The Turkish side, Trabzonspor, is said to be a "tricky" side as they found out that they will be
the opponents of Liverpool in the play-offs. Aston Villa will have to travel to Austria to meet
Rapid Vienna and Manchester City will be facing the Romanian side FC Timisoara.
Scottish sides Celtic, Dundee United and Motherwell will take on Utrecht, AEK Athens and Odense
respectively whereas CSKA Sofia will face the Welsh side The New Saints.
After a previously quiet summer for Liverpool, it's fair to say that things have picked up this
week.
After adding a key component for the present with the signing of free agent Joe Cole to a
lucrative deal, Liverpool have landed a future defensive star in snapping up Rangers defender
Danny Wilson.
Liverpool have had a mixed month of football prior to their Europa League Round of 16 match against
French Ligue 1 side Lille. In between beating Unirea Urziceni, Liverpool have displayed their best
(against Blackburn), their worst (against Wigan) and their most boring (against Man City)
performances.
Were Liverpool showing their true potential or was it just a flash in the pan? Unirea Urziceni were
beaten 1-3 by Liverpool in the Europa League.What is your interest? Do you want to write football
for Soccer Updated? If the answer is yes, then get in touch with me. Any articles posted here will
be fully credited to you.
Liverpool FC manager Rafa Benitez has suffered another injury blow after it was confirmed defender
Martin Skrtel has broken his foot.
The Slovakian centre-back was injured in last night's 3-1 victory over Romanians Unirea Urziceni,
which helped Liverpool FC reach the last 16 of the Europa League.
With Jose returning to his former club and all the Champions League action, many forget that an
extremely entertaining Europa League is going on, and SWU is here to bring you all the action.
Here are the teams that go through to the next round of the Europa League:
Sporting Lisbon
Rubin Kazan
Juventus
Valencia
Wolfsburg
Standard Liege
Werder Bremen
Lille
Benfica
Anderlecht
Olympique Marseille
Panathinaikos
Atletico Madrid
Fulham
Hamburg
Liverpool (for more info on Liverpool vs Unirea Urziceni, be sure to visit http://romania1909.
Liverpool FC came from behind to beat FC Unirea Urziceni 3-1 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate to
book a place in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.
Though Rafael BenÃtez's charges did ultimately ensure the natural order, they did so the hard way.
The first-leg advantage handed to them by David Ngog's late strike at Anfield was quickly wiped out
by Bruno Fernandes, but Javier Mascherano's first goal of the season restored parity in Romania.
Ryan Babel has revealed the heart-to-heart chat with Rafael Benitez he hopes can help salvage his
Anfield career.
Babel has endured a hugely disappointing campaign to prompt talk of an exit from Liverpool in the
summer, with the player the subject of a £9m bid from Birmingham City last month.
Rafael Benitez will resist the temptation to throw Fernando Torres back into his starting line up
for the second leg of Liverpool's Europa League tie with Unirea Urziceni.
The Spanish striker made his comeback after six weeks out with a knee injury when he played the
final 15 minutes of Sunday's dour stalemate at Manchester City.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard remains upbeat about the Reds chances in the Europa League despite
struggling to beat Romanians Unirea Urziceni in the first leg of their last 32 clash.
Rafael Benitez's side dominated proceedings at Anfield but could not break their opponents down
until David Ngog's late strike, which earned them a 1-0 victory.
Steven Gerrard has vowed to attempt to win Europa League, making Liverpool the first side to lift
the trophy four times.
The Reds enjoyed spells as winners of the cup, formerly known as the UEFA Cup, in 1973, 1976 and
2001; when Gerrard scored in an enthralling final with Deportivo Alaves.
Liverpool have been warned they are not invincible in Thursday's Europa League tie visit of
Romania's Unirea Urziceni.
Unirea boss Roni Levy came close to pulling off a miraculous victory last time he managed a side at
Anfield back in 2006.
Liverpool needed an 87th-minute goal from Mark Gonzalez to see off Levy's Maccabi Haifa to secure a
1-1 draw in the second leg of a Champions League qualifier and go through.
Liverpool have been drawn against Guus Hiddink's mega-rich Anzhi Makhachkala in the Europa
League group stage.
The Russians, who have former Inter Milan and Barcelona star Samuel Eto'o in their ranks, are
the fourth seeds in a tough Group A which also includes Serie A side Udinese and Young Boys from
Switzerland.
Tonights lineup against Unirea Urziceni in the early kick off in the Europa League. Reina, Insua,
Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Lucas, Mascherano, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard, Ngog. Subs: Cavalieri,
Aquilani, Torres, Aurelio, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Kelly.
Use our new twitter service LFC Twit. It will be one of the best places to see live updates of
tonights game with Unirea Urziceni. With LFC Twit there is no need to hit refresh as all updates
will be made automatically. CLICK HERE to go to LFC Twit now!
Use our new twitter service LFC Twit. It will be one of the best places to see live updates of
tonights game with Unirea Urziceni. With LFC Twit there is no need to hit refresh as all updates
will be made automatically. CLICK HERE to go to LFC Twit now!
The defeat against Arsenal a few days ago was a game of great debate! Talk of poor tactics, poor
lineups and no chances, filled the newspapers and LFC forums around the world. Another hot topic
was that of Ryan Babel. For a change it was not about his tweets or twitterings, but about how he
should [.
Insieme alla Champions, torna anche l'Europa League, con le gare di andata dei sedicesimi di
finale, in programma il 18 febbraio prossimo (l'Everton gioca il 16).
Si riparte con l'affascinante sfida, all'Amsterdam Arena (nella foto) tra una nobile "decaduta",
l'Ajax, e la Signora, in crisi, del calcio italiano, la Juventus del neotecnico Zaccheroni
(subentrato in corsa a Ferrara).
The Pot 4 Club Otelul Galati is a post from: Just Football
Last but not least in The Pot 4 Club Just Football's analysis of all eight
Champions League fourth seeded teams Romanian champions Otelul Galati. Analysis provided by
Romanian football scout Radu Baicu:
Club: Otelul Galati
Straight outta': Romania
Group: C with Manchester United, Benfica and FC Basel
Recent History
Their first, probably their last, certainly their everything!
The Super Cup matches of Romania and Croatia were decided this weekend. In the former CFR Cluj
kept up their domestic dominance by securing the third of a possible treble but only after winning
in a penalty shoot-out. In Croatia old rivals from Zagreb and Split were involved in the fight to
win the traditional curtain-raiser to the season.
Liverpool will face Turkish side Trabzonspor in the Europa League play-off round on August 19
and 26.
While Trabzonspor have won the Turkish league six times, they have not claimed the league title
since 1984 and Liverpool will be heavy favorites to advance to the Europa League group stages.
Paris St Germain (France) v Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) v Tavria Simferopol (Ukraine)
CSKA Moscow (Russia) v Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus)
Hajduk Split (Croatia) v Unirea Urziceni (Romania)
Feyenoord (Netherlands) v Ghent (Belgium)
Racing Genk (Belgium) v Porto (Portugal)
Debrecen (Hungary) v Litex Lovech (Bulgaria)
Aris Saloniki (Greece) v Austria Vienna (Austria)
Galatasaray (Turkey) v Karpaty Lviv (Ukraine)
Palermo (Italy) v Maribor (Slovenia)
Club Bruges (Belgium) v Dinamo Minsk (Belarus)
Omonia (Cyprus) v Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Vaslui (Romania) v Lille (France)
Napoli (Italy) v Elfsborg Boras (Sweden)
Sporting (Portugal) v Brondby (Denmark)
Grasshoppers (Switzerland) v Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Liverpool (England) v Trabzonspor (Turkey)
Celtic (Scotland) v Utrecht (Netherlands)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany) v Garabagh Agdam (Azerbaijan)
AIK Stockholm (Sweden) v Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)
Sturm Graz (Austria) v Juventus (Italy)
Getafe (Spain) v APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus)
Dundee United (Scotland) v AEK Athens (Greece)
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) v FK Atyrau (Kazakhstan)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) v Lech Poznan (Poland)
Rapid Vienna (Austria) v Aston Villa (England)
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) v The New Saints (Wales)
Besiktas (Turkey) v HJK Helsinki (Finland)
Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) v VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia) v PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Maritimo (Portugal)
Luzern (Switzerland) v Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
Gyor ETO (Hungary) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
OB Odense (Denmark) v Motherwell (Scotland)
PAOK Salonika (Greece) v Fenerbahce (Turkey)
Villarreal (Spain) v Dnepr Mogilev (Belarus)
FC Timisoara (Romania) v Manchester City (England)
The Third Qualifying Round of both UEFA European club tournaments were drawn in Nyon,
Switzerland, today. Firstly came the draw for the UEFA Champions League which was split between two
different categories, "Champions" and "Non-Champions":
Not a season of great collective achievement, but some brilliant moments.
In a year when the goals ultimately added to nothing, it's tough to get rallied around the idea
that there were still moments worth celebrating. But looking back at some of the goals scored, I
can't help but awe at the skill involved and the joy these moments provided.
Wigan will hope that a change of playing surface brings with it a change of fortunes when top-four
chasing Liverpool visit the DW Stadium and some newly-laid turf on Monday night.
Wigan were forced to act after seeing their pitch begin to resemble a quagmire that inhibited their
passing game.
Liverpool return to Premier League action on Sunday against Blackburn aiming to boost their bid to
finish in the top four.
The Reds dropped down to sixth spot following last weekend's draw at Manchester City and they will
be determined to keep pace with their rivals for a top-four finish.
Sammy Lee paid tribute to the tireless determination of Fernando Torres to regain fitness and
insisted the Spain star's return has given everyone connected with the club a timely boost.
After spending five weeks on the sidelines due to a knee injury, Torres made his first-team
comeback as a late substitute in the goalless draw with Manchester City on Sunday.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez knows his side have to find an immediate cure for their travel
sickness if dreams of Champions League qualification are to be realised.
The Reds have the worst away record of any of the top nine clubs in the Barclays Premier League,
having not won on an opponent's ground in six matches and taken just 14 points from 16 games on the
road.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez became embroiled in a bizarre pre-match press conference when
Romanian journalists appeared to berate the Spaniard over his weight, according to a report in the
Daily Mail.
The Reds boss was fielding questions relating to the club's concluding Europa League tie with
Unirea Urziceni, yet reporters from Romania sought to get a rise out of the unswervingly diplomatic
Benitez.
There were only five clean sheets in the 16 first leg matches of the Europa League last 32. This
suggests away goals are not as important as they once were in European competition – teams are
more capable of scoring on the road.
Tournament Betting Europa League favourites with Liverpool managed to shut out their opponents last
week, beating Unirea Urziceni 1-0 at Anfield.
Oguchi Onyewu took to the practice field Thursday and trained for the first time since being
sidelined with a ruptured patellar tendon in the U.S. men's national team's World Cup qualifier vs.
Costa Rica last October.
Onyewu took part in 30 minutes of light training with the U.
Teams 17-48, the 32 teams reamining in the Europa League.
17. Valencia (Spain) - Stars David Silva and David Villa have gone nowhere - yet
18. Juventus (Italy) - 0-3 home loss to Milan was a rough start to Juve's 2010
19. Roma (Italy) - Mirko Vucinic one of the more underrated players in Serie A
20.
As someone who's retained patience with the current regime at the club, that's a question I've
been asked plenty of times over the past couple of months about whether it's time for our manager
to be shown the door. I'm sure I'm far from being the only one.
Manchester City play host to Liverpool in the Premier League this weekend with both sides seeking
the upper hand in their tussle for a top-four finish.
Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are also within striking distance of the Champions League places,
but is the Citizens who currently hold possession of the final berth to Europe's elite competition.
Striker David Ngog's goal nine minutes from time eventually broke the resistance of a determined
Unirea Urziceni at Anfield in the Europa League.
With the visitors intent on soaking up plenty of pressure Rafael Benitez's side struggled to find
the creativity to get past the massed Romanian ranks.
