Derry City will be looking to qualify for the final qualification round of the 2009/2010 Europa League when they take on Skonto FC in the second leg of their second qualifying round Europa League tie on Thursday evening.

Last week’s first leg encounter between the two clubs produced a 1-1 draw, with Derry gaining a slight away goal advantage from the tie. With the return fixture being played in front of the Fir Park faithful, manager Stephen Kerry is optimistic about his team’s prospects.

“Derry City, in its history in European football, has only progressed to the next round on three occasions, so it’s a big night for everyone involved with the club and indeed, the north-west area and we have an opportunity to progress,” Kenny told the Belfast Telegraph.

“If we can get through, it will be another special night in Derry City history. It’s another big game for us and make no mistake about it they will be pushing us all the way in an attempt to overturn our result out there.”

“I’ve no doubt that it will prove to be a battle and I expect an epic game which will not be for the faint-hearted.”

Fulham’s looming Europa League campaign is set to be bolstered by the arrival of Norwegian international Bjorn Helge Riise.

The club is waiting on the result of Riise’s medical before he joins the club from Norway’s FC Lillestrom. The Norwegian is the younger brother of former Liverpool player, Jon Arne Riise.

“It will be a wonderful feeling to put my name on the contract. This is what I have worked for,” Riise told reporters on Monday. “I have finished the most important tests on my knees, ankles and legs. On Wednesday I will go through a fitness test. But it is not something I am worried about.”

“This is a correct step for me. I look forward to seeing the team in qualifying for the Europa League.”

Details of the contract offered to Riise have not been released to the press, however, the young midfielder is considered to be a bargain buy in a transfer season that has seen top clubs fork out tens of millions of pounds for star players.

“I do not wish to comment, but I am happy with it,” Riise said of his contract.

Motherwell manager, Jim Gannon, was left red-faced after his side lost 1-0 to Albanian minnows KS Flamurtari last week. With Motherwell widely expected to trounced their opponents, Gannon was left searching for answers after the loss, and eventually settled on the referee as a scapegoat.

The target of Gannon’s ire was referee Fritz Stuchlik, who disallowed a penalty by John Sutton after ruling that a Motherwell player had encroached on the box as Sutton was in the process of netting the ball. Sutton failed to score off the subsequent shot, and Steven Hammell was promptly booked for disputing the decision.

“The explanation the referee gave our players was that one of their players had encroached,” an aggrieved Gannon told reporters after watching his side lose a match that should have ended in a draw. “None of our players had encroached. So the referee needs to have a look at the rules.”

Flamurtari responded to their reprieve by scoring a goal on 66 minutes, and will take a 1 goal lead into the away leg of their UEFA Cup qualifying tie.

“We all felt the change in atmosphere after the decision and it seemed to harden their players and their focus,” Gannon said. “But ultimately it was the goal that really lifted the crowd.”

UEFA Europa League Qualifying
AaB Aalborg 0-0 Slavija Sarajevo
Anorthosis Famagusta 2-1 Petrovac
Basle 3-0 Santa Coloma
Bnei Yehuda 4-0 FC Dinaburg
Brondby 0-1 Flora Tallinn
Cherno More 1-0 FC Iskra-Stal
Dinamo Minsk 0-0 Tromso
FC 03 Differdange 1-0 Rijeka
FC Honka 2-0 Bangor City
FC Zestafoni 1-2 Helsingborgs IF
FC Zimbru 0-0 Pacos Ferreira
FK Milano 0-4 NK Slaven Koprivnica
FK Sarajevo 1-0 FC Spartak Trnava
FK Suduva 0-1 Randers FC
FK Vetra 0-1 HJK Helsinki
Falkirk 1-0 FC Vaduz
Flamurtari 1-0 Motherwell
HiT Gorica 1-0 FC Lahti
IF Elfsborg 3-0 Szombathely
Juvenes/Dogana 0-1 Polonia Warsaw
KR Reykjavik 2-0 Larissa
Legia Warsaw 3-0 Olimpi Rustavi
MSK Zilina 2-0 FC Dacia
Metallurg Donetsk 3-0 MTZ-RIPO
NAC 6-0 Gandzasar Kapan
Naftan Novopolotsk 2-1 AA Gent
Omonia Nicosia 4-0 HB Torshavn
Rapid Vienna 5-0 Vllaznia Shkoder
Rosenborg 0-0 FK Qarabag
Rudar Velenje 0-1 Red Star Belgrade
SK Liepajas Metalurgs 2-1 Dinamo Tbilisi
SK Sturm Graz 2-1 Siroki Brijeg
Sevojno 0-0 FBK Kaunas
Sigma Olomouc 1-1 Fram Reykjavik
Skonto FC 1-1 Derry City
St Patricks 1-1 Valletta
Steaua Bucharest 2-0 Ujpesti
Tobol 1-1 Galatasaray

Stephen Baxter, the manager of Irish Europa League hopefuls the Crusaders, believes that his side have a real chance of progressing to the next round of the tournament when they take on FK Rabotnicki in the away leg of the Europa League qualifier next week.

The Irish team, comprising a motley collection of part-timers, walked away from the home leg of their qualifier on Tuesday with a commendable 1-1 draw, and could easily have taken the match if they had converted a penalty against the Macedonian side.

“We are not celebrating, because we should have won the game,” Baxter told the BBC. “Now we can play them away with a bit of confidence. We will go to try to win the match.”

“We came back and got something from the game and it was no more than we deserved. We should have won 3-1 given the chances we had. We were better than them. When we went down to 10 men, for a 20-minute spell we played them off the park.”

“Everyone gave a magnificent, professional performance. They all worked their socks off. We can take a lot of pride from tonight.”

David Beckham has indicated that he would consider a return to the Premier League as he seeks to clinch a place in the England squad for the 2010 World Cup.

Beckham returned to the United States this week after a 5 month stint at AC Milan. The midfielder worked under Carlos Ancelotti during his time at the Italian club, sparking rumours that he may move to Chelsea along with the former AC Milan coach.

“Never say never. I would definitely consider it,” Beckham told reporters this week. “When I left my heart was in Manchester - I couldn’t see myself playing against United. Now I wouldn’t rule it out.”

According to Beckham’s contract with the LA Galaxy, he is permitted to spend his off-season playing for a European club. Beckham has stated that he has no plans to end his contract with the MLS club, which suggest that any appearance in the Premier League would take place during his summer break.

“I intend to stay until the end of my contract and maybe further,” Beckham concluded. “I’ve always said that. I’ve always said, even when I went to Milan, that I’m committed to the Galaxy and to MLS, and that hasn’t changed.”

Scottish club, Motherwell, overcame a first round stumble against Llanelli to advance to the second qualifying round of the 2009/2010 Europa League.

Motherwell had been shocked 1-0 by Llanelli in the first round of the tournament, but put in a strong performance in the second leg of the first qualifying round to defeat the Welsh side 3-0.

Motherwell had John Sutton to thank for the win, as the striker scored twice in the first half. Jamie Murphy then put the result beyond doubt with a third goal in the second half.

The loss dashed Llanelli’s hopes of reaching the second qualifying round of the Europa League for the first time in the club’s history.

The night was not a good one for Welsh Football, as The New Saints perished at the hands of Icelandic side Fram Reykjavik. The Welsh side had gone into their home fixtures trailing by a single goal, and had been expected to win their home fixture.

Instead it was Fram’s night, as the Icelanders scored 2 goals to TNS’s first half strike to advance to the second qualifying round 4-2 on aggregate.

Florentino Perez, the president of Spanish super-club Real Madrid has renewed calls for the creation of a European super-league to replace the Champions League.

Perez idea involves the creation of a European league tournament custom-made for the strongest clubs in Europe. The tournament would guarantee top level clashes between all the giants of European football each season, whilst guaranteeing high broadcast revenue for all participating clubs.

“We have to agree a new European Super League which guarantees that the best always play the best — something that does not happen in the Champions League,” Perez said on Spanish television. Perez threatened to break away from UEFA if his proposal for a new league was not given serious consideration.

Perez’s suggestions run counter to proposals by UEFA president Michel Platini, who is seeking to reduce credit-based spending amongst the bigger clubs in order to create a more level playing field in European football. If Perez’s plans came to fruition the result would be the creation of an impregnable elite in European football.

Previous threats to set up a breakaway elite football league by top clubs resulted in additional Champions League places being handed to the top football playing countries in Europe.

Olimpi Rustavi (Georgia) 2-0 B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands)
Simurq Zaqatala (Azerbaijan) 0-1 Bnei Yehuda (Israel)
Dinaburg (Latvia) 2-1 Nomme Kalju (Estonia)
Banants (Armenia) 0-2 Siroki Brijeg (Bosnia/Herzegovina)
Sutjeska Niksic (Montenegro) 1-1 MTZ-RIPO (Belarus)
Lahti (Finland) 4-1 Dinamo Tirana (Albania)
Valletta (Malta) 3-0 Keflavik (Iceland)
Zimbru Chisinau (Moldova) 1-2 Okzhetpes (Kazakhstan)
Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) 2-1 Renova (FYR Macedonia)
Narva Trans (Estonia) 0-3 Rudar Velenje (Slovenia)
Szombathelyi Haladas (Hungary) 1-0 Irtysh (Kazakhstan)
Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) 2-1 Inter Baku (Azerbaijan)
Slaven Belupo (Croatia) 1-0 Birkirkara (Malta)
Grevenmacher (Luxembourg) 0-3 Veta (Lithuania)
Anorthosis (Cyprus) 5-0 Kaerjeng (Luxembourg)
Randers (Denmark) 4-0 Linfield (Northern Ireland)
NSI Runavik (Faroe Islands) 0-3 Rosenborg (Norway)
Sligo Rovers (Ireland) 1-2 Vllaznia (Albania)
Fram (Iceland) 2-1 The New Saints (Wales)
Buducnost (Montenegro) 0-2 Polonia Warsaw (Poland)
Lisburn Distillery (Northern Ireland) 1-5 Zestaponi (Georgia)
Helsingborg (Sweden) 3-1 MIKA (Armenia)
Motherwell (Scotland) 0-1 Llanelli (Wales)

The first edition of the Europa League will be used to pioneer the deployment of extra match officials during European club football matches.

There have been an increasing number of calls for UEFA to begin using video replay footage to analyse disputed offside rulings, as well as situations where goals can only be determined using video replays.

UEFA has, however, proved unwilling to use technology already implemented with successful results in the sports of tennis, rugby and cricket, and instead intends to deal with the problem by sending additional match officials on to the pitch.

As a result the Europa League will see five match officials participate in each game for the next season. The referee and touchline assistants will be joined by two additional match officials tasked with monitoring play in the goal area on each side of the pitch.

These match officials will be equipped with two-way headsets that will allow them to communicate decisions to the referee. It is hoped that the presence of these officials will result in a decrease in foul play and gamesmanship in the goal area, as well as improving the quality of decisions made during European football matches.