Random Thoughts on the First and Second Qualifying Rounds

By: Dan | June 29th, 2009

Even taking UEFA’s excessively long ceremonies for its competition draws into account, no one is going to accuse the early qualifying rounds of the Europa League of vulgar, conspicuous consumption. Although a familiar name pops up now and again, this time of year is the domain of Europe’s minnows, who are ready for their big day out.

These are Europe’s smallest qualifiers. Some come from leagues that have always been near the bottom of the food chain, like Wales, the Faroe Islands, Luxembourg and Malta. Not to belittle their efforts, but in the bygone days of open draws, these are the teams that everyone would have hoped to be drawn against. If you go through the results of past competitions, you’ll see twelve and thirteen goal aggregate losses. The number of minnows in European Competition was increased by the respective breakups of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, as previously nondescript teams found themselves moved up the pecking order of their newly independent nations. This ultimately led to the creation of preliminary qualifying rounds.

Detailed information on many of the early qualifying rounds’ clubs is not particularly accessible, so all this is really a roundabout way of saying that we’re about to enter a realm of pure speculation and opinion.

Some notable names in the first qualifying round include Polonia Warsaw, the Polish capital’s oldest club, Rosenborg, who were Norwegian champions for thirteen consecutive seasons, former Soviet power Dinamo Minsk, last season’s Champions League surprise Anorthosis Famagusta, Henrik Larsson’s Helsingborg, and 1969 European Cup semi-finalists Spartak Trnava. The tie between Skonto Riga, who have won even more consecutive titles than Rosenborg and Derry City, who humbled IFK Gotenborg a few seasons ago, should also be intriguing.

The second round draw also contains some very interesting match ups and potential match ups. Steaua Bucharest and Ujpest is definitely the biggest in terms of name recognition, although it would probably count as a major shock for Steaua to get knocked out. Other familiar second round teams include financially troubled Red Star Belgrade, Denmark’s Aalborg, who face a potentially tricky tie against Slavija Sarajevo. The Bosnian teams could prove to be an interesting commodity. More Bosnian players have become prominent in Europe, and the national team has been playing well in World Cup qualifying; if their clubs can emulate this success, any potential opponents might be in for some problems.

Since coverage in the U.S. will be limited, there’s going to be a lot of scrounging for highlights and a lot of research. Expect more ‘know your minnows’ posts as the summer goes on.