UEFA Cup First Round

Ajax and Club Brugge squander away wins

Ozren Podnar

USA | Japan

Poor showing of the Italians in the first round if the UEFA Cup. Only Fiorentina scraped through on penalties against Groningen whereas Sampdoria, Palermo and Empoli went down to a seemingly lesser oppositions. Perhaps the most unlikely achievement was Mlada Bolesav's 1-0 victory at Palermo and the subsequent Czech triumph in the penalty shootout.

Other brave efforts came from Brann Bergen and Dinamo Zagreb, who had to overcome a 0-1 deficit from their home games against Club Brugge and Ajax, respectively. Both teams overcame their underdogs' role and scored amazing away wins that saw them through on away goals' rule.

Particularly emphatic was Dinamo's win at Amsterdam ArenA, as the Croats ran riot up to the 105th minute, only relaxing after a 3-0 lead and leaving needing to score three goals to qualify.

Of the big clubs threatened by weak first leg results, Anderlecht did well to eliminate Rapid in Vienna after a 1-1 draw at home. Nürnberg saved their skin thanks to a 2-2 draw in Bucharest, which gave them a ticket for the group stage on away goals' rule. Aberdeen and Toulouse went through in a similar fashion thanks to scoring draws at Dnipropetrovsk and Sofia.

The draw for the group stage was held on Tuesday, October 9th.

GROUP A

AZ Alkmaar
Zenit St. Petersburg
Everton
Nuremberg
Larissa

GROUP B

Panathinaikos
Lokomotiv Moscow
Atletico Madrid
Aberdeen
Copenhagen

GROUP C

Villareal
AEK Athens
Fiorentina
Mlada Boleslav
Elfsborg

GROUP D

FC Basel
Hamburg
Rennes
Dinamo Zagreb
SK Brann

GROUP E

Bayer Leverkusen
Sparta Prague
Spartak Moscow
Toulouse
FC Zurich

GROUP F

Bayern Munich
Bolton Wanderers
Braga
Red Star Belgrade
Aris

GROUP G

Anderlecht
Tottenham
Getafe
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Aalborg

GROUP H

Bordeaux
Austria Vienna
Galatasaray
Panionos
Helsingborg

1st Round

1st 2nd
Dinamo Zagreb vs. Ajax 0-1 3-2
Sarajevo vs. Basel 1-2 0-6
Rabotnicki vs. Bolton 1-1 0-1
Midtyjlland vs. Lokomotiv Moscow 1-3 0-2
Groningen vs. Fiorentina 1-1 1-1, 3-4 (pen)
Nürnberg vs. Rapid Bucharest 0-0 2-2
Zenit vs. Standard 3-0 1-1
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Uniao Leiria 3-1 2-3
Sion vs. Galatasaray 3-2 1-5
Atletico Madrid vs. Kayserispor 4-0 5-0
Artmedia vs. Panathinaikos 1-2 0-3
Sparta Prag vs. OB Odense 0-0 0-0, 4-3 (pen)
Empoli vs. Zürich 2-1 0-3
Sochaux vs. Panionios 0-2 1-0
Anderlecht vs. Rapid Vienna 1-1 1-0
Sampdoria vs. Aalborg 2-2 0-0
Hammarby vs. Sporting Braga 2-1 0-4
Mlada Boleslav vs. Palermo 0-1 1-0, 4-2 (pen)
Lokomotiv Sofia vs. Rennes 1-3 2-1
Bayern vs. Belenenses 1-0 2-0
Aberdeen vs. Dnipro 0-0 1-1
Heerenveen vs. Helsinborg 5-3 1-5
Toulouse vs. CSKA Sofia 0-0 1-1
Litex Lovech vs. Hamburger SV 0-1 1-3
Austria Vienna vs. Valerenga 2-0 2-2
Hapoel Tel Aviv vs. AIK Solna 0-0 1-0
Aris vs. Zaragoza 1-0 1-2
Dinamo Bukurest vs. Elfsborg 1-2 1-0
Tottenham vs. Anorthosis 6-1 1-1
Lens vs. FC Kobenhavn 1-1 1-2
Getafe vs. Twente 1-0 2-3
Groclin vs. Crvena Zvezda 0-1 0-1
Everton vs. Metalist Harkov 1-1 3-2
Brann Bergen vs. Club Brugge 0-1 2-1
Spartak Moskva vs. Hacken 5-0 3-1
Larissa vs. Blackburn 2-0 1-2
Villarreal vs. BATE Borisov 4-1 2-0
Bordeaux vs. Tampere 3-2 1-1
AEK Atena vs. Salzburg 3-0 0-1
Pacos Ferreira vs. AZ Alkmaar 0-1 0-0

2nd Preliminary Round

1st 2nd
Hajduk vs. Sampdoria 0-1, 1-1
Slaven Belupo vs. Galatasaray 1-2, 1-2
Lokomotiv Sofija vs. Otelul 3-1, 0-0
CFR Cluj vs. Anorthosis 1-3, 0-0
Rabotnicki vs. Zrinjski 0-0, 2-1
Uniao Leiria - Maccabi Netanya 0-0, 1-0
Besa Kavaja vs. Litex Lovech 0-3, 0-3
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Kayseri Erciyesspor 1-1, 1-3
Atletico Madrid vs. Vojvodina 3-0, 2-1
Siroki Brijeg vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv 0-3, 0-3
Omonia Nikozija vs. CSKA Sofia 1-1, 1-2
Basel vs. Mattersburg 2-1, 4-0
Ried vs. Sion 1-1, 0-3
MIKA Erevan vs. Artmedia 2-1, 0-2
Dnipro vs. Belchatow 1-1, 4-2
Honved vs. Hamburger SV 0-0, 0-4
Young Boys vs. Lens 1-1, 1-5
Tobol vs. Groclin 0-1, 0-2
Austria Vienna vs. Jablonec 4-3, 1-1
Zlate Moravce vs.Zenit St. Petersburg 0-2, 0-3
Dinamo Tbilisi vs. Rapid Vienna 0-3, 0-5
MyPa Anjalankoski vs. Blackburn 0-1, 0-2
Drogheda vs. Helsingborg 1-1, 0-3
Metalurgs Liepaja - AIK Solna 3-2, 0-2
HJK Helsinki vs. Aalborg 2-1, 0-3
Ekranas vs. Valerenga Oslo 1-1, 0-6
Dunfermline vs. Häcken Göteborg 1-1, 0-1
Brann Bergen vs. Suduva Mariampole 2-1, 4-3
Haka Valkeakoski vs. Midtylland 1-2, 2-5
Dinamo Minsk vs. OB Odense 1-1, 0-4
Kaerjeng vs. Standard Liege 0-3, 0-1
Hammarby vs. Fredrikstad 2-1, 1-1