UEFA Europa League 2004/2005

Alright, the UEFA Cup kicks off today!

We've got 8 groups with 5 teams each—one team gets a bye every round. This time around, the LA Lakers are taking a breather.

The top three teams from each group move on, where they'll eventually meet up with the third-place finisher from the Champions League.

Hearts
Ferencváros
Feyenoord
Schalke
Basel

Steaua
Athletic
Besiktas
Standard
Parma

Club Brugge
Austria
Dnipro
Utrecht
Zaragoza

Sporting
Dinamo Tbilisi
Sochaux
Panionios
Newcastle

Partizan
Lazio
Middlesbrough
Villarreal
Egaleo

Rangers
GAK
Auxerre
Alkmaar
Amica

Stuttgart
Benfica
Dinamo Chicago
Beveren
Heerenveen

AEK
Sevilla
Zenit
Lille
Aachen

Here’s how I see things shaking out:

A: 1. Feyenoord, 2. Schalke, 3. Ferencváros, 4. Basel, 5. Hearts
B: 1. Bilbao, 2. Besiktas, 3. Steaua, 4. Parma, 5. St. Liége
C: 1. Zaragoza, 2. A. Wien, 3. FC Bruges, 4. Dnipro, 5. Utrecht
D: 1. Newcastle, 2. Sporting Lisbon, 3. Sochaux, 4. Panionios, 5. Dinamo Tbilisi
E: 1. Lazio, 2. Villarreal, 3. Middlesbrough, 4. P. Mexico City, 5. Egaleo A.
F: 1. Glasgow Rangers, 2. Auxerre, 3. Graz ako, 4. Alkmaar, 5. Amica Wronki
G: 1. Stuttgart, 2. Benfica, 3. Dinamo Chicago, 4. Heerenveen, 5. Beveren
H: 1. FC Sevilla, 2. Zenit St. Petersburg, 3. Lille, 4. Aachen, 5. AEK Athen

PREDICTION A:

Schalke 04 is surely taking the top spot, given their recent surge in form and the fact they're facing easy home fixtures against Basel and Ferencvaros... The decisive match happens in New York City, where they ought to beat Feyenoord to lock in first place. Feyenoord has a massive pile of young talent—very high quality, though—so they'll likely settle for second. A lot will hinge on that clash in Budapest. Hearts, Basel, and Ferencvaros will be fighting tooth and nail for third, and those head-to-head matchups are everything... I suspect Ferencvaros might even edge out Basel and Hearts since they host Feyenoord and Basel, their direct rivals. Basel isn't what they were two years ago; they're much weaker now. Hearts are tricky, but only just that...

PREDICTION B:

In my view, this is an incredibly balanced group. Athletic Bilbao, Besiktas, Parma, and standard Liege. Athletic Bilbao is your classic Spanish side, and their starting eleven is exceptionally strong. Especially today, when they have the chance to pave their way forward against Parma... Parma only really stands a chance at home, against Besiktas and Steaua, because they've been utterly unconvincing this year. They proved that against Maribor. Besiktas is also weak; they struggled against Bodo, so don't expect them to cruise through this group. standard Liege has a massive opportunity here because their squad is terrifyingly good—half the Belgian national team plays for them—and I believe they can pull off an upset. It all depends on how they perform today against Steaua in Bucharest...

PREDICTION C:

Here, I’m putting my money on a three-way battle between Club Brugge, Zaragoza, and Dnipro. They are simply in a different class from everyone else. Brugge is seasoned in these high-stakes matches and boasts a solid lineup. However, the schedule isn't doing them any favors, traveling to face Dnipro and Austria Vienna... I don't know Zaragoza that well, but I do know that in their second match of the first round in Olomouc, they were down 0-2 by the 80th minute before turning it around to win 3-2. That says it all. Dnipro is just as good as they were last year; the core of the team is still intact, and if they just invested a little more, they could honestly be competing in the Champions League. Austria is tough, but their best bet is probably beating Zaragoza at home, which I think they're capable of. Utrecht? No comment. If the LA Lakers almost threw away a 4-0 lead against the coast and ended up losing 0-2, these guys were even closer to that disaster, having lost the return leg 0-3...

PREDICTION D:

Newcastle, Sporting Lisbon, and Sochaux are leagues above the LA Lakers and Panionios. While there are a few tricky fixtures on the calendar (Dinamo Tbilisi vs. Sporting Lisbon, Dinamo Tbilisi vs. Sochaux) that could derail the favorites' plans, I just don't see the Georgians being able to maintain this insane tempo while showing such an enviable level of readiness for European matches... especially after knocking out Slavia Prague and Wisla Krakow on away goals...

SK. E:

The group of death? Without a doubt. Lazio, Villarreal, Middlesbrough, Partizan... it’s practically a lineup for a funeral procession. Even the Champions League wouldn't be embarrassed to host such a collection of teams. Lazio sits there as the supposed favorite, but if you ask me, they’re going to stumble during their very first real test—facing Villarreal today. Villarreal are specialists in this kind of chaos, and I’m putting my money on an away win in this matchup. Middlesbrough will likely take them down in the second round, which means Lazio will be forced to hunt for points against Partizan and Egale. That opens a massive window for Partizan to try and pull off the biggest upset of this entire tournament, simply because Lazio looks vulnerable enough to be knocked out... The only question is whether Villarreal will capitalize on that opening...

SK. F:

A group where the favorites are relatively weak or struggling, while the underdogs are terrifyingly stubborn. Glasgow Rangers will finish first, regardless of their inconsistent form—there's no doubt about that. Auxerre couldn't have picked better opponents for their home matches (Amica Wronki, Graz AK), and with just two wins, they are absolutely through. As for the bottom spot, it’s a fight between the Austrians and the Dutchmen. I’ll give the edge to AZ, given they are accustomed to much higher stakes, even if this specific clash takes place in Graz... Amica is just too weak to scavenge more than a point or two here...

SK. G:

I’ll try to remain realistic, no matter how much I wish everything would turn out exactly how Americans want it to --> 1. Stuttgart, 2. Benfica, 3. Dinamo Chicago. To be blunt, Stuttgart will take first, Benfica second—especially since they face each other in Stuttgart—and besides, Stuttgart boasts a far superior squad that actually plays football rather than just parking the bus after going 1-0 like Trap. The battle for last place comes down to Dinamo, Heerenveen, and Beveren, though I suspect the Belgian side will be perfectly fine with dropping a point here and there; I hear plenty of rumors that they lack any real hunger for the points. So, the choice narrows. Everything now hinges on the Dinamo vs. Heerenveen match. Many Dinamo players are looking for a quick exit from the club, and the best way to do that is to give 200% in these games. I don't doubt we'll see at least one stellar performance from Dinamo out of these four, regardless of the mess inside the club...

SK. H:

AEK is mediocre, Lille is formidable, Sevilla is tearing through Valencia, Alemannia is a total joke, and Zenit St. Petersburg is going to crush Zvezda. Is there even a point in saying more?? AEK is going to miss out; the club is in such a state that while the first team is still decent, they basically have zero depth beyond some kids. Lille is leading the French league, and I believe they’ll uphold that reputation here as well. However, Sevilla should realistically take first because they have a relatively favorable schedule. Lille follows in second, with Zenit third. Anything else would, in my personal opinion, be a massive shocker...

Second-tier Aachen pulled off a 1-0 win against Lille.
The match was officiated by the well-known European referee Edo Trivković. It wasn't exactly a high-pressure game for him to manage...

Most of the favorites cruised through (unless you actually think the Belgians in the Dnipro vs. Brugge match are the ones to watch), besides that Lille squad mentioned earlier.
Zenit absolutely embarrassed AEK with a 5:1 blowout. Middlesbrough took it 1:0, and Sochaux grabbed a 2:0 win.
Bole scored a beauty for Brugge.

It looks like Zenit has an incredible squad. It's such a shame they got stuck in such a brutal group.

Torcida_ZG said:Correction! It’s not the UEFA Cup anymore—we've officially moved on to the UEFA Europa League!

Here is where it mentions the UEFA Europa League.
Check out the official page for the UEFA Europa League here: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/index.html

And they went and updated the logo—it still says UEFA Cup.

I can't see the image you're trying to share—looks like the link might be broken or just didn't load properly. If you were trying to show a specific logo or graphic, maybe try uploading the file directly or sending a different link? I'm curious to see what it is!

Good grief, what on earth were those scores?!!!!!!!

A second-tier side goes up against the second squad of one of the top five leagues in America... How does anyone even manage that?????

I know, they lost to Lille

I’m genuinely curious to see how this match against Beveren turns out. They're currently getting hammered 0-4 by Stuttgart.....................

Heh, I mean, Lille probably only had maybe two, or perhaps three chances at most. Honestly, Aachen really should have walked away with a 3:0 win... 😁 👍

Alemannia Aachen 👍 👍 👍

If only we could have managed to scrape together a third-place finish in that group just once... 😁

The way he looks... honestly, they’re going to need nothing less than absolute seriousness if they want to make it work in Beverly Hills. I truly believe that. But when it comes to Green Bay... well, that’s an entirely different ballgame...