UEFA Europa League Play Off Round Draw

Following the UEFA Champions League draw in Nyon was the UEFA Europa League play-off round draw which sees participants join for the first time in European competition and also those who were eliminated in last round's UEFA Champions League earlier this week.

Trabzonspor who have just joined the competition have drawn a first leg home tie against French side Toulouse and after a good season in last year's Turkish Super Lig manager Hugo Broos will no doubt be looking to improve on that with a good season in Europe as well. Speaking to the press after the draw, the Trabzonspor manager commented on the technical ability of French teams saying "French teams have a high technical capacity and are very organised teams. This means they must be analysed well. Following the draw, we are up against a team who you can not say are a bad side".
It is understood that assistant coach Turgut Kural will be flying out to France this evening to watch their opponents' game against Monaco tomorrow.

Elsewhere in the draw Sivasspor who were knocked out of the Champions League on wednesday have been drawn against last season's UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk who were also knocked out of the UEFA Champions league earlier this week.

The two Istanbul giants also in the competition, Galatasaray SK and Fenerbahce SK have drawn Levadia Talinn and SC Sion respectively.

The first leg's of the play off will be played on August 20th followed by the second leg the following week on August 27th. The only exception to the rule will be Shakhtar Donetsk's second leg tie which will be played on the 25th of August due to their European Super Cup game against last year's Champions League winners FC Barcelona which will be played on August 28th.

Here is the complete draw:

PAOK - Heerenveen

Dinamo Zagreb - Heart of Midlothian

Werder Bremen - Aktobe

Everton - Sigma

BATE - Litex

NAC vs. Villarreal

Lech - Club Brugge

Fulham - Amkar

Galatasaray - Levadia

Teplice - Hapoel Tel-Aviv

Metalurh Donetsk - Austria Wien

Twente - Qarabag

Roma - Kosice

Dinamo Moscow - CSKA Sofia

Genk - Lille

PSV - Bnei Yehuda

Lazio - Elfsborg

Trabzonspor - Toulouse

Partizan - Zilina

Baki - Basel

Ajax - Slovan Bratislava

Shakhtar Donetsk - Sivasspor

Brondby - Hertha

Athletic Bilbao - Tromso

Sarajevo - Cluj

Rapid Wien - Aston Villa

Steaua Bucuresti - St Patrick’s Athletic

Sparta Praha - Maribor

Zenit St. Petersburg - Nacional

Genoa - Odense

Dinamo Bucuresti - Liberec

Guingamp - Hamburg

Sion - Fenerbahce

Sturm - Metalist

Slavia Praha - Crvena Zvezda

Benfica - Vorskla

Vaslui - AEK

Stabaek - Valencia

UEFA Champions League Draw

Today UEFA completed the final knock-out round of this year's UEFA Champions league before the group stages. Due to a change in format, this years prequel to the group stage is known as the 'play-off' round and consists of two draw groups split in to a self explanatory 'Champions Route' and a 'non-Champions Route'. Here are the result's of today's UEFA Champions league play off round draw:

Non-Champions Route:

Olympique Lyonnais (France) - RSC Anderlecht (Belgium)
Celtic FC (Scotland) - Arsenal FC (England)
FC Timisoara (Romania - VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Sporting Club de Portugal (Portugal) - ACF Fiorentina (Italy)
Panathinaikos FC (Greece) - Club Atletico de Madrid (Spain)

Champions Route:

FC Sheriff (Moldova) - Olympiacos CFP (Greece)
FC Salzburg (Austria) - Maccabi Haifa FC (Israel)
FK Ventspils (Latvia) - FC Zurich (Switzerland)
FC Kobenhavn (Denmark) - APOEL FC (Cyprus)
PFC Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) - Debreceni VSC (Hungary)

European Competitions Round-Up: Galatasaray - Maccabi Netanya

Today's games marked the end of the week's European competition matches with a victory for Galatasaray SK, who were playing host to Maccabi Netanya of Israil at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.

Galatasaray SK went in to today's game with very little to worry about following last week's strong performance resulting in a 4-1 away victory for the Istanbul giants.
Baris Ozbek opened the scoring in only the second minute thanks to a well cut back cross from young winger Aydin Yilmaz.
Just four minutes later, Aydin was again in a giving mood providing a probing forward cross ahead of new signing Kader Keita who was switched on to volley past keeper Daniel Lifshitz for Galatasaray's 300th goal in European competitions.
Closing the first half 2-0 up, Galatasaray returned to the field eager to increase the lead and Dutch manager Frank Rijkaard did not have to wait long to see young Baris Ozbek once more latch on to a corner taken by team captain Arda Turan, heading home for the Istanbul teams third goal in the 51st minute.
Five minutes after Baris' brilliant third goal for the home side, a free kick taken by Aydin Yilmaz from the right was headed to Shabani Nonda, by Australian star Harry Kewell, who comfortably directed the ball in to the Maccabi Netanya goal with his head making the score 4-0 to hosts Galatasaray.
30 minutes from time Shabani Nonda was once more on point to tap in a low cross from Aydin Yilmaz who completed a hat-trick of assists bringing the scoreline to a comfortable 5-0 and equalling Galatasaray's record biggest win in Europe against Neuchatel Xamax 21 years ago in 1988, again at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.
Despite the 5-0 scoreline, Galatasaray refused to take their foot off the pedal and Shabani Nonda stood up to make himself heard as a contender for a starting 11 place in Frank Rijkaard's team with an amazing right footed free kick curled in to the far right corner in the 90th minute to set a new record for Galatasaray's biggest win, surpassing the legendary team of 1988 which included one of Turkey's all-time greatest players Tanju Colak.
The final whistle brought an end to a game in which Galatasaray sent out a strong warning to other competitors in this year's UEFA Europa League. There is little doubt that Frank Rijkaard will be aiming to bring the trophy back to Istanbul this season. Galatasaray won the competition in 2000 in a thrilling final against Arsenal FC of England in Copenhagen which was decided by penalties.

Daum "We came to finish the job"

As Fenerbahce SK get ready for an away day at the Jozsef Bozsik Stadium in Budapest, German manager Christoph Daum speaking to the press at the stadium seemed full of confidence ahead of their UEFA Europa League third qualifying round second leg match against Budapest Honved FC.

During the press conference Fenerbahce manager Daum's message was very clear. "We came to finish the job" were the words of a manager willing to except nothing less than a win in today's follow up to their first leg 5-1 Victory at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul.

Despite the confidence Christoph Daum portrayed, he also had words of respect for his opponent's in tonights game stating "despite the 5-0 scoreline they fought well for a goal and this is the kind of opponent who will be waiting for us tomorrow".

Turkish Champions ready to open the season

Last season's Turkish Super Lig Champions Besiktas JK open the season tomorrow away to Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyespor at the Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadi, which hosted the 2004-2005 UEFA Champions League final.

Besiktas JK start the season knowing they do not have long to get in to the winning habit with derby matches against fierce rivals Galatasaray SK and Fenerbahce SK in week 5 and week 13, respectively and completing the 34 match marathon away to Bursaspor.

Besiktas JK will be without last years team captain Gokhan Zan who was transferred to Galatasaray SK at the end of the season on a free transfer following the end of his contract. Besiktas have also not submitted Mattias Delgado on their team sheet to the FA, although there has not been any statements made from the club regarding the situation.

TRT to show Super Lig matches?

In a shock news report today, respected sports journalist Aykut Isiklar has sensationally claimed Turkish Super Lig matches could soon be moving to TRT broadcast's in the very near future and will be available for free as the channel always has been.

Mr Aykut Isiklar has also blasted Digiturk and Lig TV for being unfair to the masses who have done everything within their power to be able to watch their team's games. Mr Isiklar branded subscription-based broadcasters rip-off's, including D-Smart.

Galatasaray to play in Purple Jerseys

In tonight's Uefa Europa League 3rd Qualifying Leg 2 game against Maccabi Netanya, Galatasaray SK are expected to take to the field in their new purple jersey's. The much debated purple jersey's also being called the 2288 kit thanks to a new campaign by the Galatasaray SK board of directors will be worn for the first time since they were revealed by the team's marketing department.

Galatasaray go in to the second leg as clear favourites, already holding a 3-goal lead from their 4-1 victory in the first leg which was played in Israil at Maccabi Netanya's Bloomfield stadium in Tel Aviv