UEFA Cup 2008–09
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 |
This article documents a current UEFA Cup Season. Information may change as the event progresses. |
| 2008–09 UEFA Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | 17 July 2008 – 20 May 2009 |
| Teams | 157 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 137 |
| Goals scored | 386 (2.82 per match) |
The UEFA Cup 2008-09 is the 38th edition of the UEFA Cup football tournament. The final will be played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe, in Istanbul, Turkey on 20 May 2009.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Qualification
119 teams have qualified directly for the 2008-09 UEFA Cup from 53 UEFA associations. An additional three teams qualified via the UEFA Fair Play league, while 35 further teams will qualify from the UEFA Intertoto Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Each association enters a certain number of teams to the UEFA Cup based on its league co-efficient. Through domestic competitions (national championships and cups and league cups in certain countries) an association may qualify up to four teams. Below is the qualification scheme for the 2008-09 UEFA Cup:
- Associations 1-6 each have 3 teams qualify
- Associations 7-8 each have 4 teams qualify
- Associations 9-15 each have 2 teams qualify
- Associations 16-21 each have 3 teams qualify
- Associations 22-53 each have 2 teams qualify - with the exception of Liechtenstein (38), Andorra (51) and San Marino (52) who have 1 team
plus
- 3 UEFA Fair Play entries
- 11 winners of the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008
- 16 losers from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
- 8 third-placed teams from the UEFA Champions League group stage
First qualifying round: (74 teams)
- 33 Cup-winners from associations 21-53
- 32 runners-up from associations 19-37, 39-50 and 53
- 6 third-place finishers from associations 16-21
- 3 entries through UEFA Fair Play
Second qualifying round: (64 teams)
- 37 winners from the first qualifying round
- 6 Cup-winners from associations 15-20
- 7 third-place finishers from associations 9-15
- 3 runners-up from associations 16-18
- 11 entries from UEFA Intertoto Cup
First round: (80 teams)
- 32 winners from the second qualifying round
- 14 National cup-winners from associations 1-14
- 2 third-place finishers from associations 7-8
- 5 fourth-place finishers from associations 4-8
- 7 fifth-place finishers from associations 1-3, 5-8
- 2 sixth-place finishers from associations 1-2
- 2 League cup-winners from associations 3-4
- 16 entries from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
Group stage: (40 teams)
- 40 winners from the First Round
Knockout stage: (32 teams)
- 24 top-three finishers from the group stage
- 8 entries from UEFA Champions League group stage
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- Note 1: UEFA Champions League group stage third-placed team of each group
- Note 2: Losers of UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
- Note 3: Moved up from the lower qualifying round due to the Title Holder entry not being used.
- Note 4: Third round winners of UEFA Intertoto Cup
[edit] Round and draw dates
The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw.
| Date | Event | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2008 | Draw for first qualifying round | 17 December 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 5 |
| 17 July 2008 | First qualifying round, first leg | 18 December 2008 | |
| 31 July 2008 | First qualifying round, second leg | 19 December 2008 | Draw for Round of 32 and Round of 16 |
| 1 August 2008 | Draw for second qualifying round | 18 February 2009 | Round of 32, first leg |
| 14 August 2008 | Second qualifying round, first leg | 19 February 2009 | |
| 28 August 2008 | Second qualifying round, second leg | 26 February 2009 | Round of 32, second leg |
| 29 August 2008 | Draw for first round | 12 March 2009 | Round of 16, first leg |
| 18 September 2008 | First round, first leg | 18 March 2009 | Round of 16, second leg |
| 2 October 2008 | First round, second leg | 19 March 2009 | |
| 7 October 2008 | Draw for group stage | 20 March 2009 | Draw for remaining rounds |
| 23 October 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 1 | 9 April 2009 | Quarter-finals, first leg |
| 6 November 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 2 | 16 April 2009 | Quarter-finals, second leg |
| 27 November 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 3 | 30 April 2009 | Semi-finals, first leg |
| 3 December 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 4 | 7 May 2009 | Semi-finals, second leg |
| 4 December 2008 | 20 May 2009 | Final in Istanbul, Turkey |
[edit] Qualifying rounds
[edit] First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round took place on 1 July 2008.[10] The first legs were played on 17 July 2008 and the second legs were played on 31 July 2008, with the exception of the Nordsjælland vs TVMK match, which was played on 29 July 2008.
- Note 5: Played in Smederevo at Fortress Stadium as Borac Čačak's home ground did not meet UEFA criteria.
- Note 6: Played in Berlin at Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark because Olympiastadion was occupied by another event.[11]
- Note 7: Played in Chisinau at Zimbru Stadium as Nistru Otaci's home ground did not meet UEFA criteria.
- Note 8: Played at Tórsvøllur as EB/Streymur's home ground did not meet UEFA criteria.
- Note 9: Manchester City played their home game at Oakwell Stadium, home of Barnsley, because the pitch at their home ground needed to be relaid after a Bon Jovi concert.[12]
- Note 10: Played at Råsunda Stadium as Djurgården's home ground did not meet UEFA criteria.
- Note 11: Midtjylland were originally drawn to play at home in the first leg, but the order of the games was reversed.
- Note 12: Bangor City's home leg was played at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground, as their own ground did not meet UEFA criteria.
In each region of the draw for the first qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients. The lower pots contained unranked teams from associations 34-53, together with Vėtra of Lithuania (the 33rd association). The higher pots contained teams from associations 1-32, together with Sūduva of Lithuania, and FH (who had a team ranking, 209).
Three of the 37 ties were won by the lower ranked team, all involving teams whose ranking was that of their association: WIT Georgia (Georgia, ranked 38) beat Spartak Trnava (Slovakia, 24); Vllaznia Shkodër (Albania, 43) beat Koper (Slovenia, 29); and St Patrick's Athletic (Ireland, 35) beat Olimps (Latvia, 31).
[edit] Second qualifying round
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 1 August 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland,[13] and featured 16 teams entering directly at the second qualifying round, as well as the 37 winners from the previous round and the 11 third round winners of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. The first legs were played on 14 August 2008 and the second leg on 28 August 2008.
Because there are an odd number of teams in the Central and Northern groups in the 2nd qualifying round, UEFA moved Rennes from the Central-East group to the Northern group. Furthermore Liepājas Metalurgs and Sūduva were moved from the Northern group to the Central-East group, and Vaslui and Interblock Ljubljana were moved from the Southern-Mediterranean group to the Central-East group. It is unknown why UEFA decided on these last moves since it is not strictly required. One of the reasons could be to have more balance in the groups with respect to the coefficients.
- Note 13: Played at Fortress Stadium in Smederevo as Borac Čačak's home ground did not meet UEFA criteria.
- Note 14: Order of legs reversed due to APOEL playing the same day at Omonia's stadium
- Note 15: The return leg will be played in AFG Arena, St. Gallen as Grasshoppers' home ground, the Letzigrund is occupied by an Golden League athletics meet the following day.[14]
- Note 16: Due to the current conflict in Georgia and the ensuing safety concerns, UEFA ordered the first leg to be cancelled. The match will now be held as a single leg tie in Vienna. [15]
- Note 17: Played at Stadio Cornaredo in Lugano as Stadio Comunale in Bellinzona did not meet UEFA criteria.
- Note 18: Played at Petrol Arena in Celje as Interblock's home ground in Ljubljana did not meet UEFA criteria.
- Note 19: Played at Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark because Hertha BSC's usual home ground, Olympiastadion, was occupied with a Madonna concert.
- Note 20: Played at Råsunda Stadium as Djurgården's home ground did not meet UEFA criteria.
- Note 21: Order of legs reversed at the request of both clubs.[16]
In each region of the draw for the second qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients. The higher pots contained teams with a ranking of 176 or higher, and unranked teams from associations ranked 1 to 15 (or 17 in the Southern-Mediterranean region).
12 of the 32 ties were won by the lower-ranked team. The 12 teams that lost to a lower team were: AEK Athens, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Aris Thessaloniki, Red Star Belgrade, Grasshopper, Slovan Liberec, Viking, Lokomotiv Sofia, Elfsborg, Gent, Queen of the South and Debrecen.
[edit] First round
32 teams entered the tournament at the first round, along with the 32 winners from the previous round and the 16 losers from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. The 80 teams were then split into eight groups of 10 teams; five seeded teams and five unseeded teams. The draw was based on their coefficient ranking with one exception: no country can have multiple teams in any group. These teams will play two legs, home and away, scheduled for 18 September and 2 October. The remaining teams from each group will then enter the draw for the following group stage round. There they will be drawn into new groups and play in a round-robin format, with the first of five group-stage matchdays on 23 October.[17]
- Note 22: Order of legs reversed.
- Note 23: Order of legs reversed due to AC Omonia's ground-share fixture congestion.
- Note 24: Order of legs reversed.
- Note 25: Order of legs reversed due to Spartak Moscow playing the same day in Moscow.
[edit] Final
The final of the UEFA Cup 2008-09 will be held on 20 May 2009 at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. This will be the first time that the UEFA Cup Final has been held in Turkey and follows the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final which was held in Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium selected for 2009 UEFA Cup Final". UEFA (2007-09-05). Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ Cup finalists Coleraine have failed to gain a UEFA licence. With the other finalist, Linfield, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, the 3rd placed team in the league qualifies for the UEFA Cup.
- ^ Although qualified as Serbian Cup runner-up, FK Zemun did not gain a UEFA license because of the club's poor finances. Borac Čačak got Zemun's UEFA Cup spot as the 4th-placed team in the 2007–08 Serbian Superliga final standings.
- ^ According UEFA coefficients Austrian cup-winner is supposed to play in this round, but as Austrian Cup is reserved only for amateur teams this season, this qualification spot is given to 3rd-placed team from league competition.
- ^ "England earn Fair Play prize". UEFA (2008-05-13). Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ "Man City claim last Uefa Cup slot". BBC Sport (2008-05-16).
- ^ a b "Fair Play bonus for Germans and Danes". UEFA (2008-05-13). Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ "FC Nordsjælland i UEFA Cup'en", Dansk Boldspil-Union. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
- ^ "Hertha BSC gewinnt nationale Fairplay-Wertung". Bundesliga.de (2008-05-18). Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
- ^ "Dates for next season's UEFA Cup". BBC Sport (2008-06-20). Retrieved on 2008-06-27.
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7445562.stm Oakwell to host Man City tie
- ^ "Draws for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup" (PDF), UEFA (2008-07-22). Retrieved on 2008-07-22.
- ^ (German) UEFA-Cup in der AFG Arena, stadt24.ch, retrieved 14 August 2006
- ^ Vienna to host the WIT-Austria tie
- ^ "Switch Confirmed", Aston Villa F.C. (2008-08-04). Retrieved on 2008-08-05.
- ^ "Hopefuls to discover first-round fates". UEFA.com (2007-08-31). Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
