Why I Love the UEFA Cup (at least by the time they reach the Round of 32)

By: Laurie | March 1st, 2009

This lovely moment brought to you by Hatem ben Arfa of Marseille, courtesy of the Champions League’s kid sister, the UEFA Cup. This particular goal brought Marseille level with FC Twente, causing the match to go to penalties. Marseille eventually walked away the winners, 7-6.

I don’t know about you, but I’m finding myself more interested in the UEFA Cup this year. Maybe it’s because this is the last iteration, and it will cease to exist in its current form immediately after the final, rebranded and expanded into the “Europa League.”

Or maybe it’s the unpredictability. Who here predicted that perennial Champions League club AC Milan, slumming it this year in UEFA Cup, would go out on away goals in the round of 32? (Werder Bremen fans, put your hands down. I already counted you.) And who predicted that St. Etienne or Metalist would go through to the final 16?

(Metalist? Dude, isn’t that, like, y’know, a band or something?)

That’s the beauty of UEFA Cup. Anything can happen. Clubs from larger countries get shocked, and clubs from smaller countries get a chance to shine. And so, after the round of 32, we have relative heavyweights like Milan and Aston Villa and Valencia going home, and CSKA Moscow, Metalist and Braga going through. (Although Aston Villa, at least, was kind of predictable. They have a strong chance of making Champions League next year for the first time in ages, and they understandably didn’t put 100% into a competition that could see their best players injured.)

(And for the record, three out of the four French clubs in the Round of 32 are still in it. Only Bordeaux — shock! heartbreak! — got taken out.)

Question of the day: Do clubs from the larger countries take this competition seriously enough? Or do they give it a shrug because they have more to gain from league success? Will the Europa League help? Discuss.

From the UEFA Cup site, the Round of 16 draw and first leg info:

Bremen – St Etienne 12/03 » TBD »
CSKA Moskva – Shakhtar 12/03 » TBD »
Udinese – Zenit 12/03 » TBD »
PSG – Braga 12/03 » TBD »
Dynamo Kyiv – Metalist 12/03 » TBD »
Man. City – AaB 12/03 » TBD »
Hamburg – Galatasaray 12/03 » 18/03 »
Marseille – Ajax

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Category: World Football

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Utku

i think the UCL has too high of expectations and they don't meet them and the UEFA cup has low expectations and exceeds them by far, making it the better competition to watch. the smaller clubs do get a chance to shine and that's what makes these games so intense, they pour their souls out on these games for the betterment of the spectator.