SOCCER:ABOUT THE only consolation for Shamrock Rovers officials, as they contemplated another tough European draw yesterday, was that they will have a little time to plot the undoing of Partizan Belgrade as well as to plan just how it is they are going to get to the Serbian capital in three weeks time.
Having dominated Serbian football in recent years – they have won the country’s last four championship titles, completing three doubles along the way – Partizan were not exactly one of the easier obstacles the Dublin club could have had placed between them and the group stage of the Europa League.
The team, managed by Aleksandar Stanojevic, has more than its fair share of international players with the likes of Sasa Ilic, Zvonimir Vukic and Vladimir Skojkovic all included in a squad that is dominated by leading local players but which also includes a fair sprinkling of overseas stars.
Still, they are not unbeatable as Belgium’s Racing Genk proved over the last couple of weeks by dumping them out of the Champions League 3-2 on aggregate.
Stanojevic reckoned there was a dodgy penalty decision in each leg but then that is probably no great surprise. In the previous round his side had put KF Shkendia of Macedonia out of the competition 5-0 while on the way to the group stages of the Champions League a year ago, they eliminated Pyunik of Armenia as well as HJK Helsinki and Anderlecht.
With their league season only starting next Saturday, however, Michael O’Neill will be hoping Belgrade will not have hit anything close to their full stride by the time they arrive in Dublin for the first leg on Thursday week.
Rovers will also get the chance to study their opponents in competitive action before the first leg and have a reasonable amount of time to sort out their own travel arrangements. Clearly playing at home first is a setback in competitive terms although it may at least enable the Dublin club to maximise whatever, relatively modest, television revenues there are to had out of the tie.
Elsewhere in the draw, Celtic were handed a clash with Sion of Switzerland and Rangers were given the potentially tricky task of overcoming Slovenia’s Maribor.
Both managers said they were upbeat about the draw despite the need to improve on their most recent European outings.
Neil Lennon’s side lost at the qualifying stages of the Europa league this time last year but he expressed cautious optimism about the prospects of doing better this time around.
“I hope we have all learned from that,” he said. “There are no guarantees, obviously, but I think we are better equipped this time than we were this time last year.”
Ally McCoist, meanwhile, said it was “a draw we are pleased with”.
Paulo Sergio, the newly appointed manager of Hearts, appears to have his chances of making into September as the club’s boss dealt a blow by being drawn against Tottenham Hotspur.
The other Premier League sides came out of things reasonably well, though, with Chris Hughton’s Birmingham City paired with Nacional of Portugal, Fulham getting Dnipro of Ukraine ad Stoke landing Switzerland’s FC Thun.
In the Champions League, Arsenal learned the full extent of the price they must pay for slipping to fourth place in the Premier League over the closing stages of last season with Arsene Wenger’s side drawn against Italian opposition in their play-off for a place in the group stages.
“It’s a fascinating adventure for us; it’s like going for the first time to New York,” observed Udinese president, Giampaolo Pozzo.
“Arsenal are a club with a lot of history and we are happy to face them. All games are difficult at this level, but the more famous our opponents the more our players will give on the pitch.”
Wenger will be relieved at least that the Italians sold their two most coveted players – winger Alexis Sanchez and central midfielder Gokhan Inler – to wealthier outfits during the summer and have yet to spend much of the money. Udinese insisted yesterday they would not be rushed into buying now because of this draw and said their aim is to have completed their squad by the end of the month.
The Londoners, who may or may not still have Cesc Fabregas at the club by the time the games come around, will definitely be without Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie for the first leg as they, as well as Wenger, must serve one -match bans carried over from last season.
They will also have endure the difficulty of playing the first leg four days before the visit of Liverpool to the Emirates and the second midway between that game and the following weekend’s Premier League encounter with champions Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Champions League(play-off draw)
Wisla Krakow v Apoel Nicosia, Maccabi Haifa v Genk, Dinamo Zagreb v Malmo FF, FC Copenhagen v Plzen, BATE v SK Sturm Graz, Odense BK v Villarreal, FC Twente v Benfica, Arsenal v Udinese, Bayern Munich v FC Zurich, Lyon v Rubin Kazan.
Ties to be played 16/17 23/24 Aug
Europa League(Play-off draw – British and Irish teams)
Shamrock Rovers v Partizan, Hearts v Tottenham, Maribor v Rangers, Dnipro v Fulham, Sion v Celtic, Nacional v Birmingham, FC Thun v Stoke.
Ties to be played on 18/25 Aug
