Late results: Viola go nuts, Aberdeen get a point

By: Ian Rose | November 8th, 2007

Italy has had a rough UEFA Cup, with three out of their four teams failing to make the group stage. But the single Italian representative, Fiorentina, staked their claim on the knockout rounds today with a classic win over an outmatched Elfsborg team, 6-1. The Viola victory was one of only two home wins in 16 UC matches today. The other was perhaps more surprising, a 3-0 rout by Greek outfit Aris Thessaloniki over Red Star Belgrade. Meanwhile, France had a mixed day, with Bordeaux winning, Rennes drawing and a Toulouse loss. It was a great day for the English sides, as Everton and Tottenham both won 2-0 on the road, and Bolton drew at Bayern Munich 2-2.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen scored early and was able to hold on for a draw at home against Locomotiv Moscow, for their first point of the group stage. The Dons are profiting from a surprisingly even group, and only group leaders Panathinaikos have pulled away from the pack.

Speaking of which, the four-game format of the UEFA Cup group stages allows us to look forward, even at this early point, to who might be gracing the Round of 32. Statistics aside, basically any team that has four points from their first two matches is in, and that includes Everton, Panathinaikos, Bordeaux, Fiorentina, Villareal, Basel, Bayern Munich, Anderlecht and (shockingly) Helsingborg. But since three qualify from each group, that still leaves a lot of question marks. One-win teams like Getafe, Spurs and Aris can punch their tickets to the next round at the end of this month.

The surprise so far for me has got to be Galatasaray. (Sorry, Musab). I really expected them to come in and take over this group, with the dominance they are showing domestically in a league that is a little underrated in terms of quality. They have two losses in two matches, and sit dead last in Group H. Now, they need to take points next matchday on the road in Greece, when they face off with a tough Panionios side. I still expect them to qualify, but only barely, and their European season is likely to come down to their home match with fellow bottom dwellers Austria Vienna, who were almost enough for Bordeaux today. The Turks need to get their act together, or they’ll be settling in for winter faster than you can say “Besiktas”.