18.08. (Wed) 20:45 Sporting Braga - Sevilla

Plenty To Braga About

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

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18.08. (Wed) 20:45 Werder - Sampdoria

Not Thinking About Failure

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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Tiket 17.08.2010.

Rosenborg - FC Kobenhavn            0-2 

Zenit - Auxerre                                    1

Sparta Praha - MSK Zilina               0-2

Young Boys - Tottenham Hotspur  3+

______________________________
Betfair                                          8.87

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17.08. (Tue) 18:30 Zenit - Auxerre

Good Touch

Zenit St. Petersburg have enjoyed a tremendous start to their RPL campaign and will expect to maintain such form into Europe on Tuesday evening when they meet Ligue 1’s third placed side from 2009-10, Auxerre.

On paper the Russians will start as heavy favourites. Already well into their stride domestically, they have played over half of their campaign and have yet to lose. With 16 of their 30 matches gone, Luciano Spalletti’s side have firmly established themselves as the dominant force in Russia, claiming 12 victories thus far in league play to open a seven point advantage over CSKA.

At the weekend Zenit somewhat tamely limped to a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Moscow, with their Italian coach choosing to blood new faces Sergei Semak and Bruno Alves, who are both available for the midweek encounter. It was ultimately Danko Lazovic who spared Zenit’s blushes as he levelled matter after Kevin Kuranyi had threatened to give the Police an unlikely victory.

Saturday’s encounter wasn’t ideal preparation for Zenit, who didn’t play the previous week due to an order from the government who were concern that the heavy smog engulfing Moscow posed a health hazard for their encounter against Spartak.

Indeed, two of Zenit’s last four games have come in European competition against Romanian hopefuls Unirea Urziceni, who were rather tepidly dismissed 1-0 on aggregate. A more powerful performance is needed against AJA if they are to really worry Europe’s best, but don’t count against just that.

Worst Draw

Auxerre have made a mediocre start to their domestic season and were quick to make their feelings about being paired against Zenit known after the draw.

“Zenit St. Petersburg is the worst draw we could have had,” declared the coach to the AFP news agency. “It will be very difficult.”

The experienced coach then listed a plethora of reasons as to why AJA will find life just so difficult against their opponents. He cited their good form and the fact that they are halfway through their campaign as vital factor in making the Russians favourites, while he also hinted that his side simply cannot compete with their opponents financially.

AJA have maintained the core of the squad that somehow snuck past Lille into third spot in Le Championnat last term. There have been no major departures from the Stade Abbe-Deschamps, while the only first team arrival has been Anthony Le Tallec, who has joined up from Le Mans.

And there has been something of a hangover from last term in the early weeks of the campaign, especially in defence, where Auxerre are generally so reliable. A 2-2 home draw against Lorient kicked off their season, and that was followed by a disappoint 1-1 tie away against newly promoted Stade Brestois.

If Auxerre, who specialise as a counterattacking side, are to progress to the Champions League proper, they need to raise their level 200 per cent.


TEAM NEWS

Zenit


Probable Starting XI:

Auxerre

Jean Fernandez should have virtually a complete roster of players to select from ahead of this fixture. Alexandre Licata continue to battle ankle problems, however.

Only one position in the squad is really up for grabs, and that is on the right wing. Either Dennis Oliech or Roy Contout could be deployed in that role, though the Kenyan will probably gain the berth.

Probable Starting XI: Sorin; Hengbart, Coulibaly, Mignot, Grichting; Pedretti, N’Dinga; Oliech, Le Tallec, Birsa; Jelen


Prediction
All signs point to a Zenit victory and it’s hard to go against that. If Auxerre can keep this close enough so that they have half a chance in the return leg they’ll probably be happy, and a draw would be a dream result. Luciano Spalletti will want his side to be able to cruise in France, though he will be aware that ideal scenario won’t be easy to create.
Zenit 2-0 AJ Auxerre

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17.08. (Tue) 20:45 Dynamo Kiev - Ajax

Proud Champions League Record

Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv have played in the group stage of the Champions League for the last four seasons in a row and will attempt to get past the challenge of Ajax in the playoff stage to make it five times in a row. Last season the White-Blues were placed in a tough group that had Rubin Kazan, Barcelona and eventual European champions Inter and couldn't claw their way out of the first round.

Last season's runners-up in the Ukrainian Premier League, Dynamo reached the playoff round in the Champions League with a 6-1 aggregate win against KAA Gent of Belgium in the third qualifying round. It proved to an easy two-legged affair for Valery Gazzayev's side but they should expect a tougher time against Dutch giants and former European champions Ajax.

Dynamo will go into the first-leg as favourites as they have quite a strong home record. The 13-time Ukrainian champions are going great guns in the domestic arena too as they are within touching distance of the top spot after six rounds of matches in the league.



The Sleeping Giants

While Dynamo Kyiv are on the brink of reaching the Champions League proper for the fifth successive season, Ajax have yet to feature in Europe's most premier club competition for five years and have not confronted a Ukrainian side before. The four-time European champions have not won Dutch league since 2004 and have gone astray as far as dominating Europe is concerned.

However, de Godenzonen are now on the brink of qualification for the group stage of this season's Champions League. Manager Martin Jol will perhaps feel a bit relieved that the first leg is away from home in Ukraine and will know only too well that an away goal will be very crucial for the second leg in Amsterdam.

Interestingly, Jol's future at the club is still wrapped up in uncertainty as despite fending off the interest of Premier League club Fulham earlier in the summer, Ajax may now have to keep the former Tottenham Hotspur manager from the clutches of Aston Villa.

Nevertheless, both Jol and his players will be focused on the job at hand and will attempt to get at least a goal in the first-leg. Ajax do have a very strong team and with Luis Suarez available for the first-leg, the Dutch powerhouse will be hopeful.


TEAM NEWS

Dynamo Kyiv

Andriy Shevchenko will again be the key player for Dynamo as his vision and touches will be vital. Quite an attacking side, Dynamo do have to see that they maintain discipline at the back against Ajax.

Probable Lineup (3-4-3): Boyko, Danilo Silva, Betao, Mikhalik; Garmash, Vukojevic, Magrao, Eremenko; Milevskiy, Shevchenko, Yarmolenko

Ajax

Striker Luis Suarez is available for the Champions League playoff game on Tuesday and he will be a massive boost Ajax. No major changes are expected to be made in the lineup by coach Martin Jol.

Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Anita; Lindgren, de Jong, de Zeeuw, Emanuelson; Suarez, Sulejmani



Prediction

Dynamo should consider themselves slight favourites but they have to maintain discipline at the back. Ajax scored three times against PAOK away from home in the second-leg of their third qualifying round and have goals in them, and in all likelihood will be able to sneak in a goal.
Dynamo 2-1 Ajax

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