| Basel - Sheriff | 1 | 1.37 | |
| Red Bull Salzburg - Hapoel Tel Aviv | 1 | 1.81 | |
| Sporting Braga - Sevilla | 0-2 | 1.60 | |
| ____________________________________________ | |||
| Stan James | 4.24 | ||
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tiket 18.08.2010.
18.08. (Wed) 20:45 Sporting Braga - Sevilla
Twelve months ago, when Braga were about to embark on their league campaign, coach Domingos Paciencia could barely have imagined facing Sevilla in a Champions League play-off tie. He had just taken the reins of the club and was about to embark on a journey that would see the Arsenalistas overhaul giants such as Sporting CP and Porto to challenge Benfica to the wire for the league title.
Braga may have come up short in that pursuit, but their consolation prize was a pass to play off for the right to break into Europe’s big-time.
Already they have eliminated the Scottish challenge of Celtic with ease. Though Braga would go down 2-1 in Glasgow, they moved into the lead in that game, which meant the Bhoys needed to score five times to turn the tie around after a simple 3-0 victory at the spectacular and wholly unique Estadio AXA.
Those encounters had been Braga’s only taste of competitive football this season prior to the weekend’s 3-1 home success over Portimonense, which carried them to the summit of the Portuguese Liga after one round of matches.
Neither Celtic nor Portimonense will have prepared Paciencia’s side for the challenge that lies ahead, though the side from the north of the country will feel that they overcame similarly sized obstacles on a regular basis last term.
Barcelona Beaters
Sevilla’s domestic season also got off to a 3-1 home success, though they were facing far sterner opposition in the form of Barcelona, albeit a watered down Blaugrana in the Spanish Super Cup. Pep Guardiola’s fringe players threatened something of an upset as they grabbed the lead at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, but ever dependable strike duo Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute grabbed the goals as los Nervionenses grabbed a healthy lead for the return leg.
Over the course of the last week Fabiano has been linked with a move to French side Olympique de Marseille, though Sevilla have managed to resist the advances of the Ligue 1 champions and will seemingly be able to boast the Brazilian for the remainder of the season.
Not much has changed squad-wise for Antonio Alvarez’s side since they managed to claim fourth place in La Liga last term. Ultra-versatile Brazilian Adriano has left for Barcelona, replaced by a combination of Tiberio Guarente, who has signed on from Atalanta, and Mouhamadou Dabo, who arrives from Saint-Etienne.
Still boasting plenty of quality in their squad, Sevilla are a side who will feel they deserve to be amongst Europe’s best, but they must prove that over the course of two matches against Braga to earn the right to feature in the group stages.
TEAM NEWS
Braga
With an array of changes made over the course of the summer, the Braga squad is still settling down somewhat and will have to cope with a handful of injuries too. Goalkeeper Quim, who arrived in the summer as a replacement for Eduardo, is out and will be replaced by Felipe.
Marcio Mossoro is being slowly introduced into the team after undergoing an operation, while Leo Fortunato is the only other doubt in the Portuguese ranks.
Probable Starting XI: Felipe V; Miguel Garcia, Rodriguez, Moises, Elderson; Vandinho, Leandro Salino; Luis Aguiar, Alan, Matheus; Paulo Cesar
Sevilla
Coach Antonio Alvarez has already named his 19-man squad for the encounter in northern Portugal. Tiberio Guarente and long-term problem Abdoulay Konko are both missing, while there is no place in the roster for either Ivica Dragutinovic or Lautaro Acosta, who are both building towards full fitness after serious injuries.
Probable Starting XI: Palop; Dabo, Escude, Squillaci, Navarro; Perotti, Renato, Zokora, Navas; Fabiano, Kanoute
Prediction
Additional competitive matches mean that Braga will probably be a little sharper than their guests, who will be relying on their innate technical superiority to carry the day in this fixture. However, home advantage often counts for much in Europe, so the hosts shouldn’t be discounted and may even go to Spain next week on level terms.
Braga 1-1 Sevilla 
18.08. (Wed) 20:45 Werder - Sampdoria
Thomas Schaaf’s Werder Bremen side bulldozed their way through the opposition towards the end of last season’s Bundesliga to claim a place in the play-offs for the Champions League, having finished third best in Germany.
WB, as a seeded side in the draw, could have expected relatively meek opposition in this round, yet they have been pitted against Serie A’s Sampdoria in what is a tie fit for the group stage of the competition.
Schaaf is taking a positive attitude into this encounter, however. “We're always setting ambitious targets and trying to look at things optimistically, so we're not thinking about failure,” he told the Bundesliga’s official website last week.
Werder certainly did not fail in their opening competitive game of the season, which was a DFB Pokal success against Ahlen on Saturday. Though the match ended 4-0, it wasn’t until the final half hour of play that the Bundesliga side really showed their class against their lower league opponents, with Hugo Almeida, Tim Borowski and Marko Marin all striking.
Something of a cloud hangs over the club at present after the departure of Mesut Oezil. The talented playmaker complete his long-touted move to Real Madrid just a day before this game, in which Werder were ready to use him and cup-tie him for the remainder of the competition.
Without the 21-year-old, Werder will surely provide far less intimidating opponents.
Tough Draw
Sampdoria have been heavily punished for their lack of acquaintance with the European game in recent seasons, finding themselves drawn against genuinely intimidating opposition as they try to break into the Champions League circle.
Over the summer months inspirational coach Luigi Del Neri has departed for the higher profile surrounds of the Stadio Olimpico with Juventus, and into the vacuum has arrived Domenico Di Carlo, who has been best known for his work in the lower half of the table with unheralded Chievo.
“The impression from the draw is a positive one and we would have taken that line with any team,” a determined Di Carlo told the club’s official website in the aftermath of the draw. “It's down to us to be ready for the game, but with organisation, the right mentality and the Sampdoria spirit we can beat an important side like Werder Bremen.”
Di Carlo also stressed the fact that Samp’s German opponents like to play in an open, attacking manner, much in the style that he would like his side to play. With talent such as Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini at his disposal, the coach would be right to be confident that a nortiously shaky Werder back line can be breached.
National pride is also at stake. The Bundesliga is closing up fast on Serie A in terms of UEFA’s coefficient and stands likely to claim a fourth Champions League spot for season 2012-13. Should Sampdoria eliminate Werder, they will have gone some way to restoring the balance of power back towards Italy.
TEAM NEWS
Werder Bremen
First choice centre-back Naldo is injured and will sit this game out, while a similar fate lies ahead for back-up goalkeeper Christian Vander.
Mesut Oezil's spot in the starting XI will be filled by Aaron Hunt, with Hugo Almeida starting up front.
Probable Starting XI: Wiese; Fritz, Mertesacker, Pasanen, Boenisch; Bargfrede, Frings, Hunt, Marin; Almeida, Pizarro
Sampdoria
The Blucheriati are liable to be able to call upon their top unit, though Pietro Accardi will be absent from the bench and Paolo Sammarco is set to miss a long period of the season.
Andrea Poli is something of a doubt in midfield, but he should be passed fit to feature.
Probable Starting XI: Curci; Stankevicius, Lucchini, Gastaldello, Ziegler; Semioli, Tissone, Palombo, Mannini; Cassano; Pazzini
Prediction
This encounter should be a festival of attacking football, though Werder will be aware of the importance of not conceding an away goal. Despite having this dimension to consider, the Germans are unlikely to be especially reserved in their game plan and will look to out-score Samp. Preseason results have not gone the way of Domenico Di Carlo’s men, and a lack of competitive practise may see them open up with a loss at the Weserstation.
Werder Bremen 2 - 1 Sampdoria 
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