The first round of matches will be played on Thursday September 17

Group A
Ajax (NED)
Anderlecht (BEL)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
FC Timisoara (ROU)

Group B
Valencia (SPN)
Lille (FRA)
Slavia Prague (CZE)
Genoa (ITA)

Group C
Hamburg (GER)
Celtic (SCO)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Rapid Vienna (AUT)

Group D
Sporting (POR)
Heerenveen (NED)
Hertha Berlin (GER)
Ventspils (LAT)

Group E
Roma (ITA)
FC Basel (SUI)
Fulham (ENG)
CSKA Sofia (BUL)

Group F
Panathinaikos (GRE)
Galatasaray (TUR)
Dinamo Bucharest (ROU)
Sturm Graz (AUT)

Group G
Villarreal (SPA)
Lazio (ITA)
Levski Sofia (BUL)
Salzburg (AUT)

Group H
Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
Fenerbahce (TUR)
FC Twente (NED)
FC Sheriff (MDA)

Group I
Benfica (POR)
Everton (ENG)
AEK Athens (GRE)
BATE Borisov (BLR)

Group J
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Partizan Belgrade (SER)
Toulouse (FRA)

Group K
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Copenhagen (DEN)
Sparta Prague (CZE)
CFR Cluj (ROM)

Group L
Werder Bremen (GER)
Austria Vienna (AUT)
Athletic Bilbao (SPA)
Nacional (POR)

 

1. Thou shalt only send surreal text messages 2. Thou shalt always give evasive answers 3. Thou shalt never achieve more than 90% at anything 4. Thou shalt always put off until tomorrow everything 5. Thou shalt never demonstrate how to do things, always do thyself at great speed 6. Thou shalt discuss sport especially with people who don’t understand the attraction 7. Thou shalt strike the desk in anger or joy 8. Thou shalt look after the pennies at the expense of the pounds 9. Thou shalt not lead, thou act like a cog in the machine 10. Thy face should always be adorned with the holy goatee

PAOK Salonika       v      Heerenveen
Dinamo Zagreb       v      Hearts
Werder Bremen       v      Aktobe
Everton             v      Sigma Olomouc
BATE Borisov        v      Litex Lovech
Lech Poznan         v      Club Brugge
NAC Breda           v      Villarreal
Fulham              v      Amkar Perm
Galatasaray         v      Levadia Tallinn
Metalurg Donetsk    v      Austria Vienna
Teplice             v      Hapoel Tel Aviv
FC Twente           v      Qarabag
Roma                v      Kosice
Dinamo Moscow       v      CSKA Sofia
Genk                v      Lille
Lazio               v      Elfsborg
PSV Eindhoven       v      Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
Partizan Belgrade   v      Zilina
Trabzonspor         v      Toulouse
Ajax                v      Slovan Bratislava
FK Baku             v      FC Basel
Brondby             v      Hertha Berlin
Shakhtar Donetsk    v      Sivasspor
Athletic Bilbao     v      Tromso
FK Sarajevo         v      CFR Cluj
Rapid Vienna        v      Aston Villa
Steaua Bucharest    v      St Patrick's
Sparta Prague       v      Maribor
Zenit St Petersburg v      Nacional
Genoa               v      Odense
Dinamo Bucharest    v      Slovan Liberec
Guingamp            v      Hamburg
Sion                v      Fenerbahce
Sturm Graz          v      Metalist Kharkiv
Benfica             v      Vorskla Poltava
Slavia Prague       v      Red Star Belgrade
Stabaek             v      Valencia
Vaslui              v      AEK Athens

 

Olympique Lyon (FRA)    v    RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Celtic FC (SCO)         v    Arsenal FC (ENG)
FC Timişoara (ROU)      v    VfB Stuttgart (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR)   v    ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE)  v    Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)

FC Sheriff (MDA)        v    Olympiacos CFP (GRE)
FC Salzburg (AUT)       v    Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR)
FK Ventspils (LVA)      v    FC Zürich (SUI)
FC København (DEN)      v    APOEL FC (CYP)
PFC Levski Sofia (BUL)  v    Debreceni VSC (HUN)

The play-offs are played over two legs on 18/19 and 25/26 August with the ten winners joining the draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage which takes place in Monaco on 27 August.

The losers will automatically drop into the inaugural UEFA Europa League group stage.

Saturday August 15

15:00   Aston Villa v Wigan Athletic
15:00   Blackburn Rovers v Manchester City
15:00   Bolton Wanderers v Sunderland
15:00   Chelsea v Hull City
15:00   Everton v Arsenal
15:00   Manchester United v Birmingham City
15:00   Portsmouth v Fulham
15:00   Stoke City v Burnley
15:00   Tottenham Hotspurs v Liverpool
15:00   Wolverhampton Wanderers v West Ham United

While they played very well and somehow against all likelihood managed a 2-0 lead at half time, Brazil as expected came out after the break and managed to turn it around to a 3-2 final result.

 

 

Kudos to the USA for their determination and self-belief, perhaps we shall see them progress into the semi-finals or better next year at WC2010.

 

So ... against all odds, expectations, and to be honest, against all belief, the USA managed to undo a 5 goal deficit by beating Egypt 3-0 while Italy lost 3-0 to Brazil to make it to the semi-finals the other day.

 

 

Then, even moreso against all odds and expectations, with their shock 2-0 victory over Spain, the yanks showed the rest of the world how to defend against, and defeat the world #1 ranked team for the first time in over two years.

 

 

Now, Sunday night they are matched up against Brazil, who only just managed to squeak past South Africa with a late goal as time ran out.

 

 

As they say, things happen in threes.   Could Sunday be the USA's biggest modern-day football victory?

Very interesting match this evening ... looked relatively evenly-matched and while I think they're both happy with the draw, am guessing that the Spaniards are quite chuffed with not giving up an away goal ... still think that Chelsea will out-muscle them at Stamford Bridge on the second leg but not quite as sure of that as I was a few hours ago