The draw for the CL and UEFA Cup
20 June 2003
The draw for the First and Second qualifying rounds of the Champions League and the Qualifying round of the UEFA Cup was held today at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Bulgaria's champion CSKA (Sofia) is going to meet in the Second CL qualifying round of the CL the winner of the tie between Pyunik (Erevan, Armenia) and KR (Reykjavik, Iceland). Our participants in the UEFA Cup - Litex (Lovech) and Levski (Sofia) will meet in the qualification round of the competition Zimbru (Chisinau, Moldova) and Atyrau (Atyrau, Kazakhstan) respectively.
CSKA's exact opponent will be known following the First qualification round CL matches between Pyunik and KR, which are due to be played on the 16th and the 23rd of July 2003. Pyunik, which is the unseeded team in the pair, will be hosting in the 1st leg.
The draw for the Third qualifying round of the CL will be held on the 25th of July, and so the probable opponent for the reds should they qualify through to this stage will become known then.
CSKA will start it participation in the CL on the 30th of July 2003, and is going to play away to either Pynik or KR in the first leg, with the second leg to be held at the "Bulgarska armia" stadium on the 6th of August 2003.
Litex and Levski will start their European campaign on the 14th of August, with Litex hosting Zimbru at the stadium in Lovech, and Levski playing away to Atyrau in Kazakhstan. The return legs are to be played on the 28th of August, with Zimbru probably hosting Litex at the stadium in Speia, since their own stadium in Chisinau isn't licenced for the European competitions.
Here is a short presentation of the opponents:
CSKA will meet either KR (Reykjavik) or Pyunik (Erevan). The only thing in common that this two teams have is that the championships of both countries are in the spring-fall cycle and are now in full swing. As for everything else - these two teams are total polarities. KR comes from the northwesternmost end of Europe - snowy Iceland, while Pyunik is from Armenia, situated among the Caucasus mountains at the Southeastern border of the Old continent. The two teams' styles are also totally different - the typical for the Scandinavian countries physical football, pitched against the southern passion, strengthened by the strong Argentine "colony" at the Armenian club. KR is a team with more than a 100-year old history and with many participations in the European competitions, while Pyunik's history starts from the turbulent years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and has only a single participation at the international club scene. Here is a little more info about the two teams:
Pyunik (Erevan, Armenia)
Former names: Armenikum (until 2000)
Team colours: blue-white-black
Stadium: "Respublikanskiy" (18 500 spectators), also used by Armenia's national team.
Official web site: none; site with information on the team (but with mistakes in the historical information): Pynik
President: Khoren Oganesyan; Head coach: Oscar Lopez (Argentina).
Honours: Champion of Armenia - 2 times (2001, 2002); Cup of Armenia winner - 1 time (2002), Supercup of Armenia winner - 1 time (2001).
Balance in the European competitions: 1 participation (2002/03 in the CL), 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, gd: 8:6
Best achievement in the European competitions: CL 2nd qualifying round (2002/03)
The team of Pyunik is founded fairly recently. It is often mistaken with the other famous Pyunik team in Armenian football, which became champion in 1996 and 1997, and then changed its name ti Kilikia before being relegated from the Armenian Premier League. Because of the same names, the two teams are often wrongly considered as a same single side.
This Pyunik, under the name of Armenikum becomes champion of the Armenian second level in 2000 and thus earns itself promotion to the Armenian Premier League. There it changes name to Pyunik (which in Armenian means "phoenix") and in its very first season in the elite wins the championship at the Supercup of the country. In the 2002 season Pyunik is once again champion, with which it earns its right to participate in the 2003/04 edition of the Champions League. In addition to that Pyunik also wins the Cup of Armenia.
The 2003 season of the Armenian championship is currently under way and following 7 rounds played Pyunik is again leading with 5 wins, 2 draws and no losses, and the impressive goal difference of 22:2. In the already finished competition for the 2003 cup of the country, Pyunik has reached the 1/2 finals, where it was eliminated.
Pyunik has a single participation in the European competition so far, but it is fairly successful. Last season the "phoenixes" again participate in the Champions League and more than convincingly eliminate the tipped as favourite team of Tampere (Finland) in the First qualification round, by crushing them 4:0 in Tampere and showing no mercy in Erevan too - 2:0. In the next round Pyunik meets the giant Dinamo (Kiev) and suffers a heavy defeat in Ukraine with 0:4, but achieves a more than dignified 2:2 draw at the return leg in Erevan - something which in the very next round our Levski doesn't manage to achieve. So Pyunik have a positive balance and goal difference in the European competitions and in particular in the most prestigious one - the Champions League.
Pyunik's success is to the biggest extent due to the fact, that this is one of the most stable financially teams in Armenia. Its owners have hired Argentinean coach Oscar Lopez, with his assistants also from Argentina - Ruben Brites and Ruben Flota. There are three players from Argentina, two - from Mali, a player from Cameroon in the squad.. a really strange mosaic of nationalities for this part of Europe. In its squad also stands out the team goalscorer Arman Karamyan, who is also a top goalscorer of the 2001 and 2002 championships with 21 goals from 19 matches and 36 goals from 22 matches respectively.
KR (Reykjavik, Iceland), full name: Knattspyrnufelag Reykjavikur
Founded: 1899
Team colours: black-white
Stadium: "KR-Vollur" (5400 spectators)
Official web site: KR (Reykjavik)
President: Magnus Ingimundarson; Head coach: Willum Thor Thorsson
Honours: Champion of Iceland - 23 times (1912,19,26-29,31-32,34,41,48-50,52,55,59,61,63,65,68,99,2000,2002); Cup of Iceland winner - 10 times (1960-64, 1966-67, 1994-95, 1999); Iceland Cup of the League wiinner - 2 times (1998,2001).
Balance in the European competitions: total: (participations-matches-wins-draws-losses-goal difference) 15--38--8-5-25--38:102; in ECC and CL: 5--12--3-1-8--16:42
Best achievement in the European competitions: Second qualification round in CL (2000/01), 1 round of the UEFA Cup and CWC. A total of 4 eliminated teams in the competitions.
Knattspyrnufelag Reykjavikur or KR in short contrary to the widespread opinions on the Icelandic football is founded in the distant 1899, in the time when Bulgaria was far from having an organized football. The Icelandic championship has also some longer traditions than ours, with KR winning its first title in 1912. KR is one of the big Icelandic clubs, and has the most championship titles and cups of its country. Until recently though the teams showed regression from its traditions, and didn't manage to win a single title between 1968 and 1999, and recorded a similar drought in the cup competition too - between 1967 and 1994. Despite that the team is now again establishing itself as a major factor in the local championship and following 1999 has also won the titles in 2000 and 2002.
The 2003 season is currently underway and the team is once again at the top - following 5 rounds it has 3 wins a draw and a loss with a 6:6 goal difference. The team is still in the cup competition and is due to play at the 1/8 finals on the 1st of July.
KR has a long tradition of participation in the European competitions, appearing 5 times in each of the three major competitions. Nevertheless until the 90s its participations are to be remembered for all the wrong reasons only. Perhaps the most famous opponent that KR has met is English side Liverpool - this happens at KR's first participation in the ECC in 1964/65 - and they are eliminated miserably following 0:5 and 1:6. The club records another two sad records in the competitions - by ranking among the few teams to concede double digits - in 1967/68 KR is trashed 0:10 in a match against Aberdeen, while in 1969/70 it records the impressive 2:12 defeat in a match with Feyenoord. In the 90s KR though manages to achieve some better results - in 1995/96 and in 1996/97 in two consecutive participations in the CWC it eliminates Grevenmacher of Luxembourg and MPKC (Mozyr, today's Slavia) from Belarus respectively, following which gets eliminated in the 1st round. In the next 1997/98 season KR records its biggest success in the competitions by eliminating Romanian Dinamo (Bucuresti) in the qualification round of the UEFA Cup with 2:0 and 2:1, following which it is defeated by Greek side OFI (Heraklion) after 0:0 and 1:3. In the 2000/01 season KR eliminates its first opponent in the most prestigious competition - by beating Maltese side Birkirkara in the CL first qualification round. As a whole though the team isn't doing well in Europe and has more than 100 conceded toals in less than 40 European appearances, while their fellow countrymen from IA (Akranes) have better overall record in the competitions.
To sum it all up, we can say that it is hard to judge which one of the two teams will face CSKA. Their strenghts look balanced, and though Pyunik has better European showings, this advantage of theirs is negated by the fact that the first leg is in Armenia. Whichever of the two teams goes through, it will be a fully beatable opponent for the reds, especially since the return leg is in Sofia. But it musn't be underestimated even a bit, especially taking into account the impressive results by Iceland's and Armenia's national teams in recent years.
The bronze medalist and Cup finalist Litex must face the harmlessly looking team of Zimbru, from the Moldavian capitam of Chisinau. Three seasons ago CSKA eliminated with ease another Moldavian team - Constructorul. But we immediately recall the hardships that Litex went through against the also harmlessly looking Longford not long ago. And is Zimbru actually as harmless as it looks, do we know enough of this team? Here is a short presentation of the team.
Zimbru (Chisinau, Moldova)
Founded: 1947
Former names: Dinamo (1947-1950), Burevestnik (1950-57), Moldova (1958-65 and 1967-71), Avyntul (1966), Nistru (1972-90), Zimbrul (1991)
Team colours: yellow-green
Stadium: "Zimbru" (1390 spectators), in the European competitions plays at the city stadium in Speia (10 150 spectators)
Official web site: none; official fan site: Zimbrumania
President: Nicolae Ciornii ; Head coach: Gabriel Stan
Honours: Champion of Moldova - 8 times (1992,1992/93-1995/96, 1997/98-1999/00) - most titles in Moldova; Cup of Moldova winner - 3 times (1996/97, 1997/98, 2002/03) - shares the first place with most cups together with Tiligul and Sheriff.
Achievements in the USSR championship: participation at the top level (Klass A, Superliga, Vishaya liga) - 10 times (1956-1960, 1962-1964, 1974, 1983), higest place - 6th place (1956), 1/16 finalist for the Cup of the USSR - 2 times (1984, 1985)
Balance in the European competitions: total: (participations-matches-wins-draws-losses-goal difference) - 10--38--11-7-20--43:57, in the UEFA Cup: 7--20--4-4-12--18:36
Best achievement in the European competitions: 3rd qualifying round of the CL - 2 times (1999/00, 2000/01) after eliminating 2 opponents and followed by elimination in the 1st round of the UEFA Cup.
We can say without doubt that Zimbru is the most successful Moldavian club of all time The team is unarguably the best team from Moldova since its creation in 1947, while within the old Soviet Union, and since the establishement of the Moldavian championship too. In the last three seasons however, Zimbru is forced to step down from the top and make way to Sheriff (Tiraspol), which triumphed with the title in the last three seasons. Even in those years Zimbru is firmly at the vice champion spot. In the 2002/03 season Zimbru finishes second again, with 15 wins, 5 draws and only 4 losses and a goal difference of 47:20. Nevertheless the won 50 points aren't enough to catch up with Sheriff, which ended with a 10-point lead. ZImbru though compensated this with winning the Cup of Moldova.
In the first years since its creation Zimbru is a relatively regular participant in the top most level of Soviet football, without achieving too big of results (its best position - 6th place). This continues until the mid 60s, when the team from Chisinau becomes a regular participant to the second level of the USSR championship and from then to the collapse of the federation has managed to enter only on two other occasions in the elite. In the Moldavian championship ZImbru wins 8 out of the first 9 championships held, allowing only Constructorul to take the title away from them for a single season, before allowing the present hegemony of Sheriff.
In the European competitions Zimbru makes some very remarkable participations and can be called the "European giant" of the otherwise modest in strength Moldova. Up till now Zimbru is yet to miss a season of participating in Europe and has recorded 4 Chamions League appearances, 1 for the CWC and 5 for the UEFA Cup, two of which are in continuation of a participation, started in the CL. It is precisely those two participations that are the most impressive. In the beginning of the 90s the Chisinau team doesn't have any significant success, the first more notable run in the tournaments ZImbru achieves in the UEFA Cup in 1995/96, when it eliminates first Israeli Apoel (Tel Aviv) and then Latvian RAF (Jelgava); reaches the 2nd round of the tournament and is eliminated by Sparta (Prague), but with not a bad performance - 3:4 and 0:2. Zimbru's biggest successes come in the 1999/00 and 2000/01 seasons and they are in the most important competition. In both cases Zimbru starts out in the CL First qualification round as a total outsider, and reaches all the way to the third qualifications round. In 1999 the Chisinau team's first victim is Irish Saint Patrick's, which are eliminated with the stunning 5:0 and 5:0. The next team to fall is former grand Dinamo (Tbilisi, Georgia), which succumbs following 1:2 and 2:0 for Zimbru. At the last obstacle before the CL group phase Zimbru is eliminated dramatically from another European powerhouse - PSV Eindhoven - following a 0:0 and 0:2 results. But the fairytale doesn't stop here. On the very next season, as if to prove that their previous achievment was not a one-time show, Zimbru repeat the run - Albanian Tirana falls prey in the First CL qualification round following 3:2 and 3:2. Next in line is Slovenian side Maribor following 2:0 and 0:1 - a team which has competed in the group stage of the Champions League the previous season. Zimbru once again fail to overcome the final obstacle tot he Champions League groups after stepping down to yet another of the big European teams - Sparta (Prague) - following a hard battle with 0:1 and 0:1. Another elimination following a brave fight follows in the UEFA cup 1st round - Zimbru are beaten by German Hertha (Berlin) with 1:2 and 0:2.
Though Zimbru is a an opponent that is absolutely possible to overcome, Litex must play at its top strength in the matches against this serious foe, that has achievments completely comparable to the best runs of our own teams in the European competitions for the last few years. The Lovech team's task is made more difficult by the fact that the return leg is in Moldova, so they must do everything possible to prove their class in the most categorical way possible in the 1st leg.
Vice champion and cup winner Levski (Sofia) also faces a team from the former Soviet Union. It is a representative of the youngest member of the UEFA family - Kazakhstan, which was admitted to the federation only last season with its club sides having only a single seson of European participation behind their back and national team yet to have the possiblity to show its strength in qualifications on European soil. In their first season in the European competitions the Kazakh teams showed that they fully deserve their place in Europe. Here is a short presentation of Atyrau:
Atyrau (Atyrau, Kazakhstan)
Founded: 1980
Former names: Prikaspiets (1980-81), Ak Zhaik (2000)
Team colours: red-yellow
Stadium: "Munayshi" (9000 spectators)
Official web site: none; fan site: Atyrau (Atyrau)
President: Zhandarbek Kakishev; Head coach: Aleksandr Golokolosov
Honours: 2nd place in the Kazakh championship - 2 times (2001, 2002); 1/8 final for the Kazakh Cup - 2 times (2002, 2003)
Achievements in the USSR championship: participation at third level (Vtora liga) - 2 times (1980, 1981) - higest place - 18th (1981).
Balance in the European competitions: 1 participation (2002/03 in the UEFA Cup), 1 draw and 1 loss, goal difference 0:2.
Best achievement in the European competitions: participation in the UEFA Cup qualification round (2002/03, 2003/04).
Atyrau is a team without any considerable tradition both in Kazakhstan and the former Soviet Union. In 1980 the team enters the third level of the USSR championship, and records two unremarkable participations (19th and 18th place) before getting relegated. Its town was hen called Gyrev, today it bears the name of Atyrau, with the team taking the same name. In Kazakh this means "a river delta". The city is not named so by chance, since it is situated at the Northeastern cost of the Caspian sea, at the place where the river Ural, which divides Europe from Asia, goes into the sea. This way the city itself is standing at the border of the two continents. Atyrau achieves any notable success in the local championship only in the last two seasons - finishing at second place in both 2001 and 2002. The Kazakh championship is conducted according to the spring-fall cycle and currently the 2003 season is well under way. Atyrau is again among the top teams - following 13 rounds the team is fourth with 7 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses from 11 matches and a goal difference of 20:13. With its 22 points and a match in hand to all the teams above it, Atyrau is only 6 points behind the leader in the table. The club is still in the cup competition of the country and is due to play at the 1/8 finals.
With its first second place in 2001, Atyrau earned the right to be among the first three teams from its country to represent it in Europe. Competing in the UEFA Cup, Atyrau recorded a decent performance and was eliminated in the qualification round by Slovak side Matador (Puchov) following a 0:0 home draw and 0:2 loss away, thus helping for accumulating its countries first points in the competitions.
Now Atyrau is about to defend the pride of its country for the second consecutive time and though this may be the most modest team among the ones that are going to face our clubs in the European competitions, this by no means should let Levski underestimate its opponent and the blues must go into the tie with all guns blazing just as the other Bulgarian teams must. It should also be remembered, that the Bulgarian teams must not only eliminate their opponents but win the maximum ammount of points out of those ties, since even a draw can prove bad for the country's coefficient. Though it has weak tradition, the decent performance in Atyrau's debut season in the European competition should no be overlooked, as well as the fact that the championship of Kazakhstan is well on its way and Atyrau will probably enter the matches against Levski at top form. The players of the blues will also undoubtedly face difficult weather conditions too, since the steppes of Central Asia will hardly offer any pleasant conditions in the end of August, when the first leg between the two teams should be played.
As a whole, though nowadays the strengths in Europe are very balanced, our opponents are very convenient. The reason for this however is the hard-earned position of our country in the UEFA ranking. That is precisely the reason why all three of our teams must not only eliminate their opponents, but also take the full points out of the matches, since those are the only certain points that our teams are going to get. Though we face worthy opponents, they are a class below our own.
27 August 2003
24 August 2003
23 August 2003
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29 June 2003
26 June 2003
16 June 2003