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Backdoor Juve

Juventus gets easy draw against Omonia in UEFA Cup

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Posted: Friday August 27, 1999 07:04 PM

Zinedine Zidane and Juventus will avoid the more formidable teams. Stu Forster/Allsport

MONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP) -- Forced to get into European soccer via the back door route of the Inter Toto Cup, Juventus was drawn against soccer minnow Omonia of Cyprus in the first round of the UEFA Cup on Friday.

A sixth-place finisher in Italy's Serie A, Juve couldn't get a place directly into the draw and had to qualify via the lightly regarded Inter Toto competition but now has a great chance to make it to the second round.

With a record 96 clubs in the first round, that may not mean too much at this stage. But the Turin giant also had the good fortune to be seeded, based on its record in Europe, and that meant avoiding the other feared teams in the competition, which has been expanded to include domestic cup winners now that the Cup Winners Cup has been scrapped.

Most of the biggest names in European soccer are in the Champions Cup which also has been expanded to include some teams which have finished as low as third or fourth in their domestic leagues.

But with no Cup Winners competition, the UEFA is the only alternative to glory.

Parma, the defending UEFA Cup titlist now it has been knocked out of the Champions Cup qualifying round, faces uneralded Kryvbas of Ukraine although its opponent has just beaten Dynamo Kiev and tops the domestic league. Four-time Champions Cup titlist Ajax Amsterdam meets Dukla Banska of Slovakia.

Roma, now under the guidance f Fabio Capello, should get past Vittoria Setubal of Portugal and Kaiserslautern, German Bundesliga champion two seasons ag, should have too much power for Scotland's Kilmarnock. Monaco, a Champions Cup semifinalist two seasons ago, will be favored to beat another Scottish club, St. Johnstone, as European soccer makes a rare visit to Perth.

Of the other Italian clubs in the draw, Udinese faces Aalborg of Denmark and Bologna visits Russia's FC Zenit in the first leg September 16. The second legs are September 30.

Of the other English clubs in the competition, League Cup winner Tottenham should be too strong for Zimbru Chisinau of Moldova, Ruud Gullit's Newcastle meets long-term European campaigner CSKA Sofia, Leeds United visits FC Partizan of Yugoslavia and West Ham, which also got through via the Inter Toto Cup, meets a Croatian team, NK Osijek.

Spain's Atletico Madrid faces MKE Ankaragucu of Turkey and Deportivo de La Coruna meets Norway's Stabaek. Real Mallorca, losing finalist in last season's Cup Winners Cup competition, has a tricky game against Sima Olomouc of the Czech Republic and Celta Viga meets Lausanne of Switzerland.

 

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