2007–08 UEFA Cup

The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th UEFA Cup. It is UEFA's second-level club football tournament. The final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England on 14 May 2008. The final was played between Rangers of Scotland and Zenit St. Petersburg of Russia. Zenit won the match 2–0, with goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyryanov. It was their first UEFA Cup title. The first qualifying games were played on 19 July 2007. The main tournament began on 20 September 2007. A total of 123 football clubs took part in the tournament (including its qualifying rounds).

Each European football nation is represented by a different number of its clubs. This number depends on the UEFA coefficients. One new nation has entered their Cup winner and second-placed football team: Montenegro.

The tournament's top scorers were Pavel Pogrebnyak of Zenit St. Petersburg and Luca Toni of Bayern Munich, each with 10 goals.http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/uefacup/2008/md14_1_6.pdf

Round and draw dates
The calendar from UEFA.com.
DateEvent29 June 2007Draw for first qualifying round19 July 2007First qualifying round, first leg2 August 2007First qualifying round, second leg3 August 2007Draw for second qualifying round16 August 2007Second qualifying round, first leg30 August 2007Second qualifying round, second leg31 August 2007Draw for first round20 September 2007First round, first leg4 October 2007First round, second leg9 October 2007Draw for group stage25 October 2007Group stage, 1st matchday8 November 2007Group stage, 2nd matchday29 November 2007Group stage, 3rd matchday5 December / 6 December 2007Group stage, 4th matchday19 December / 20 December 2007Group stage, 5th matchday21 December 2007Draw for Round of 32 and Round of 1613 February / 14 February 2008Round of 32, first leg21 February 2008Round of 32, second leg6 March 2008Round of 16, first leg12 March / 13 March 2008Round of 16, second leg14 March 2008Draw for remaining rounds3 April 2008Quarter-finals, first leg10 April 2008Quarter-finals, second leg24 April 2008Semi-finals, first leg1 May 2008Semi-finals, second leg14 May 2008Final in Manchester

Qualifying stage

First qualifying round
The draw was held on Friday, 29 June 2007 at 13:30 CET in Nyon, Switzerland. It was conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and Michele Centenaro, UEFA's head of club competitions. The matches were played on 19 July and 2 August 2007.

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!colspan="5"|Southern-Mediterranean region
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!colspan="5"|Central-East region
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!colspan="5"|Northern region
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1 This match was played at Partizan Stadium in Belgrade.
2 UEFA removed Partizan from the 2007–08 UEFA Cup due to crowd trouble at their away tie in Mostar. The trouble forced the match to be interrupted for 10 minutes. UEFA judged travelling Partizan fans to have been responsible for the trouble., Partizan were allowed to play the return leg while the appeal was being processed. However, Partizan's appeal was rejected so Zrinjski Mostar qualified.
3 This match was played at Szusza Ferenc Stadium in Budapest because MTK Budapest's ground in Budapest does not meet UEFA standards.
4 This match was played at Zimbru Stadium in Chişinău because FC Nistru Otaci's ground in Otaci does not meet UEFA standards.

Second qualifying round
The draw was held on Friday, 3 August 2007 at 13:00 CET in Nyon, Switzerland. It was conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA's director of professional football. The matches were played on 16 August and 30 August 2007.

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First round

The draw was held on Friday, 31 August 2007 at 13:00 CET in Monaco. It was conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and Gérard Houllier, the winning coach in the 2000–01 tournament. The matches were played on 20 September and 4 October 2007.

!colspan="5"|Group 1

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!colspan="5"|Group 2

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!colspan="5"|Group 3

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!colspan="5"|Group 4

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!colspan="5"|Group 5

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!colspan="5"|Group 6

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!colspan="5"|Group 7

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!colspan="5"|Group 8

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1 This match was played at Panthessaliko Stadium in Volos because AE Larissa's ground (Alkazar Stadium in Larissa) would not meet UEFA standards.

Group stage

The draw was held on Tuesday, 9 October 2007 at 12:00 CET in Nyon, Switzerland. It was conducted by UEFA's director of professional football Giorgio Marchetti and Michele Centenaro, UEFA's head of club competitions.

Tie-breaking criteria
Based on paragraph 6.06 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams were equal on points on completion of all the group matches, the following criteria were used to determine the rankings:
superior goal difference from all group matches played;
higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
higher number of goals scored away in all group matches played;
higher number of wins;
higher number of away wins;
higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons (see paragraph 8.03 of the UEFA regulations).

Key:
 Teams highlighted in green qualified for the next round.

Group A
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Everton440093+612 Nuremberg421176+17 Zenit St. Petersburg41216605 AZ411256−14 Larissa4004410−60

25 October 2007Everton3 – 1LarissaZenit St. Petersburg1 – 1AZ8 November 2007Larissa2 – 3Zenit St. PetersburgNuremberg0 – 2Everton29 November 2007AZ1 – 0LarissaZenit St. Petersburg2 – 2Nuremberg5 December 2007Nuremberg2 – 1AZEverton1 – 0Zenit St. Petersburg20 December 2007AZ2 – 3EvertonLarissa1 – 3Nuremberg

Group B
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Atlético Madrid431094+510 Panathinaikos430172+59 Aberdeen411256−14 Copenhagen410317−63 Lokomotiv Moscow402247−32

25 October 2007Panathinaikos3 – 0AberdeenLokomotiv Moscow3 – 3Atlético Madrid8 November 2007Aberdeen1 – 1Lokomotiv MoscowCopenhagen0 – 1Panathinaikos29 November 2007Atlético Madrid2 – 0AberdeenLokomotiv Moscow0 – 1Copenhagen5 December 2007Copenhagen0 – 2Atlético MadridPanathinaikos2 – 0Lokomotiv Moscow20 December 2007Atlético Madrid2 – 1PanathinaikosAberdeen4 – 0Copenhagen

Group C
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Villarreal431073+410 Fiorentina4220104+68 AEK Athens41214405 Mladá Boleslav410356−13 Elfsborg4013312−91

25 October 2007Villarreal1 – 1FiorentinaElfsborg1 – 1AEK Athens8 November 2007Fiorentina6 – 1ElfsborgMladá Boleslav1 – 2Villarreal29 November 2007AEK Athens1 – 1FiorentinaElfsborg1 – 3Mladá Boleslav5 December 2007Mladá Boleslav0 – 1AEK AthensVillarreal2 – 0Elfsborg20 December 2007AEK Athens1 – 2VillarrealFiorentina2 – 1Mladá Boleslav

Group D
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Hamburg431071+610 Basel422031+28 Brann411234−14 Dinamo Zagreb402225−32 Rennes402226−42

25 October 2007Basel1 – 0RennesBrann0 – 1Hamburg8 November 2007Rennes1 – 1BrannDinamo Zagreb0 – 0Basel29 November 2007Hamburg3 – 0RennesBrann2 – 1Dinamo Zagreb5 December 2007Dinamo Zagreb0 – 2HamburgBasel1 – 0Brann20 December 2007Hamburg1 – 1BaselRennes1 – 1Dinamo Zagreb

Group E
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Bayer Leverkusen430182+69 Spartak Moscow421143+17 Zürich420247−36 Sparta Prague411245−14 Toulouse410347−33

25 October 2007Bayer Leverkusen1 – 0ToulouseSparta Prague1 – 2Zürich8 November 2007Toulouse2 – 3Sparta PragueSpartak Moscow2 – 1Bayer Leverkusen29 November 2007Zürich2 – 0ToulouseSparta Prague0 – 0Spartak Moscow6 December 2007Spartak Moscow1 – 0ZürichBayer Leverkusen1 – 0Sparta Prague19 December 2007Zürich0 – 5Bayer LeverkusenToulouse2 – 1Spartak Moscow

Group F
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Bayern Munich4220125+78 Braga413053+26 Bolton Wanderers413054+16 Aris Thessaloniki412158−35 Red Star Belgrade400429−70

25 October 2007Red Star Belgrade2 – 3Bayern MunichBolton Wanderers1 – 1Braga8 November 2007Bayern Munich2 – 2Bolton WanderersAris Thessaloniki3 – 0Red Star Belgrade29 November 2007Braga1 – 1Bayern MunichBolton Wanderers1 – 1Aris Thessaloniki6 December 2007Aris Thessaloniki1 – 1BragaRed Star Belgrade0 – 1Bolton Wanderers19 December 2007Braga2 – 0Red Star BelgradeBayern Munich6 – 0Aris Thessaloniki

Group G
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Getafe430175+29 Tottenham Hotspur421175+27 Anderlecht412154+15 Aalborg BK41127704 Hapoel Tel Aviv410338−53

25 October 2007Anderlecht2 – 0Hapoel Tel AvivTottenham Hotspur1 – 2Getafe8 November 2007Hapoel Tel Aviv0 – 2Tottenham HotspurAalborg BK1 – 1Anderlecht29 November 2007Getafe1 – 2Hapoel Tel AvivTottenham Hotspur3 – 2Aalborg BK6 December 2007Aalborg BK1 – 2GetafeAnderlecht1 – 1Tottenham Hotspur19 December 2007Getafe2 – 1AnderlechtHapoel Tel Aviv1 – 3Aalborg BK

Group H
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Bordeaux440095+412 Helsingborg421185+37 Galatasaray411265+14 Panionios411247−34 Austria Wien401316−51

25 October 2007Bordeaux2 – 1GalatasarayHelsingborg1 – 1Panionios8 November 2007Galatasaray2 – 3HelsingborgAustria Wien1 – 2Bordeaux29 November 2007Panionios0 – 3GalatasarayHelsingborg3 – 0Austria Wien6 December 2007Austria Wien0 – 1PanioniosBordeaux2 – 1Helsingborg19 December 2007Panionios2 – 3BordeauxGalatasaray0 – 0Austria Wien

Final Phase

All of the rounds in the final phase are two-legged, except for the final. In the event of aggregate scores being equal after normal time in the second leg, the winning team will be that which scored more goals on their away leg: if the scores in the two matches were identical, extra time is played. The away goals rule also applies if scores are equal at the end of extra time. If there are no goals scored in extra time, the tie is decided on a penalty shoot out. The team first out of the hat in each tie plays the first leg of their tie at home, and the second leg away.

Bracket

Round of 32
The draw for the round of 32, which was conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and Michele Centenaro, UEFA's head of club competitions, was held on Friday, 21 December 2007 at 13:00 CET in Nyon, Switzerland. The eight group winners were drawn against the eight third-placed teams, while the eight second-placed teams were drawn against the eight teams who finished third in the Champions League groups. Teams from the same group or the same country cannot be drawn together.

The first legs were played on 13 February and 14 February 2008. The second legs were played on 21 February 2008.

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Round of 16
The draw for the Round of 16, which was conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor, was also held on Friday, 21 December 2007 at 13:00 CET in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs were played on 6 March 2008. The second legs were played on 12 and 13 March 2008. Unlike the previous rounds, teams from the same group or country may be drawn together from the round of 16 onwards.

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Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, which was conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and Denis Law, the ambassador for the final in Manchester, was held on Friday, 14 March 2008 at 14:00 CET in Nyon, Switzerland. The first legs of the quarter-finals were played on 3 April and the second legs were played on 10 April 2008.

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Semi-finals
The semi-final matches were played on 24 April and 1 May 2008.

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Final

The final was contested by Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg and Scottish side Rangers on 14 May 2008 at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. Zenit won the match 2–0, with goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyryanov coming in the last 20 minutes of the game to give Zenit their first UEFA Cup title.

The night was marred by rioting by a minority of Rangers supporters in Manchester city centre.

UEFA Cup2007–08 WinnerFC Zenit St. PetersburgFirst Title

Top scorers
The top scorers in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup are the following:

RankNameTeamGoalsAppearances1 Pavel Pogrebnyak Zenit St. Petersburg1013 Luca Toni Bayern Munich10113 Stefan Kießling Bayer Leverkusen7124 Henrik Larsson Helsingborg68 Adrian Mutu Fiorentina610 Razak Omotoyossi Helsingborg687 Sergio Agüero Atlético Madrid57 Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham Hotspur58 Fernando Cavenaghi Bordeaux57 Miroslav Klose Bayern Munich512 Roland Linz Braga58 Dimitrios Papadopoulos Panathinaikos57  Lukas Podolski Bayern Munich512 Jon Dahl Tomasson Villarreal58

Sources: Top Scorers Final - Wednesday 14 May 2008 (after match)

References

Other websites
 UEFA Cup

Category:UEFA
Category:2007 in association football
Category:2008 in European football
Category:2007 in Europe