Fun at UEFA HQ… Live!

Draws draws draws

Morning folks… my brain and body are still torn asunder from last night’s office party, but I’m recouping this morning with coffee, hash browns, and the CL and Europa League draws.

The CL draw? It’s a real doozy. Draw and analysis after the jump, along with pseudo-live coverage of the Europa League draw. I wonder who Liverpool’s reserves will get to play…

First things first: the CL draw. So many storylines!

Team named first at home in first leg
VfB Stuttgart (GER) v FC Barcelona (ESP)
Olympiacos FC (GRE) v FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA)
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) v Chelsea FC (ENG)
FC Bayern München (GER) v ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) v Sevilla FC (ESP)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v Real Madrid CF (ESP)
FC Porto (POR) v Arsenal FC (ENG)
AC Milan (ITA) v Manchester United FC (ENG)

7.00am: Jose Mourinho gets a return to his old club, Fergie gets Milan (and David Beckham), and Arsenal perhaps get the kindest draw of the English teams. Beleaguered Bundesliga bunch Stuttgart are to be sacrificed at Messi’s altar, while the sleeper match-up could well be Bayern/Fiorentina in terms of excitement, as neither team enjoys defending that much.

7.04am: Struggling through patchy internet and a raging headache. My early predictions for the CL: Barcelona, Bordeaux, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Lyon(!!!), Arsenal, Manchester United.

7.09am: Alright, to the live stuff.. the Europa League teams are split into two pots, and match-ups will involve a team from Pot 1 v. a team from Pot 2.

The Pots:

POT ONE: Anderlecht, Valencia, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Sporting, AS Roma, Galatasaray, Red Bull Salzburg, Fenerbahce, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, PSV Eindhoven, Werder Bremen, Unirea Urziceni, Juventus, Wolfsburg, Marseille.

POT TWO: Ajax, Lille, Hamburg, Hertha, Fulham, Panathanaikos, Villarreal, FC Twente, Everton, Brugge, Kobenhavn, Athletic Bilbao, Liverpool, Rubin Kazan, Standard Liege, Atletico Madrid.

Unsurprisingly, UEFA’s probably going through some glad-handing and time-wasting before actually pulling any names from the hat. Also bear in mind that they’re drawing not only the Round of 32 today, but the Round of 16. Within the hour, we’ll know both. At least I hope we will.

7.15am: We’re off! I think.

Rubin Kazan come out of the pot first.

And of course, the UEFA live widget breaks. Hooray! Stand by.

7.23am: Some match-ups finally coming through.

Rubin Kazan v. Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Russians to pull through)

Athletic Bilbao v. Anderlecht (Belgians to advance)

Copenhagen v. Marseille (The French shall squeak by)

Panathanaikos v. Roma (looking forward to this one)

Atletico Madrid v. Galatasaray (I’m taking the Turks)

Ajax v. Juventus (should be a fun one… Serie A to prevail)

Brugge v. Valencia (David Villa can win this one single-handed, right?)

LIVERPOOL v. Unirea Urziceni (the team that put 4 past Rangers. LFC should win)

FULHAM v. Shakhtar Donetsk (rough draw. Shakhtar to march on)

Hamburg v. PSV Eindhoven (Pulling for ze Germans)

Villarreal v. Wolfsburg (Top game. Edin Dzeko to lead his team on)

Standard Liege v. Red Bull Salzburg (A Belgium/Austria showdown! Going with Defour’s crew)

FC Twente v. Werder Bremen (Shechond Choishe Schteve v. Werder. Germans go on)

Lille v. Fenerbahce (Take the French)

EVERTON v. Sporting (Tough draw. Taking Sporting, simply bc of the Toffees’ injuries)

Hertha Berlin v. Benfica (another one with hit potential. Benfica too strong)

So there you have it, the Round of 32 (will put it at the bottom when the draw is finished).

Now, we get the Round of 16 match-ups. Definitely a few you’d want to avoid if you were a Liverpool fan. Meanwhile, Kenny Dalglish tried to text back home the name of Liverpool’s Romanian opponent, but from the look on his face, a contorted look of confusion and fright, I don’t think he was too successful.

7.39am:

Hamburg/PSV v. Athletic Bilbao/Anderlecht

Rubin/Hapoel v. Villarreal/Wolfsburg

Atletico Madrid/Galatasaray v. EVERTON/Sporting

Hertha Berlin/Benfica v. Copenhagen/Marseille

Panathanaikos/Roma v. Standard Liege/Salzburg

Lille/Fenerbahce v. LIVERPOOL/Unirea Urziceni

Ajax/Juventus v. FULHAM/Shakhtar

Club Brugge/Valencia v. FC Twente/Werder Bremen

So there you have it. Liverpool, for all intents and purposes, get a simple enough draw through to the quarter-finals, should they care enough to make a run. Roy Hodgson, on the other hand, is screwed. If Zamora and co. can outlast the strong Ukrainians, they’ll likely get the Old Lady in the next round. Everton, true to form, get a rather boring draw, and one they’ll seriously struggle with considering all their injuries.