register to 888sport
888sport time:

Featured Sport News

Nations apart in UEFA Cup

Author: Sir David Smith
Date: 29/04/2009

Much celebration must have occurred in the corridors of power at European headquarters in Switzerland when the draw for the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup was made last month.

UEFA are always keen to avoid the prospect a sole nation dominating one of their club competitions so the last four draw - which saw the two remaining German teams and two Ukrainian sides all play each other - was certainly a welcome result for president Michel Platini and company.

UEFA is guaranteed a German or Ukrainian winner of this year's final in Istanbul as the last four teams standing are Werder Bremen, Hamburg, Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Tournament favourites with online betting experts Werder Bremen will play Hamburg at the Weserstadion and Dynamo Kyiv host Shakhtar in Thursday's semi-final first leg encounters.

Domestic league form would suggest that Martin Jol's Hamburg side are the favourites to win their all-Bundesliga battle with struggling Werder.

Hamburg are currently fifth in the table and still harbour hopes of clawing back the likes of Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg to win their first league title since the early 1980s.

Meanwhile, Werder coach Thomas Schaaf has come under fire this season with his much-fancied side currently languishing in the bottom half of the table.

However, in the knockout competitions this season Werder have looked a more impressive side and indeed struck a psychological blow last week after dumping Hamburg out of the German Cup at the semi-final stage.

The two north-west German rivals could not be separated after drawing 1-1 after 120 minutes, but goalkeeper Tim Wiese was the Bremen hero as he saved three spot-kicks in the ensuing penalty shootout.

Hamburg's chances have also been hit by the news that Croatia striker Mladen Petric could miss both legs after gashing his leg in the same match.

Over in Ukraine, Kyiv are considered overwhelming favourites to progress to their first ever UEFA Cup Final as they are the dominant side in their own domestic league.

Yuri Semin's side are running away with the Ukrainian Premier League this season where they hold a 12-point lead over Shakhtar.

European heavyweights Paris St Germain and Valencia have already fallen at the feet of Kyiv in this season's competition, while they showed no mercy in brushing another fellow Ukrainian outfit aside in Metalist Kharkiv in the round of 16.

However, all is not lost for Shakhtar as they were 1-0 winners over their more illustrious rivals when they met in the league at their RSK Olimpiyskyi stadium back in November.

The two foes will also be seeing plenty of one another in the coming weeks as the two European semi-finals legs come before a meeting in the last four of their domestic cup competition and also a league encounter in Kyiv, all within the next four weeks.

online betting