Following in the footsteps of Anorthosis Famagusta a season ago, it was a season of what-ifs for the upstart clubs from traditionally weaker nations in the UEFA Champions League. Opportunities abounded for sides such as Unirea Urziceni, Rubin Kazan, Dynamo Kiev, and APOEL Nicosia to keep their highest European ambitions alive. But the Romanians and Russian will have to settle for the parachute to the Europa League knockout phase, while the Ukrainians and Cypriots see their international schedules come to a disappointing end.
While these sides will be bitterly disappointed, we can all take heart in the fact that UEFA has made a positive change with the restructuring of the competition — specifically the new 3rd round/playoff format. Dividing the final qualifying round into a “Champions Path” and “Non-Champions Path” is a great way to spread the love, if you will, to more sides and a wider variety of European countries. Clubs such as the Panathinaikoses and Celtics of the world may be a bit disappointed being stuck drawing squads like Arsenal and Lyon, but it is for the better that national champions be given the “advantage” of avoiding such teams. It may be a bit disappointing that under the new format we will never see a true “Champions League,” (i.e., a group stage with only champions instead of a 3rd place EPL team or 3rd place Bundesliga outfit) but it will give some quality sides from different countries a chance to compete at the highest level, as evidenced by the qualification of a Cypriot club to the group stage for the 2nd season in a row and the first Hungarian entrant (Debreceni) since Ferencváros in 1995-1996.
(Interesting side note to prove the point: In the span of 13 seasons between Hungarian appearances in the group stage, Hungarian clubs twice encountered Manchester United in the pre-qualifying rounds, compiling a record of 1-0-3 with 1 GF/11 GA.)
Below is a recap of some of the highlights (and lowlights) that caused some of these surprise group stage clubs to miss out on a potential chance of a lifetime.
Maccabi Haifa:
- 0 GF;
- five 0-1 defeats
APOEL Nicosia:
- 1-2 defeat after leading 1-0 at the Dragao on Matchday 3
- 0-1 on 84′ tally for Porto Matchday 4 (in Cyprus)
- 1-1 after leading Atletico Madrid 1-0 on 60′ (in Cyprus)
Rubin Kazan:
- 4/6 points available vs Barcelona
- 2/12 points vs Inter Milan/Dynamo Kiev
Dynamo Kiev:
- 1-2 defeats after leading both Barcelona/Inter Milan 1-0 at home
- Milan scored twice in the final 5 minutes of normal time
- 2-2 draw @ Milan after leading twice (1-0, 2-1)
Unirea Urziceni:
- 90 minutes from knockout stage, conceded 3 goals in first 11′ @ Stuttgart
- Needed only a draw to advance
- Failed to beat Rangers on Matchday 4 at home (after winning 4-1 @ Ibrox)
FC Zurich:
- 4/6 possible points (2 GF, 1 GA) vs AC Milan (Including a win away)
- 0/12 possible points vs Real Madrid/Marseille (3 GF, 13 GA)
Michael DiAmore is currently a play-by-play and color commentator for the Athletics Dept. of Stevens Institute of Technology, where he is a Computer Engineering major and freelance sportswriter. He can be contacted via e-mail at MichaelJDiAmore@gmail.com.
Written By Michael
DiAmore
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