Thursday, 27 August 2009
19:00 AEK Athens v FC Vaslui
15:00 Amkar Perm v Fulham
20:00 Aston Villa v Rapid Vienna
18:30 Basle v FK Baku
20:00 Bnei Yehuda OFF PSV
17:45 CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca v FK Sarajevo
19:30 Club Brugge v Lech Poznan
19:30 Crvena Zvezda v Slavia Prague
17:00 Dinamo Moscow v CSKA Sofia
18:00 Elfsborg v Lazio
15:00 FC Aktobe v Werder Bremen
19:00 FC Levadia Tallinn v Galatasaray
18:15 FC Metalist Kharkiv v SK Sturm Graz
18:15 FK Austria Vienna v Metallurg Donetsk
16:00 FK Qarabag v FC Twente
19:30 Fenerbahce v FC Sion
19:30 Hamburg v Guingamp
17:00 Hapoel Tel-Aviv v FK Teplice
19:35 Hearts v Dinamo Zagreb
17:45 Heerenveen v PAOK Salonika
17:15 Hertha Berlin v Brondby
18:30 Liberec v FC Dinamo Bucuresti
17:45 Lille v Genk
19:00 Litex Lovech v BATE
20:00 MFK Kosice OFF Roma
18:30 MSK Zilina v Partizan Belgrade
20:00 NK Maribor OFF Sparta Prague
20:00 Nacional OFF Zenit St Petersburg
19:30 Odense BK v Genoa
19:45 PSV v Bnei Yehuda
19:45 Roma v MFK Kosice
17:00 Sigma Olomouc v Everton
20:00 Sivasspor v Shakhtar Donetsk
17:30 Slovan Bratislava v Ajax
19:00 Sparta Prague v NK Maribor
St Patricks v Steaua Bucuresti, (agg 0-3), Gp D, L2, 19:45
Toulouse v Trabzonspor, (agg 3-1), Gp D, L2, 20:00
Tromso v Athletic Bilbao, (agg 2-3), Gp D, L2, 18:00
Valencia v Stabaek, (agg 3-0), Gp D, L2, 20:30
Villarreal v NAC, (agg 3-1), Gp D, L2, 19:30
Vorskla Poltava v Benfica, (agg 0-4), Gp D, L2, 19:45
Zenit St Petersburg v Nacional, (agg 3-4), Gp D, L2, 17:30

Everton all but sealed a place in the tournament proper of the 2009/2010 Europa League on Thursday, as two goals by 18-year-old Jack Rodwell helped to power the Premiership club to a 4-0 victory over Sigma Olomouc.

“He showed he is a very good player. He controlled parts of the game at different times,” Everton boss, David Moyes, said of his young ace after the match. “I was surprised by his shooting - he strikes a lovely ball but I haven’t seen him rattle the the net before.”

While Everton will need a disastrous performance in the second leg of their Europa League playoff to botch their ascent to the tournament, Aston Villa were left with plenty of work to do after they suffered as shock 1-0 defeat to Rapid Vienna on Thursday evening.

Nikica Jelavic scored Vienna’s only goal in the opening minute of the match, and Aston Villa never managed to get back into the game. The loss compounds the club’s misery after losing their opening Premier League fixture to Wigan Athletic on the weekend.

“We knew this was going to be exceptionally difficult - so will the return tie - but we are going to try to win,” Martin O’Neill told the AFP after the match. “Of course we can overturn it. It was never going to be an easy match but this time next week we will be fitter again.”

Europa League Playoffs, 1st Leg
Ajax 5-0 Slovan Bratislava
Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Tromso
BATE 0-1 Litex Lovech
Benfica 4-0 Vorskla Poltava
Bnei Yehuda 0-1 PSV
Brondby 2-1 Hertha Berlin
CSKA Sofia 0-0 Dinamo Moscow
Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 Hearts
Everton 4-0 Sigma Olomouc
FC Sion 0-2 Fenerbahce
FC Twente 3-1 FK Qarabag
FC Vaslui 2-1 AEK Athens
FK Baku 1-3 Basle
FK Sarajevo 1-1 CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca
FK Teplice 1-2 Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Fulham 3-1 Amkar Perm
Galatasaray 5-0 FC Levadia Tallinn
Genk 1-2 Lille
Genoa 3-1 Odense BK
Guingamp 1-5 Hamburg
Lazio 3-0 Elfsborg
Lech Poznan 1-0 Club Brugge
Metallurg Donetsk 2-2 FK Austria Vienna
MFK Kosice 3-3 Roma
NAC 1-3 Villarreal
Nacional 4-3 Zenit St Petersburg
NK Maribor 0-2 Sparta Prague
PAOK Salonika 1-1 Heerenveen
Partizan Belgrade 1-1 MSK Zilina
Rapid Vienna 1-0 Aston Villa
Sivasspor 0-4 Shakhtar Donetsk
SK Sturm Graz 1-1 FC Metalist Kharkiv
Slavia Prague 3-0 Crvena Zvezda
Stabaek 0-3 Valencia
Steaua Bucuresti 3-0 St Patricks
Trabzonspor 1-3 Toulouse
Werder Bremen 6-3 FC Aktobe
FK Ventspils 0-3 FC Zurich
Levski Sofia 1-2 Debrecen
Lyon 5-1 Anderlecht
Panathinaikos 2-3 Atletico Madrid
SV Red Bull Salzburg 1-2 Maccabi Haifa

The Scottish Premier League is experiencing an unprecedented crisis as Scotland’s top clubs get into gear for the new football season. The league has been hit hard by the fall of broadcast giant, Setanta, whose departure will leave a black hole in the budgets of Scottish clubs.

Many clubs have sold top players to stay afloat, and fans are beginning to feel that the national league would struggle to rival England’s second tier Football Championship, particularly given the dismal performance the national team put in against Norway in Oslo last week.

While reigning champions, Rangers, have secured a lucrative place in the group stages of the Champions League the club has gone a year without signing new players, and may struggle to compete with an aging squad.

Meanwhile Celtic, who did fork out money for new players in the transfer window, face an uphill battle for Champions League qualification as they prepare to take on Arsenal in the Champions League playoffs.

Some of the more pessimistic football forecasters are predicting that several Scottish clubs may not survive the 2009/2010 football season, and that the SPL is destined to see Celtic and Rangers absorbed by the Premier League as these two clubs attempt to maintain their status as two of Europe’s greatest clubs.

Fulham are hoping to net the services of former Newcastle player, Mark Viduka, as they prepare to wage war on two fronts in the 200/2010 football season.

The English club will begin their Premier League campaign with a match against Portsmouth this weekend, before turning their attention to the Europa League.

Viduka is available on a free transfer following the demise of Newcastle last season, and is reported to have met with top brass at Craven Cottage during the week.

His addition to the Fulham squad would be a massive boost for a club that is facing real concern over whether or not it has the resources to compete in Europe whilst simultaneously putting in a strong challenge in the Premier League.

Fulham boss, Roy Hodgson, however, believes that his team has what it takes to weather the toughest season the club has faced in decades.

“It would be foolish of me to say there is no chance of that happening. I think the team are still strong,” Hodgson told The Daily Mail. “We’re even getting stronger if anything. But last year we were extremely lucky with injuries. I don’t know quite whether that will happen to us again.”

Dutch coach, Dirk Advokaat, has been given the boot by Zenit St. Petersburg after a poor run of form by the Russian club.

The Dutchman was hailed as a national hero after leading his club to victory in the 2008 UEFA Cup, where they defeated Glasgow Rangers in the final. Advokaat was soon called on take up the reins of the Belgium national side, coaching the team part time.

Advokaat’s decision to split his time between Belgium and Russia was then called into question as Zenit St. Petersburg went into steep decline, and this week club management made the decision to send the former Rangers coach packing.

“The club’s leadership and board of directors have decided to dismiss Dick Advocaat,” Zenit St Petersburg said in a statement. “Under his leadership, many new glorious pages in Zenit’s history have been written and fans will never forget the title-winning season of 2007 and the team’s magnificent performance in Europe in 2008.”

“Unfortunately, after deciding to take on the role of national coach of the Belgian national team, Zenit’s performances have deteriorated notably and neither the fans nor the club’s leadership are satisfied with the league position the club finds itself in.”

Everton have been drawn against Czech club Sigma Olomouc for the forthcoming Europa League playoffs.

The fixture represents a tough challenge for the 2008/2009 FA Cup finalists. Sigma Olomuc had no problem eliminating Scottish Premiership side, Aberdeen, from the Europa League qualifiers, burying the Scots beneath a flurry of goals.

Other English clubs set to feature in the Europa League playoffs include Fulham, who will face Russian club Amkar Prem, and Aston Villa, who will take on Austria’s Rapid Vienna in the two match tie starting on the 20th of August.

The playoffs for the 2009/2010 Europa League will also hold some interest for Scottish football fans. Hearts will be in action on the 20th of August as they take on Dinamo Zagreb, following the latter club’s elimination from the Champions League qualifiers.

Ireland will also have a representative in the Europa League playoffs, as St Patrick’s Athletic takes on Steaua Bucharest, victors over Motherwell in the Europa League third qualifying round.

Irish footballs fans will have a local club to cheer for in the next round of the Europa League qualifiers, after St Patricks secured a thrilling away win in Russia to advance to the playoffs for a place in the tournament proper.

The Irish side went into their third qualifying round second leg tie against Krylya Sovetov with a 1 goal advantage carried over from their home fixture.

Sovetov looked the stronger team for much of the match, and were leading 2-1 until Declan O’Brien scored St Pat’s second goal, leveling the scores and handing the Irish an aggregate win on the away goals rule.

“This is right up there with winning the English Premier league with Blackburn for me, I’m blown away,” St Pats manager, Jeff Kenna, said after the match.

While St Pats can begin preparing for the Europa League playoffs, Derry were left ruing miss chances as they meekly exited the European stage. The Irish lost 1-0 to CSKA Sofia at the Brandywell Stadium, finishing the tournament with a 2-0 aggregate loss.

Fulham smashed Lithuania’s Vetra 3-0 in the second leg of their 3rd qualifying round tie on Thursday evening to secure passage to the 2009/2010 Europa League playoffs.

The Premiership side came into the match with a virtually unassailable 3-0 following their away fixture in Lithuania, and had little trouble booting their Eastern-European opponents off the park.

Dickson Etuhu scored the first goal at Craven Cottage before Andrew Johnson scored twice to hand Fulham a 60 aggregate win, and a chance to take on sterner opposition in the next round.

“We were good value for our three goals as we were in the first leg,” Fulham coach Roy Hodgson told reporters after the match. “I am pleased with our attitude, pleased with the quality of our play and pleased with our passing.”

Scottish clubs were not so lucky on the night, as Motherwell perished 3-1 in Bucharest for a 6-1 aggregate thumping at the hands of Steau Bucharest, while Aberdeen can trade in their defence for a colander after they lost 3-0 in their away tie for an 8-1 aggregate loss.

Third Qualifying Round, 2nd Leg
AA Gent 1-7 Roma (agg 2-10)
APOP 2-2 Rapid Vienna (agg 3-4) (After Extra time)
Basle 3-1 KR Reykjavik (agg 5-3)
Budapest Honved 1-1 Fenerbahce (agg 2-6)
Cherno More Varna 0-1 PSV (agg 0-2)
Crvena Zvezda 5-2 Dinamo Tbilisi (agg 5-4)
Derry City 1-1 CSKA Sofia (agg 1-2)
Elfsborg 2-0 Braga (agg 4-1)
FC Lahti 1-1 Club Brugge (agg 3-4)
FC Metalist Kharkiv 2-0 Rijeka (agg 4-1)
FK Austria Vienna 4-2 Vojvodina (agg 5-3)
FK Qarabag 2-1 FC Honka (agg 3-1)
FK Sarajevo 2-1 Helsingborgs (agg 3-3) (FK Sarajevo win 5-4 on penalties)
Fulham 3-0 FK Vetra (agg 6-0)
Galatasaray 6-0 Maccabi Netanya (agg 10-1)
Hajduk Split 0-1 MSK Zilina (agg 1-2)
Hamburg 0-1 Randers FC (agg 4-1)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv 1-1 IFK Gothenburg (agg 4-2)
Krylya Sovetov Samara 3-2 St Patricks (agg 3-3) (St Patricks win on away goals rule)
Lech Poznan 1-2 Fredrikstad (agg 7-3)
Legia Warsaw 2-2 Brondby (agg 3-3) (Brondby win on Away Goals Rule)
Liberec 2-0 FC Vaduz (agg 3-0)
Lille 2-0 Sevojno (agg 4-0)
MFK Kosice 3-1 Slavija Sarajevo (agg 5-1)
Motherwell 1-3 Steaua Bucuresti (agg 1-6)
NAC 3-1 KSP Polonia Warsaw (agg 4-1)
NK Slaven Koprivnica 0-2 Tromso (agg 1-4)
Odense BK 3-0 Rabotnicki Kometal (agg 7-3)
Olimpija Ljubljana 0-3 Metallurg Donetsk (agg 0-5)
Pacos Ferreira 0-1 Bnei Yehuda
PAOK Salonika 0-1 Valerenga (agg 2-2) (PAOK Salonika go through on away goals rule)
SK Sigma Olomouc 3-0 Aberdeen (agg 8-1)
SK Sturm Graz 5-0 Petrovac (agg 7-1)
Young Boys 1-2 Athletic Bilbao (agg 2-2) (Athletic Bilbao win on Away Goals Rule)