw |
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APOEL | Schalke | |
Nordsjælland | Olympiacos | |
Slaven | CSKA Moskva | |
Brøndby | Rosenborg | |
Cherno More | Stuttgart | |
Rennes | Twente | |
Borac | Ajax | |
Tottenham | Wisła Kraków | |
Moskva | København | |
Žilina | Levski | |
Dortmund | Udinese | |
Braga | Artmedia | |
Feyenoord | Kalmar | |
Hamburg | AFC Unirea Urziceni | |
H. Tel-Aviv | St-Étienne | |
Litex | Aston Villa | |
Austria Wien | Lech Poznań | |
Setúbal | Heerenveen | |
Brann | Deportivo | |
Slavia | Vaslui | |
AC Milan | Zürich | |
FC Timişoara | Partizan | |
Hertha | St Patrick’s | |
Baník | Spartak Moskva | |
Beşiktaş | Metalist | |
Portsmouth | Guimarães | |
Kayserispor | PSG | |
Sevilla | Salzburg | |
Wolfsburg | Rapid Bucureşti | |
Sampdoria | Kaunas | |
Marítimo | Valencia | |
Dinamo Zagreb | Sparta | |
Omonia | Man. City | |
Young Boys | Club Brugge | |
Nancy | Motherwell | |
Everton | Standard | |
Napoli | Benfica | |
Bellinzona | Galatasaray AŞ | |
NEC | Dinamo Bucureşti | |
Racing | Honka |
Tags: AC Milan, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, FC Zürich, Kaunas, Napoli, Sampdoria, Udinese, UEFA Cup