Tottenham await exalted company
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Article summary
Five former UEFA Cup winners will be battling to join two-time holders Tottenham Hotspur FC in the tournament's last 16 as the Round of 32 ties conclude.
Article body
Five former UEFA Cup winners will be battling to join two-time holders Tottenham Hotspur FC in the last 16 when the Round of 32 concludes.
Potential clash
Handed a bye following the expulsion of 1973/74 and 2001/02 UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord, Martin Jol's side will meet the winners of Parma FC's tie with SC Braga. Should Claudio Ranieri's men overturn the 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Portugal, it would set up a meeting between the only two remaining two-time UEFA Cup winners in the competition.
Two-time winners
Parma may be having hard times in Serie A, but they can draw plenty of inspiration from their recent history, having won the UEFA Cup in 1994/95 and 1998/99 and reached the semi-finals two seasons ago. Tottenham, meanwhile, won the inaugural UEFA Cup competition in 1971/72 and brought the trophy back to north London again in 1983/84.
Ajax in peril
The most likeliest of the former winners remaining to miss out on the last 16 are AFC Ajax, although the Dutch club are a force to be reckoned with at the Amsterdam ArenA. The 1991/92 UEFA Cup winners are 3-0 down from the first leg of their tie against Werder Bremen, with the German side showing the form that saw them narrowly miss out on a place in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
Holders hopeful
Holders Sevilla FC will hope they can maintain their 2-0 first-leg advantage as FC Steaua Bucuresti return to the scene of their 1985/86 European Champion Clubs' Cup triumph - Seville's Rámon Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium. Meanwhile, 2004/05 winners PFC CSKA Moskva face a tricky trip to Maccabi Haifa FC after drawing 0-0 in the home leg of their tie, played 1,500km from chilly Moscow in Vladikavkaz.
English ties
The only other former winners, 1987/88 champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen, will take a 3-2 lead into the away leg of their tie against Blackburn Rovers FC. Elsewhere in England, Newcastle United FC will be presented with the UEFA Intertoto Cup trophy as the longest surviving team from the traditional summer competition, as they welcome SV Zulte Waregem, holding a 3-1 lead.
