April dates for final four
Monday, February 7, 2005
Article summary
The dates have been announced for the semi-finals of the 2004/05 UEFA Women's Cup.
Article body
Domestic break
Djurgården/Älvsjö will stage the opening game against Arsenal LFC on Thursday 7 April, with the return match taking place in England on Friday 15 April. However, one potential problem for the Swedish champions is the possible lack of a competitive edge, with their domestic league not resuming until 23 April.
Holders ousted
Djurgården/Älvsjö reached the last four by defeating their compatriots and the winners of the last two editions, Umeå IK, 3-1 on aggregate. Arsenal lost the first leg of their quarter-final 2-0 to Italian outfit Torres Terra Sarda but a 4-1 second-leg triumph at Borehamwood took them through. The Gunners and Djurgården/Älvsjö also met in the second qualifying round, with Arsenal prevailing 1-0 to top the pool.
Home advantage
The first leg of the other semi-final is played two days after Djurgården/Älvsjö's home leg, on 9 April, with 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam of Germany having home advantage against SK Trondheims-Ørn. The Norwegian side - the first from their country to reach the last four of a UEFA competition thanks to a 6-1 success against Belarussian side FC Bobruichanka - are then at home on 16 April.
Inaugural winners
Potsdam ended 1. FFC Frankfurt's dominance of the Bundesliga last season and now hope to replicate their success of 2002, when the German side became the first to win the UEFA Women's Cup. Potsdam secured a first semi-final berth by defeating Russian challengers FC Energy Voronezh 5-2 over two legs.
