The second match day for 2009-10 Europa League Group Stage is Thursday, 1st October. For fixtures {click here (uefa.com)}.
There are 48 clubs in the Group Stage of this the inaugural Europa League competition. The biggest difference between the Europa League and the competition it replaced, the UEFA Cup, is that the group stage now consists of 12 4-team groups playing home-and-away matches against the other 3 teams in the group. The UEFA Cup had 8 5-team groups playing single matches against the other 4 teams in the group.
10 of the clubs come into the competition from the Champions League play-off round…Sheriff [Tiraspol], of Moldova’s breakaway Transdnester region; Red Bull Salzburg, of Austria; FK Ventspils of Latvia; FC Copenhagen, of Denmark; Levski Sofia, of Bulgaria; RSC Anderlecht, of Belgium; Celtic FC, of Scotland,; Timisoara, of Romania; Sporting CP, of Portugal; and Panathinaikos, of Greece.
There are some pretty big clubs in the 09/10 Europa League. Clubs which averaged over 30,000 last season (in their domestic leagues) are as follows… Scotland’s Celtic FC; Germany’s Hamburg, Hertha Berlin, and Werder Bremen; the Netherlands’ Ajax, and PSV Eindhoven; Italy’s AS Roma, and SS Lazio; Spain’s Valencia CF, and Athletic [Bilbao]; England’s Everton; Portugal’s SL Benfica; and Turkey’s Fenerbahce SK [06/07 gate figures for Fenerbahce, as none more recent were available].
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here (set at 2009-10 Europa League)}. Thanks to uefa.com/Europa League page {click here}.
This is great info for us all. Glad you posted this. I am subscribing to this blog.
Comment by RV Sheets King — October 1, 2009 @ 5:09 am
The crests of the 2 greek teams (Panathinaikos,AEK) are missing!!!
Answer: Thanks very much for pointing that out.
Comment by gate7 — October 1, 2009 @ 7:17 am
I am subscribing to this blog
Commenter’s site: http://aramamotorlari.zbuz.com/blog/yazi/oku/5000000011504632/ARAMA%20MOTORU%20KULLANMA
Comment by Brad — October 1, 2009 @ 8:03 am
[...] the second matchday in the Europa League group stage. Bill has another beautiful map of the contenders, while Jamie Jackson wonders who [...]
Pingback by The Sweeper: Tottenham Mortgage their Fans’ Futures | Pitch Invasion — October 1, 2009 @ 8:03 am
The number of cities with two teams this year in the Europa League is fascinating. I noticed Lisbon, Rome, Bucharest, Prague, Vienna, Athens and Sofia. That seems like a lot.
Answer: That’s a good point, floormaster. It really is a lot, though the fact that the Europa League Group stage has 48 teams, not 40, mitigates it a little bit. That being said, there were only 3 cities with multiple teams 2 seasons ago (3 from Athens, 2 from Moscow, and 2 from Madrid), and just 1 city last season (Moscow), so 8 versus 3, in a tournament that is 20% larger, is a significant increase. Also, note that all are capital cities. Thanks for the comment.
Comment by floormaster squeeze — October 2, 2009 @ 11:49 am
[...] UEFA Europa League 2009-10, Group Stage, with clubs’ average attendances from their domestic leagues. “There are 48 clubs in the Group Stage of this the inaugural Europa League competition. The biggest difference between the Europa League and the competition it replaced, the UEFA Cup, is that the group stage now consists of 12 4-team groups playing home-and-away matches against the other 3 teams in the group. The UEFA Cup had 8 5-team groups playing single matches against the other 4 teams in the group.” (billsportsmaps) [...]
Pingback by UEFA Europa League 2009-10, Group Stage, with clubs’ average attendances from their domestic leagues. « Scissors Kick — October 3, 2009 @ 11:04 am
I like the way the league has shaped up so far, more competitive than the old UEFA…
Commenter’s site: http://www.betsfreebets.com
Answer: The negative coverage the old UEFA Cup got, and the Europa League now gets, is ridiculous. For clubs outside the top echelon most everywhere but England, making this competition is a big deal. I am glad that there are now home and away matches in the Europa League Group stage. There were some decent attendances for some of the matches. See this:
http://soccernet-akamai.espn.go.com/fixtures?league=UEFA.EUROPA&cc=5901
Comment by free bet — October 6, 2009 @ 7:48 pm