UEFA Cup draw preview: The hypothetical group of death

By: Ian Rose | October 8th, 2007

Well, we are about twelve hours from the UEFA Cup draw in Nyon, Switzerland, and though it might not have the glamour of the Champions League draw last month, it’s no less important to the teams and leagues involved. Thanks to losses from traditionally dominant leagues like Italy and France, this is one of the most diverse UEFA Cup group stages in years, with 21 different countries represented. While I wait for the draw, I got to thinking: What would be the ultimate group of death from this year’s UEFA Cup? Who would be the toughest team, the last team that I would want to face from each of the five pools? Here’s what I came up with, though especially in the first and third pools, there are a lot of right answers:

1. Bayern Munich
Villareal might be the top seed, but Bayern is nearly everyone’s pick to take this tournament. I have a sneaking suspicion that they won’t go all the way, but they are the last team anyone wants to see in the group stages, especially in Munich.

2. Locomotiv Moscow
Moscow is going to be an incredibly busy town for European soccer this season. One team in the Champions League and two in the UEFA Cup call the Russian capitol home, not to mention the fact that they’re hosting the Champions League final. Locomotiv had probably the toughest draw of any of the 2 seeds in the UC first round, and they handled it well, beating Standard Liege 4-1. Their home matches will probably be early due to weather concerns, but Moscow is still going to be a chilly trip for Western European teams.

3. Galatasaray
It’s incredibly tricky to pick the toughest of the pool 3 contenders, because almost all of them can hurt you on any match day. But Galatasaray of Turkey is on a roll, and is probably one of the most underrated teams in Europe. They could easily hurt a higher-ranked opponent, and I fully expect to see them in the knockouts.

4. Dinamo Zagreb
Croatia might not have a lot going for it in Europe this season, but Dinamo is keeping them in the mix for at least a while longer. They won a tough and skillful victory over heavily favored Ajax, scoring two in the away leg, and they might just be the surprise of the UEFA Cup season.

5. Aris Thessaloniki OR AE Larissa
Really either of the Greek sides fit this bill. Aris beat Real Zaragoza and Larissa took out Blackburn, both on the strength of attacking play at home and adequate defense on the road. Greek football (like that in Scotland) is on a high, and those home matches are going to be absolutely insane. Look for one of these to take points out of a 2 or 1 seed.

Tune in tomorrow for a look at the draw. I’ll be presenting the full eight groups on the blog here tomorrow, then spending the next week previewing one group per day, looking at the favorites, the matches to watch, and which underdogs might just make a splash.