UEFA CUP
British teams will have to weather a tough time in tomorrow’s UEFA Cup, but it is a case of the dolce vita for their Italian counterparts after an excellent showing in the first leg.
Everton and Motherwell have it all to do after mixed fortunes a fortnight ago, but it is Tottenham who will be sweating the most as they travel to Poland to defend a precarious-looking 2-1 lead.
Coach Juande Ramos knows defeat at Wisla Krakow could cost him his job in light of the London club’s dismal start to the domestic season which sees them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with two points from six matches.
Spurs hardly had the best preparation for their European adventure, going down 2-0 at Portsmouth on Sunday, but Ramos remains resolute.
“On the coach on the way home [from Portsmouth] they started to think about the next match, Wisla Krakow in the UEFA Cup on Thursday,” Ramos told the club’s Web site.
“We need to win that game, we need to get through to the next round and I think we will see the best of the players,” he said.
Like vultures, bookmakers are already hovering over the carrion at White Hart Lane — two draws, four defeats, nine goals conceded — shortening the odds of Ramos being the next Premier League managerial casualty.
“The fans need to understand that the first people who want to change the situation are the players, the management and all the people in the club,” said Ramos, who replaced Dutchman Martin Jol on the back of two successive UEFA Cup titles with Sevilla.
“This is when we all need to work together. It’s a difficult time and we all hope to change the situation,” the Spaniard said.
It should be a different story for Aston Villa and Portsmouth, who eased the pressure with strong showings against Bulgarian side Litex Lovech and Portugal’s Guimaraes.
A player who will feature for Martin O’Neill’s Villa is Stilian Petrov, who came off the bench in the first leg in the country of his birth to score his side’s third in injury time.
“I enjoyed being back in my country for the first leg. We got a good result too and hopefully we will get what we need on Thursday to put us into the group stages,” the former Celtic player said on Tuesday.
Italian representation in the group stages should be strong, after a string of stunning performances in the first leg.
AC Milan beat Zurich 3-1, thanks to Alexandre Pato and Marco Borriello, and Udinese silenced Borussia Dortmund fans after goals from Antonio Floro Flores and Gokhan Inler.
Doubles from Emiliano Bonazzoli and Antonio Cassano inspired Sampdoria to a 5-0 win over FBK Kaunas, who had their moment of glory when they eliminated Scottish giants Rangers from the Champions League in the second qualifying round.
But Napoli will have more of a difficult ride as they travel to Portuguese giants Benfica nursing a slender 3-2 lead.
“The important thing is to have won against a very difficult team,” said Napoli defender Christian Maggio. “Now we will have to go there and fight for everything.”
French clubs also stand a good chance of making it into the group stages, Nancy, Saint Etienne, Paris Saint Germain and Rennes all posted decent results.
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