Duffyboy

Souness should learn to pick him!

It was critical that he played as without his influence Newcastle were useless. 4-1 after being 1-1 at half time and cruising. What the fuck was that about!

DrTagnian

Thursday 14th April
Auxerre 2-0 CSKA Moscow
AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Villarreal
Parma 0-0 Austria Vienna
Sporting Lisbon 4-1 Newcastle United

Sporting show they have a very good team and are favorite for the UEFA Cup title this year.

PastyHusty

Sporting Lisbon looked down and out.. then they scored just before half-time! Newcastle simply weren't good enough in the second-half. Sporting deserved to go through on their performance.

Semi-Finals
Parma .v. CSKA Moscow
Sporting Lisbon .v. AZ Alkmaar

Looking at this, I can see a CSKA - Sporting Final. It won't be easy for either though. CSKA are strong at home, but will they be able to get a good result in Italy!? .. and just how close will Sporting and Alkmaar be!? I rate Villarreal as a good Spanish team, so I think AZ are in with a chance. It's so hard to see which team will go through - bring on the Semi-Finals!

DrTagnian

One of the reasons why Villarreal weren't able to defeat AZ in my opinion, is the fact that Forlan isn't allowed to play in the UEFA Cup for Villarreal.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Poor Forlan, I often check the Villarreal site for news on Diego.

Riapanonias

I see sporting lisboa in the final .
but how on earth did newkastle go on a defeat like that on the 2nd round

ForeverInLoveWithJus

I know, they fell apart, That scoreline was shocking but I think Souness causes half his problems by leaving important players like Robert out, Keep your differences aside.

PastyHusty

Thursday 28th April
Parma .v. CSKA Moscow
Sporting Lisbon .v. AZ Alkmaar

I think both home teams will come away with an advantage tonight.

Parma are very defensive, so I can't see them conceding a lot of goals. CSKA have progressed this far thanks to their very impressive home form, but they do lack something away from home. Maybe they could take advantage of Parma's situation in the league, as I can't imagine Parma will be 100% focused on winning the UEFA Cup.. maybe.

AZ Alkmaar have a ever-growing list of injuries and come into this match on the back on 4 straight league defeats - in which they have conceded a great number of goals! AZ are on a slide, while Sporting Lisbon are flying high in the league (2nd to Benfica) They'll go into this match with confidence and the insentive that they could play in a Final hosted at their stadium! I can see Sporting winning by a few goals tonight.

DrTagnian

Parma's battle against relegation is far more important indeed, Gildardino and Morfeo both won't play. I don't see any problems for Parma this evening, but in Moscow who knows what could happen. CSKA Moscow to reach the Final!

Sporting definitely will have an advantage after tonight. If AZ draw or win, it's a miracle. Kromkamp, Matthijsen, Meerdink ... all are out. The youngsters have to defend one of the most attractive playing team in Europe. Let's hope Sporting will stop when it's 2-0.

PastyHusty

..and make the second leg meaningful!? I somehow doubt Sporting will hold back if they're dominant tonight..


This is my team for the Fantasy UEFA Cup competition at uefa.com for tonight's matches:

GK: Bucci
DF: Cardone, Rui Jorge, Contini, Ignashevic
MF: Rochemback, Van Galen, Pedro Barbosa, Carvalho
ST: Pisanu, Liedson

Sub: Perez


I've already won the UEFA Cup PL I take part in.