Tuesday draw for group stage

Copyright © 2004 UEFA

The draw for the inaugural UEFA Cup group stage will take place at UEFA
headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Tuesday. Forty teams will await their fate
as procedures get under way at 12.00CET.

Famous names
The lineup for the group stage was completed last night, with a number of famous
names winning through. Former European champions SL Benfica, Feyenoord and FC
Steaua Bucuresti were chief among them, with past winners FC Schalke 04 and
Parma FC also progressing. The Netherlands and Spain are represented by four
teams, while France, Germany, Greece and Belgium each have three clubs still in
contention.

Top seeds Lazio
The qualifiers have been divided into five groups of eight teams based on their
UEFA coefficient. S.S. Lazio are the top seeds, and FC Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia
the bottom. A team from each seeding pool will be assigned to a group, although
clubs from the same national association cannot be drawn together.

Computer draw
When the draw concludes and there are eight groups of five teams, a computer
draw will take place to determine the fixture schedule with factors such as
stadium clashes and climatic conditions (it is not possible to play in some
northern countries in mid-December) taken into account.

Three through
Each club will play two matches at home and two away. The winners, runners-up
and third-placed clubs from each group advance to the last 32 where they are
joined by the eight third-placed clubs from the UEFA Champions League group
stage. At this point, the traditional two-match format is used with the
exception of the single-match final.

Lisbon final
The competition concludes at the Estádio José Alvalade on 18 May 2005. The
stadium's home team, Sporting Clube de Portugal, are still in the competition,
finding themselves among the second set of seeds along with the likes of UEFA
Intertoto Cup winners Villarreal CF, Lille OSC and Schalke.

2004/05 UEFA Cup group stage participants
Provisional seedings
-----------------------------------------------
Pot Club (country)                  Coefficient
--- ------------------------------- -----------
  1 S.S. Lazio (ITA)                     83.531
  1 Parma FC (ITA)                       66.531
  1 Feyenoord (NED)                      65.247
  1 Newcastle United FC (ENG)            61.511
  1 AEK Athens FC (GRE)                  51.467
  1 VfB Stuttgart (GER)                  47.331
  1 Club Brugge KV (BEL)                 43.528
  1 Rangers FC (SCO)                     42.600

  2 Villarreal CF (ESP)                  42.350
  2 AJ Auxerre (FRA)                     34.947
  2 FC Schalke 04 (GER)                  34.331
  2 Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)     33.969
  2 Real Zaragoza (ESP)                  33.350
  2 Besiktas JK (TUR)                    32.656
  2 SL Benfica (POR)                     29.969
  2 Lille OSC (FRA)                      27.947

  3 Athletic Club Bilbao (ESP)           26.350
  3 Sevilla FC (ESP)                     26.350
  3 NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)               25.733
  3 FC Basel 1893 (SUI)                  25.382
  3 FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (FRA)         24.947
  3 Middlesbrough FC (ENG)               20.511
  3 FC Utrecht (NED)                     20.247
  3 Grazer AK (AUT)                      19.970

  4 FK Partizan (SCG)                    18.655
  4 FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROM)            17.881
  4 Heart of Midlothian FC (SCO)         17.600
  4 SC Heerenveen (NED)                  17.247
  4 TSV Alemannia Aachen (GER)           16.331
  4 KS Amica Wronki (POL)                16.176
  4 Panionios NFC (GRE)                  15.467
  4 FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR)       14.300

  5 Ferencvárosi TC (HUN)                13.046
  5 R. Standard de Ličge (BEL)           12.528
  5 Egaleo FC (GRE)                      11.467
  5 AZ Alkmaar (NED)                     11.247
  5 FC Zenit St. Peterburg (RUS)          9.572
  5 KSK Beveren (BEL)                     9.528
  5 FK Austria Wien (AUT)                 8.970
  5 FC Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)               1.650
-----------------------------------------------