UEFA Diary

The road to Eindhoven starts here. . .

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The format:

The format for the UEFA Cup will be the same as last year, involving a mixture of knock-out rounds and a group stage.

After two qualifying rounds there will be a first round proper involving 80 teams. Teams will be seeded so that teams cannot play other teams from their own country and also so that the ‘top’ teams do not play each other. This round will be played in the traditional two-leg knockout format, home and away.

The 40 teams winning through from the first round will be entered into the group stage. Teams will be split into 8 groups of 5 teams, playing each team in their group once, two at home and two away. The top 3 teams in each group will qualify for the final knockout stage.

The 24 successful teams from the group stage will be joined by 8 teams who fail to progress from the Champions League group stage. Hence, 32 teams will contest the final knockout stage, playing two legs home and away, through to the final, which will be a one-off match at a neutral venue.

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The dates:

August
Friday 26th - First Round draw, UEFA HQ, Nyon

September
Thursday 15th - First Round, 1st Leg
Boro 2-0 Xanthi

Thursday 29th - First Round, 2nd Leg
Xanthi 0-0 Boro

October
Tuesday 4th - Group Stage draw, UEFA HQ, Nyon

Thursday 20th - Group Stage, matchday 1
Grasshoppers 0-1 Boro
Dnipro 1-2 AZ Alkmaar

November/December
Thursday 3rd - Group Stage, matchday 2
Boro 3-0 Dnipro
Litex 2-1 Grasshoppers

Thursday 24th - Group Stage, matchday 3
AZ Alkmaar 0-0 Boro
Dnipro 0-2 Litex

Wednesday 30th - Group Stage, matchday 4
Litex 0-2 AZ Alkmaar
Grasshoppers 2-3 Dnipro

Thursday 15th - Group Stage, matchday 5
Boro 2-0 Litex
AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Grasshoppers

February
Thursday 16th - Round of 32, 1st Leg
Stuttgart 1-2 Boro

Thursday 23rd - Round of 32, 2nd Leg
Boro 0-1 Stuttgart

Aggregate 2-2, Boro win on away goals.

March
Thursday 9th - Round of 16, 1st Leg
Boro 1-0 Roma

Wednesday 15th - Round of 16, 2nd Leg
Roma 2-1 Boro

Aggregate 2-2, Boro win on away goals.

Thursday 30th - Quarter Final, 1st Leg
Basel 2-0 Boro

April
Thursday 6th - Quarter Final, 2nd Leg
Boro 4-1 Basel

Boro win 4-3 on aggregate.

Thursday 20th - Semi-final, 1st Leg
Steaua Bucharest 1-0 Boro

Thursday 27th - Semi-final, 2nd Leg
Boro 4-2 Steaua Bucharest

Boro win 4-3 on aggregate.

May
Wednesday 10th - Final (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Boro 0-4 Sevilla

Oh well, at least we made the final!
COME ON BORO!

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