The last 16 of the UEFA Cup doesn’t look half bad.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, who boast two of Europe’s form players in Luca Toni and Franck Ribery, qualified after thrashing Aberdeen 7-3 on aggregate and now meet Belgium’s perennial champions Anderlecht
Werder Bremen, Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen - the rest of the top four in Germany - are also through with Leverkusen playing Hamburg in one of the standout ties during March.
Fiorentina, above European champions AC Milan in Serie A, will face Everton, fourth in the Premier League and above Liverpool.
Former European Cup winners Benfica and Marseille are also there while Tottenham Hotspur boss Juande Ramos is aiming for an unprecedented third straight UEFA Cup title after winning twice with Sevilla. (He did rest a few players for Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague with one eye on Sunday’s League Cup final with Chelsea — another rejuvenated competition?)
Throw in Rangers, Bolton Wanderers, Zenit St Petersburg, Getafe, PSV Eindhoven and Sporting and suddenly the UEFA Cup looks more appealing than it has done in years.
When the European Cup was just for the champions as opposed to the current Champions League (huh?), the UEFA Cup had street cred and used to be more difficult to win given there were two or three good teams from each of the big leagues.
Then the top clubs were all absorbed into the Champions League and the UEFA Cup began to suffer, especially when cup winners got thrown in too.
This season, though, the secondary competition seems to be fighting back. Do you agree or do you still think the UEFA Cup is a nuisance? Let us know in the comments.
Mark Meadows, Milan
PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s Altintop tackles Aberdeen’s Forster during their UEFA Cup match in Munich Feb.21 REUTERS/Alexandra Beier
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9 comments so far
It has been a good year and it looks like getting better, with the big teams kept apart so far. A Bayern v Tottenham final would be pretty interesting. I think they’ll have to get rid of the annoying group phase before it really makes a comeback, though. The pre-Christmas side of things is one long pain.
- Posted by KevThe latter stages of the UEFA cup tend to be much more exciting, I agree they really should look into a better way of getting through to the quarter finals, as participation in a full UEFA cup campaign can be a long drawn out affair.
- Posted by Richard Hughes[…] Not too shabby, especially those last two games. And it’s led Reuters Soccer Blog to ask the question: is the UEFA Cup back? […]
- Posted by The UEFA Cup: Awful Group Stage, Great Knockouts - UEFA Cup - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the worldWhat, there´s still a UEFA Cup?
- Posted by LondonDo you remember when it used to be pronounced YOU-fa Cup?
- Posted by LondonI’m not sure if the UEFA Cup is back in the big time just yet, but it is now definately more competitive.
- Posted by Cy NicalI predict a rise in status of this competition, as clubs throughout Europe that a few years ago would have had a realistic chance of getting into the Champions League/European Cup are finding it increasingly dificult to compete with the rich clubs in their respective leagues.
Never as the gulf between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ been so great, and this as left many clubs of an equally high standard giving it there all to win it as this competition is the only ‘European advertisement board’ available for these clubs.Great for the fans too.
[…] UEFA Cup bigger than we think? (Reuters Soccer Blog) […]
- Posted by Daily Dose.: 2.24.08 - World Football - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the worldBayern to win it all, seriously. They’ve been uneven this season, but their recent form has been strong. Like the boss from Aberdeen said — they lose Ribery and bring in Schweinsteiger.
- Posted by SternDesSuedensThe UEFA Cup certainly does seem to be reclaiming some of it’s credentials as a relevant competition for the bigger clubs in Europe.
- Posted by Betting Blue BoyA way which UEFA could deal with this - and I know that it has a lot to do with money - would be to reduce the number of teams in the Champions League, scrapping the groups stage creating a fully knock-out competition and increasing the spice throughout the cup. I say this because there have been some really dull group stage games due to the fact that teams are already qualified etc.
The effect this would have on the UEFA Cup would be beneficial as stronger teams would qualify for the competition and a knock-on affect would be seen in the domestic leagues with fewer Champions League places there to play for.
What do you think?