Bellinzona qualify for the second round of the UEFA Cup + ChL and UEFA Cup Draws

Bellinzona qualify for the second round of the UEFA CUP
Marco Schallibaum’s men have easily obtained their ticked for the second round of the UEFA Cup by defeating Ararat Yerevan on a 4-1 aggregate score with yesterday’s 3-1 win in Lugano. At the end of the first half the Swiss team was already 3-0 up through goals by Rivera, Sermeter and Roux. And behind all of the goals and opportunities there was the quality of forward Lustrinelli.
The Armenians, who lead their national Championship, managed an early consolation goal through a powerful free kick by Mkoyan.

AC Bellinzona - Ararat Yerevan 3-1 (3-0)
Cornaredo, 3127 spectators. Referee: Jakov (Israel)
1-0 22nd Rivera, 2-0 31st Sermeter, 3-0 45th Roux, 3-1 53rd Mkoyan.
AC Bellinzona: Bucchi; Belotti, Mangiarratti, La Rocca, Raso; Sermeter, Wahab, Rivera (82e Ferrazza), Conti; Lustrinelli (62e Gashi), Roux (71e Neri).
Ararat: Parasyan; Calsani, V. Minasyan, Mkoyan, Petrosyan (49. Mehrabyan); A. Minasyan (46. Jeferson), Antonyan, Renato, Navoyan; Nranyan, Marcos.

And Vaduz are out of the competition
Once more FC Vaduz has failed to qualify for the second round of the UEFA Cup. The Liechtenstein team, after the 2-1 defeat in the first leg, was once more defeated 3-0 away at Mostar, Bosnia, against Zrinjski. The Bosnians opened the score at the 6th minute through Djuric, Sunjic added a second at the 26th minute and Matko ended Vaduz’ slim hopes at the 76th minute. Fejzulahi missed a penalty at the 63rd minute to add to the team’s distress.

Basel’s Champion’s League Draw
Waiting for the second leg of their duel with IFK Goteborg, FC Basel has found out that if they do qualify for the third round they won’t have to defy Atletico Madrid or Galatasary, but Vitoria Guimaraes!
The first leg will be played on the 12th and 13th of August in Portugal while the second leg will be played on the 26th and 27th in Basel.
Vitoria Guimaraes is a team from from Guimaraes, 40km N-E of Porto, who came third in last year’s Portuguese league. Before that in the 2006-2007 season they were playing in the 1st Division following a relegation in the previous season. Games are played at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Stadium that can host almost 30,000 spectators. After Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon this is the team that attracts the most fans.
Basel has a big advantage because the Portuguese championship doesn’t start until the 22nd of August and according to the technical director of Basel, Ruedi Zbinden, Basel has a great opportunity to qualify for the Group Stage even though he admits that the Portuguese team is no piece of cake.
There are no notable players but this is a solid team, especially back in defence, although it does lack international experience.

UEFA CUP Draws
The first leg of the Second Round of the UEFA Cup will be played on the 14th of August and the return leg a fortnight later.
FC Zurich will play against Austria’s Sturm Graz (renewing once more the Swiss-Austrian rivalry). The Austrian team qualified through the Intertoto Cup after kicking out Budapest Honved on a 2-1 aggregate and Shakhtyor Soligorsk on a 2-0 aggregate. Sturm are currently fourth in the Austrian standings with two wins and one draw and can count on the quality of Samir Muratovic and former Austrian International Mario Haas but shouldn’t prove to be an impossible hurdle for FC Zurich.
Grasshopper will play against Polish Lech Poznan who kicked out Azerbaijan’s FK Khazar Lankaran on a 5-1 aggregate in the first round. The Polish Championship hasn’t begun yet and Lech ended last year’s season with a 4th place. Lech can count on several South American players and forward Piotr Reiss who has played in Germany.
Young Boys will play against the Hungarians of Debrecen who have kicked out FC Shakhtyor Karagandy with a 2-1 aggregate in the first round. The Hungarians came second in last year’s season and have just started their championship. Dangerous players include Tamas Sandor (who also played in Israel) and Brazilian-Hungarian Leandro de Almeida.
AC Bellinzona instead have a long trip to Ukraine to make. The Ticino team will play against FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and might be the only Swiss team that has a hard task. The Ukrainians ended last season with a 4th place and have started their championship with a defeat and a draw. Dangerous players include Belarussian forward Kornilenko, forward Vorobey (who has played over 220 games with Shaktar) and many other players who are regulars for the Ukrainian national team (Rusol, Kernozenko, Shelayev, Rotan and Nazarenko).

Draw:
Champions’ League: Basel/IFK Goteborg - Vitoria Guimaraes
UEFA CUP:
FC Zurich - Sturm Graz
Grasshopper - Lech Poznan
Young Boys - Debrecen
Bellinzona - FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Plenty of action to follow! Stay tuned!