billsportsmaps.com

March 10, 2009

2008-’09 UEFA Cup, Final phase/ Round of 16: Map, with Club Profiles.

Filed under: UEFA Cup / Europa League — admin @ 5:24 pm

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I don’t care what anyone says,  I like the UEFA Cup.  All too often,  Champions League games are boring affairs,  with both sides playing so conservatively that the tempo is deadened.  But very often in UEFA Cup matches,  the play is wide open and go-for-broke.  And to those who say what is the point, because it’s not the Champions League,  it’s the second-best cup,  I say…  nations’ Champions League status is directly affected by outcomes in the UEFA Cup.  For example,  for 2009-2010,  Russia will now have 2 clubs, not just 1,  that go directly to the Champions League Group Stage,  and 1 club that will enter the 3rd round of the Champions League Qualifiers.  That means 3,  not 2,  clubs from Russia can now make it to the 09/10 Champions League.  Conversely,  only 2 clubs from Portugal,  not 3,  can make it to the 09/10 Champions League.  This is due to outcomes not just in the Champions League,  but the UEFA Cup as well.  Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg won last season’s UEFA Cup,  and that contributed to Russia’s rise in the UEFA Coefficient rankings,  from #9 to #6.  And the clubs that finished in second and third place in the 2009 Russian Premier League will benefit from this.

So while English clubs like Bolton (last season) and Aston Villa (this season) feel it is necessary to field weakened sides in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup,  clubs from many other parts of Europe feel otherwise.

UEFA Coefficient rankings, {click here}.

Thanks to ESPN Soccernet, for attendance figures {click here (set at 2008-’09 Bundesliga attendances).   Thanks to the European Football Statistics site for attendance figures {click here}.   Thanks to Ukrainiansoccer.net,  for attendance figures {click here}.   Thanks to the contibutors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (set to 08/09 UEFA Cup/Round of 16).

Thanks to Colours Of Football, for kits {click here}.   Thanks to Switch Image Project for kits {click here}.   [Note: I decided not to display the Euro kits which some clubs have, because I was unable to get illustrations of all of these.  So I used their domestic leagues kits.  To see: Olimpique Marseille’s 08/09 Euro kit, (click here};  St.-Etienne’s 08/09 Euro kit, {click here};  Hamburg’s 08/09 Euro Kit, (click here}

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