2006–07 UEFA Cup explained

Tourney Name:UEFA Cup
Year:2006–07
Num Teams:80 (competition proper)
131 (qualifying)
Champion Other: Sevilla
Count:2
Second Other: Espanyol
Matches:219
Goals:565
Attendance:3905559
Top Scorer:Walter Pandiani (Espanyol)
11 goals
Prevseason:2005–06
Nextseason:2007–08

The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla won their second consecutive UEFA Cup, defeating Espanyol 3–1 on penalties after the match finished 2–2 after extra time. Sevilla became the second side to win the competition for two consecutive seasons, following the hiatus of the original record holder Real Madrid achieved in 1985 and 1986.

Walter Pandiani of Espanyol was the top goals scorer of this UEFA Cup edition with 11 goals.

Association team allocation

A total of 155 teams from 52 UEFA associations competed for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup. Associations were allocated places according to their 2005 UEFA league coefficient, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2000–01 to 2004–05.[1]

Below is the qualification scheme for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup:[2]

Association ranking

RankAssociationCoeff.Teams
1 Spain73.7173
2 England63.224
3 Italy61.186
4 France49.469
5 Germany48.989
6 Portugal44.666
7 Netherlands39.8314
8 Greece35.498
9 Belgium31.7502+1(FP)
9 Scotland31.7502
11 Turkey29.916
12 Czech Republic27.950
13 Russia25.666
14 Austria24.875
15 Ukraine24.850
16 Israel21.8743
17 Serbia21.249
18 Poland21.000
RankAssociationCoeff.Teams
19 Switzerland20.8753
20 Norway20.2003+1(FP)
21 Bulgaria18.5403
22 Croatia18.1252
23 Denmark17.200
24 Hungary16.331
25 Romania15.457
26 Sweden15.3832+1(FP)
27 Slovakia11.6652
28 Slovenia9.665
29 Cyprus8.165
30 Bosnia and Herzegovina7.165
31 Latvia6.664
32 Finland6.540
33 Moldova6.332
34 Georgia6.165
35 Lithuania5.332
36 Iceland4.832
RankAssociationCoeff.Teams
37 Macedonia4.4972
38 Republic of Ireland4.164
39 Belarus4.082
40 Liechtenstein4.0001
41 Armenia2.9982
41 Malta2.998
43 Albania2.665
44 Estonia2.498
45 Northern Ireland2.165
46 Wales1.832
47 Luxembourg1.665
48 Azerbaijan1.332
49 Faroe Islands0.999
50 Kazakhstan0.666
51 San Marino0.0001
52 Andorra0.000
Notes

Distribution

The title holder would have been given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup through domestic performance; however, this additional entry was not necessary as Sevilla, winners of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, qualified for the UEFA Cup through domestic performance. This means that the following changes to the default allocation system were made to compensate for the vacant title holder spot in the group stage:

Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundTeams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round
(70 teams)
  • 2 domestic league champions from associations 51 and 52
  • 31 domestic league runners-up from associations 19–50 (except Liechtenstein)
  • 4 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 18–21
  • 30 domestic cup winning teams from associations 21–50
  • 3 teams which qualified via Fair Play rankings
Second qualifying round
(64 teams)
  • 6 domestic cup winners from associations 15–20
  • 3 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–18
  • 9 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 9–17
  • 11 Intertoto Cup winners
  • 35 winners from the first qualifying round
First round
(80 teams)
  • 14 domestic cup winners from associations 1–14
  • 2 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7 and 8
  • 5 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 4–8
  • 8 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–8
  • 3 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–3
  • 32 winners from the second qualifying round
16 losers from 2006–07 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
Group stage
(40 teams)
  • 40 winners from the play-off round
Round 3
(32 teams)
  • 8 group winners from the group stage
  • 8 group runners-up from the group stage
  • 8 third-placed teams from the group stage
  • 8 third-placed teams from the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League group stage

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[3]

Notes

Early issues

Italian match-fixing scandal

The 2006 Serie A scandal resulted in major changes to the clubs that originally qualified in Italy. Originally, Roma took the cup winners' place as losing finalists in the 2006 Coppa Italia, as the winners, Internazionale finished in the top four in the league and qualified for the Champions League. The other two UEFA Cup places initially went to Lazio and Chievo.

Lazio, however, as well as the remaining three Champions League qualifiers (Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina), were formally indicted on 22 June on charges relating to the scandal.[4]

On 14 July, all four of the indicated clubs were penalised by an Italian court and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Results of the FIGC appeal were announced on 25 July. The impact on the UEFA Cup was:

Greek Football Federation

FIFA suspended the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) from all international competitions on 3 July 2006 because of "political interference in sport" after the Greek government passed a law, giving it control of the sports authorities in Greece. After the law was amended to address FIFA's objections, FIFA reinstated the HFF on 12 July. The Greek government in response, decided to withdraw all of its funding to the Hellenic Football Federation.[5]

Qualifying rounds

See main article: 2006–07 UEFA Cup qualifying rounds.

First qualifying round

These matches were held on 13 July and 27 July 2006.

|-!colspan="5"|Southern-Mediterranean region|-|-!colspan="5"|Central-East region|-|-!colspan="5"|Northern region|-|}

Second qualifying round

These matches were held on 8 and 10 August (first leg) and 24 August (second leg) 2006.

|-!colspan="5"|Southern-Mediterranean region|-|-!colspan="5"|Central-East region|-|-!colspan="5"|Northern region|-|}

1Due to the armed conflict going on in Israel, UEFA decided that no European matches could be staged in the country until further notice. Hapoel Tel Aviv's home match was moved to Tilburg, Netherlands, Beitar Jerusalem's to Sofia, Bulgaria and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv's to Senec, Slovakia

2These clubs qualified for this season's UEFA competitions as members of the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro during the 2005–06 season but are currently members of the Football Association of Serbia which is the official successor of the previous football association.[6]

3Derry City are a team from Northern Ireland who play in the Republic of Ireland's football league. The flag of the Republic of Ireland is used for the purposes of official records as Derry City are a team representing the Football Association of Ireland.

First round

See main article: 2006–07 UEFA Cup first round.

The matches were held on 14 September (first leg) and 28 September 2006 (second leg).|}4Due to the armed conflict in Israel, UEFA had ruled that European tournament matches could not be played in Israel until further notice. Maccabi Haifa's home leg on 14 September was moved to Nijmegen, Netherlands. On 15 September, UEFA lifted the ban, allowing future matches to be played in the Tel Aviv area.[7] Hapoel Tel Aviv were able to play their home leg in Tel Aviv on 28 September.

5UEFA ordered Trabzonspor's home leg on 14 September to be played behind closed doors after objects were thrown at visiting fans and the fourth official, and a smoke bomb ignited in the stands, during their second qualifying round home leg against Cypriots APOEL. Trabzonspor appealed, and UEFA rejected the appeal on 13 September. Trabzonspor's penalty includes a second closed-doors game, a penalty which has been deferred for two years and will be removed if no further incidents occur.

Group stage

See main article: 2006–07 UEFA Cup group stage.

The top three teams (highlighted in green) of each group qualified for the next round. Based on paragraph 4.06 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of all the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:[8]

  1. superior goal difference from all group matches played;
  2. higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
  3. higher number of goals scored away in all group matches played;
  4. higher number of wins;
  5. higher number of away wins;
  6. higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons (see paragraph 6.03 of the UEFA regulations).

Group H

Knockout stage

See main article: 2006–07 UEFA Cup knockout stage.

Round of 32

The first legs were held on 14 February and 15 February 2007, while the second legs were held on 22 February 2007.

1 On 7 February, the Italian Government ruled that Parma and Livorno's home fields did not meet requirements following riots held after an Italian Serie A match in Sicily. Livorno played its home leg behind closed doors on 14 February. Parma played its home leg behind closed doors on 22 February.

2 On 19 January, UEFA declared that Feyenoord had been disqualified after a member of their crowd threw a glass of beer at Morten Gamst Pedersen in their group stage match at home to Blackburn Rovers. UEFA announced on 25 January that Tottenham Hotspur had received a bye. This was confirmed after a final appeal.

Round of 16

The first legs were held on 8 March 2007, while the second legs were held on 14 and 15 March 2007.

Quarter-finals

The draw for the final stages, included quarter-finals and semi-finals, was held on 16 March 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. The quarter-final matches were played on 5 April and 12 April 2007.

Semi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on 26 April and 3 May 2007.

Final

See main article: 2007 UEFA Cup final.

Top goalscorers

RankNameTeamGoalsMinutes played
1 Walter Pandiani Espanyol111118'
2 Claudiu Niculescu Dinamo București8602'
3 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Ajax7520'
Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur7697'
Shota Arveladze AZ7942'
6 Pauleta Paris Saint-Germain6591'
Obafemi Martins Newcastle United6642'
8 Cristiano Lucarelli Livorno5616'
Tim Matthys Zulte Waregem5642'
Coro Espanyol5662'
Robbie Keane Tottenham Hotspur5708'
Luis García Espanyol51000'

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method3/crank2005.html UEFA Country Ranking 2005
  2. http://kassiesa.net/uefafiles/2006-07-uefa-access-list.pdf Access List for the 2006/07 UEFA Club Competitions
  3. Web site: Qualification for European Cup Football 2006/2007 . 2011-08-02 . 2011-12-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111220033220/http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/history/qual2006.html . dead .
  4. News: Top Italian football teams charged with fraud. 2006-06-22. Times Online . London . 22 June 2006 . Richard . Owen.
  5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/5141866.stm Greece given suspension by FIFA
  6. http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=4194304/newsId=433131.html Farewell to Yugoslavia
  7. http://www.uefa.com/uefa/Keytopics/kind=64/newsId=457461.html UEFA lifts Israel match ban
  8. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20060629100814/http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/19070.pdf. 29 June 2006. Regulations of UEFA CUP 2006–07 . UEFA.com . dead.