Time zone: US/Eastern | Register | Login
Search:

Europa League prepares to welcome high-profiled Man United, Man City & Porto

Angela Asante, December 14 2011,
The 2011/12 UEFA Europa League will soon be cut down to 32 teams. Incredibly, Manchester United, Manchester City and FC Porto are sure knockout stages contenders…
After living in the comfort of the Champions League, Manchester United and Man City are two of this season's big clubs that must prepare for life in the Europa League.
After living in the comfort of the Champions League, Manchester United and Man City are two of this season's big clubs that must prepare for life in the Europa League.
Related Content:
UEFA Europa League
Related Articles: Manchester United, Manchester City, Valencia, Porto
Like Trabzonspor, Ajax, Valencia, Olympiacos and Viktoria Plzen, these big clubs finished third in their respective Champions League group. Now, they await their fate in the UEFA Europa League.

The knockout round draw for the competition will take place on Friday. Considering the improved caliber of the teams in the Europa League, there may be no easy matchup for demoted Manchester United, Manchester City and Valencia.

However, they’ll enter the draw as seeded teams based on the number of points they achieved in the UEFA Champions League. Manchester City head the list of seeded contenders above Manchester United, Olympiacos and Valencia. FC Porto, Ajax, Trabzonspor and Viktoria Plzen complete the A to H table.

On Wednesday and on Thursday, the final places of the Last 32 will be booked. Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, PSG, Birmingham City, Celtic, Udinese and Fulham are among the number of teams in between life and death in the UEFA Europa League.

In Group A, Spurs’ chances to qualify ahead of Rubin Kazan are extremely slim. Shamrock Rovers are already out of the competition but they are planning to take the Londoners down with them as former Tottenham player Rohan Ricketts told the press:

“None of us at Shamrock Rovers want to finish bottom with zero points and we'll give them a good fight.”

To progress, Spurs won’t only have to trounce Shamrock. They will need to rely on the result between the table’s top two teams, PAOK and Rubin.

Elsewhere, Lazio vs Sporting Lisbon will be like a final for the Italian outfit. They must avoid defeat at home to Sporting and hope for Vaslui’s game away to Zurich to go their way. Both Lazio and Vaslui are currently locked on 6 points in Group D.

Interestingly, Celtic are facing the prospect of crashing out from the Europa League. They are 3 points behind Group I’s second-placed Udinese. Only a miracle could put the Scottish through.

Udinese are in great shape this season. They seat just behind leaders Juventus in the Serie A. Expect them to do enough in Thursday night’s Udinese vs Celtic showdown to join Atletico Bilbao into the Last 32.

Fulham, meanwhile, have their fate in their hands. They’ll just need to defeat bottom-placed Odense to qualify. If they succeed, they’ll join Twente, Anderlecht, Lokomotiv Moscow, Schalke 04, Atletico Madrid, Sporting Braga, Metalist Kharkiv, Athletic Bilbao, Stoke City, Sporting Lisbon, PSV, Legia Warsaw, Standard Liege, Hannover 96 and PAOK in the next stage of the UEFA Europa League.

Will giants Manchester United, Manchester City, Valencia and FC Porto claim authority in the end?

Related Articles

Member Sign In »

Username Password
Forgot Password | Remember
Not a Member Yet? Register Now