Intertoto Cup takes shape
Sunday, April 10, 2005
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UEFA headquarters in Nyon provided the setting for the draw for the first club competition of 2005/06.
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Sixty-one entrants
The continued success of the tournament is shown by the involvement of 44 of UEFA's 52 member associations. In all, 61 clubs will vie for three places in the first round of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup - leaving them one two-legged tie from the group stage, which all three Intertoto Cup winners reached this season.
Villarreal success
Of those teams, Spain's Villarreal CF have continued their campaign in the UEFA Cup as far as the quarter-finals where they lost last week's home first leg 2-1 to AZ Alkmaar. The tie concludes in the Netherlands on Thursday. Last summer's other victors, LOSC Lille Métropole and FC Schalke 04, reached the Round of 16 and last 32 respectively.
