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Little teams, big ambitions Underdogs ready to roll in UEFA Cup second round
LONDON (AP) -- Servette, Helsingborg and Hapoel Tel-Aviv are not well known in the European soccer world. But that could change Thursday. These lesser known clubs could oust their better known opponents in the second round, second leg of the UEFA Cup. Ajax Amsterdam, English club Ipswich and Spanish sides Valencia and Real Zaragoza all tied their first-leg matches and need to win Thursday to advance to the third round. England's Chelsea has a harder task, needing to beat Hapoel Tel-Aviv by three goals. Three clubs are already through after Tuesday's games -- Inter Milan advanced on 2-1 aggregate despite losing 1-0 to Wisla Krakow in Poland, Bulgaria's Liteks Lovech went through 2-0 after a 0-0 draw with Union Berlin, and AEK Athens beat Osijeck 3-2 to advance 5-3. On Thursday, Ajax hosts Copenhagen (0-0), Sweden's Helsingborg plays Ipswich (0-0), Valencia hosts Poland's Legia Warsaw (1-1) and Real Zaragoza travels to Swiss side Servette (0-0). Clubs with comfortable leads include Italian sides Fiorentina, AC Milan and Parma, British teams Leeds and Rangers, Spain's Celta de Vigo and French clubs Bordeaux and Paris Saint Germain. Chelsea lost 2-0 away to Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the first leg on Oct. 18. Six of the Chelsea's starters refused to travel to Israel because of security concerns and were widely ridiculed in the British press. But the six -- French World Cup stars Marcel Desailly and Emmanuel Petit, William Gallas, Graeme Le Saux, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Albert Ferrer -- are expected to play Thursday at Stamford Bridge. Hapoel Tel-Aviv has a strong defensive record in the UEFA Cup, conceding just one goal in five games. The club had two players, Shimon Gershon and Yossi Abuksis, in the Israel team which drew 1-1 with Austria on Saturday and failed to make the World Cup playoffs. Around 3,000 Hapoel fans have traveled to London for the game. "I don't know who is favorite now, maybe Chelsea because they are playing at home," said Hapoel's Sergei Kleschenko, who scored an injury-time header for his side's second goal in the first leg. "But we'll do everything to make sure that Chelsea will find it very difficult." Ipswich travels to Sweden without a win in its last nine Premier League games. "People expected us to beat Helsingborg easily and that is the price to pay for expectations rising," manager George Burley said. "We also know that Helsingborg are an exceptional side and they showed at Portman Road that they have some talented players." A 1-1 draw would be enough for Ipswich to advance. "That would do great," Burley said. "We know if we score one then they have to score two, so there is everything to play for." Ajax tops the Dutch table after its 4-1 defeat of Willem II Tilburg on Sunday. But it will be missing key striker Rafael van der Vaart for the Copenhagen game. Van der Vaart, the top scorer in the Dutch league with nine goals, is suspended. Glasgow Rangers travel to chilly Dynamo Moscow with a 3-1 advantage from the first leg. American midfielder Claudio Reyna, who scored both goals in Rangers' 2-0 win over Livingston on Saturday, said the club could have a "nice run" in the UEFA Cup if it continued to play well. "We can't overlook our opponents," said Reyna, captain of the U.S national team. "Moscow will give us a difficult game and the conditions there will be quite tough. They are in their winter now and it's going to be pretty cold. "It's obviously a very big game and we have to finish this tie off. I think we have got things together as a team. We are on a good little run." Bordeaux's Christophe Dugarry and goalkeeper Ulrich Rame were called up for France's friendly against Australia in Melbourne on Nov. 11. But Paris Saint Germain's striker Nicolas Anelka missed out on selection again. PSG travels to Rapid Vienna which it beat 4-0 in the first leg, while Bordeaux has a 2-0 lead visiting Belgium's Standard Liege. Troyes hosts Leeds, needing a big win to overturn the English club's 4-2 lead. Leeds will be without two key players -- midfielder Lee Bowyer and defender Rio Ferdinand. Bowyer, who suffered a broken nose in Leeds' 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Saturday, must stay in England to appear in court where he is on trial for assault. Ferdinand has a hamstring injury. In Italy, AC Milan will be without star defender Paolo Maldini, who is sidelined for a month with a thigh strain sustained in the weekend's scoreless draw against Bologna. Andriy Shevchenko, who broke his nose in the Bologna match, and Rui Costa are expected back for the match against CKSA Sofia in Bulgaria, where it holds a 2-0 lead. Fiorentina has a 2-0 lead when it travels to Tirol Innsbruck, while Parma hosts Dutch club Utrecht with a 3-1 lead. In other matches, Spain's Celta de Vigo travels to the Czech Republic to play Liberec where it leads 3-1. Celta, unbeaten in the Spanish league, is without the hat-trick hero of the first leg, captain Alexander Mostovoi. The Russian international has been rested, along with Argentine international center back Fernando Caceres. Brazilian fullback Sylvinho misses the trip through injury. Valencia faces Legia Warsaw with no major injury worries, other than the long-term absence of goalkeeper Santiago Canizares. The Spanish side is riding a 10-game unbeaten start to the league season. However, coach Rafa Benitez is aware of the pitfalls after the 1-1 draw in the first leg in Poland. "In matches like this you have less margin to correct your mistakes. That's what makes the knock-out format of the UEFA cup more difficult than the Champions League," he said. Zaragoza's beleaguered coach Txetxu Rojo is in desperate need of a good result at Servette. The goalless first leg in Spain provoked derision from Zaragoza fans, and with the club languishing in 16th place, Rojo's job could be in danger.
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