There was a sense of anxiety in Santander as the group stage draw for the UEFA Cup were held on Tuesday in Nyon. By the end, the anxiety became nauseating as their fortunes saw them in the group of death. The “luck” of the draw saw them emerge as rivals for team such as Paris-St.Germain, Schalke 04, Manchester City, and FC Twente.
Deportivo in the meantime could not gloat as the bounce of the balls was not the most favorable for them either. Group H was yet another competitive group in which they have to face the likes of Feyenoord, Nancy, CSKA Moscow, and Polish side Lech Poznan.
Previous UEFA Cup winners Sevilla and Valencia got their requests in the Group C and G respectively. The two-time UEFA Cup champs will see a fairly difficult road to their third title as they will have to play Stuttgart, Italian side Sampdoria, FK Partizan from Serbia, and perennial Belgian powerhouse Standard Liege. If there was a winner in this draw it could have been Los Chés as they will have to play their passage into the next round when they face the likes of Brugge, Rosenborg, FC Kobehavn, and St. Etienne.
In UEFA Cup play, the teams that finish first and third in every group will be paired off in the following round. The second place teams will be paired off against the third place teams that come out of the Champions League groups. Group stage play begins on October 23rd.
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Racing and Depor were shown no favors. It is going to be very tricky for these two to balance their play in La Liga and Europe. So far Racing is starting of on the wrong foot. Valencia have the easiest draw, so good luck to them. It's about time Los Che got some luck. Sevilla should be fine, but will have to earn their spot, which makes good footy.
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