UEFA - UEFA Cup Qual.

Manchester City and AEK are close to being eliminated

Manchester City and AEK are close to being eliminated

The first leg of this qualification round brought us some interesting duels, and we saw some surprises as well. Manchester City lost at home, while Grasshoppers conceded six times in Poland. However, most of the duels are still undecided, and a lot of teams still hope to go through.

The most surprising result of the round was that from Poland where Lech defeated Grasshoppers 6:0. Manchester City lost to Danish Midtjyilland at home, and now faces a tough task in Denmark. In a big Scandinandavian derby, Djurgarden was better than Rosenborg, while Brondby easily defeated Haka 4:0 away from home, in another clash of teams from the North of Europe. Stabaek of Norway had a two goal lead against Rennes, but the visitors pulled one back, and now have realistic chances of progressing. Hertha and Aston Villa both recorded victories away from home and should have no problems in the return leg. Napoli and Besiktas are among the big teams who are one step closer to the group stages with away wins in the first games. AEK disappointed at home, losing to neighbours Omonia, while the game between Zurich and Sturm ended 1:1, which gives both teams good chances to progress. The game between Wit and Austria Wien was cancelled due to unstable situation in Georgia, and the result from the game in Austria will be final.

We are bound to see some surprises

Very good Midtjylland will hope to stay focused and eliminate a big team as Manchester City, while Deportivo will have to work hard in Split where they will meet Hajduk. Brondby, Salzburg, Aston Villa and Napoli are among the teams who are sure to go through, but Rennes will have to give their best to eliminate hard working Stabaek. Sturm and Zurich will play another interesting game after the draw in the first leg, while the pressure is on AEK when they travel to Cyprus to face Omonia. After very good result from the first leg, Irish team St Patrick’s will have the chance to create another surprise as they play Elfsborg. Rosenborg will try to revenge to Djurgarden for the defeat in Sweden and record a win in front of the home fans. Gent, Borac and Dnipro will travel to away games with one goal advantage over their opponents. Ex European Champions Crvena Zvezda will have good opportunity to progress after a draw in Cyprus.

Most of the big teams have already created enough advantage, and are certain to go through. However, Manchester City, AEK and Deportivo will have to work hard to eliminate their opponents, and we could se some surprises in these games. The teams that go through will have just another obstacle on their way to group stages.