Since the draw for the 3rd qualifying round is being done tomorrow, I guess we can start talking about this.

Sporting is seeded for tomorrow's draw, which means they have 25 possible opponents in the 3rd round:

SK Slavia Praha
Real Betis Balompié
FC Basel 1893
Wisla Kraków
Udinese Calcio
FK Partizan / FC Sheriff
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
Maccabi Haifa FC / Malmö FF
Everton FC
FC Steaua Bucuresti / Shelbourne FC
Brøndby IF / FC Dinamo Tbilisi
SK Rapid Wien / F91 Dudelange
PFC CSKA Sofia / KF Tirana
Debreceni VSC / HNK Hajduk Split
Trabzonspor/ Anorthosis Famagusta FC
Vålerenga IF/ FC Haka


The teams in bold are the ones I would prefer to avoid, for different reasons. There's not need for us to draw a strong team like Betis or Slavia Prague. Eastern European teams - such as Trabzonspor, Steaua, Partizan - tend to play counter-attacking soccer which we tends to give us problems. The only team that really scares me is Shakhtar Donetsk. They're in the middle of their league season and they played very well during last year's CL campaign.


Also, Celtic's nuclear meltdown in Slovakia yesterday (5-0????!!!! ) could potentially help out Sporting. If Celtic fails to advance and Sporting qualifies for the group stage, they will automatically be placed in the pool of 2nd seeds. Having to face Barça and Brugge in the group stage is a whole lot better than having to face Barça and Chelsea!

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Results of the draw

Sporting draws Udinese.

Basel v Werder Bremen
Artmedia Bratislava or Celtic v Partizan Belgrade or Sheriff
Shakhtar Donetsk v Internazionale
Shelbourne or Steaua Bucharest v Rosenborg
Manchester United v Debrecen or Hajduk Split
Malmo or Maccabi Haifa v Dynamo Kiev or Thun
Everton v Villarreal
Kaunas or Liverpool v KF Tirana or CSKA Sofia
Sporting v Udinese
Valerenga or Haka v Club Brugge
Dudelange or Rapid Vienna v Rabotnicki or Lokomotiv Moscow
Anderlecht or Neftchi v Slavia Prague
Anorthosis or Trabzonspor v Rangers
Dinamo Tbilisi or Brondby v Ajax
Real Betis v Monaco
Wisla Krakow v Panathinaikos

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Penguin, minutes after Sporting's 4-1 victory over Newcastle, propelling it to the UEFA semifinals: "I'm sitting in my cube at work, with tears in my eyes. I can't wait to go home and see the replay.

Damn. I hate Udinese. They always give Milan a hard time. Usually they are solid, if boring, playing a conservative style of football. They can kill a game fairly well. If they clog the midfield, then maybe using wingers down the flank will open up the game. Udi has some quality players, too (Iaquinta, Di Michele, Pizarro (I think) is a good midfield playmaker). Could be a tough draw. Reminds me of when we drew Inter in the qualifiers a few years ago. No luck.

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"Originally Posted by Dae 8-13-06
.........and besides, who invites an entire message board to a wedding and not have half of them speak Klingon or dress as hobbits or stormtroopers ?

Much love to my chops! "

Agreed. Terrible draw for us.

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É a minha filosofia de futebol. O futebol é isso: assumir o risco. O futebol é dos valentes.

Terrible draw!

On one hand, it's a tough draw.

On the other, as a fan, aren't you a little more charged up to play a club that you know and recognize? What's the fun in lining up against Chico's Bail Bonds FC?

Sack up!!!!

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"I wake up every morning, clap my hands in the air and say, 'Today's going to be a great day!'"

-Chris Biello

"Red gets a pass in his absurdity, it's his charm."

-Pila

The fun is that you qualify.

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...women may be able to fake an orgasm, but men can fake whole relationships...

...Women need gofers and dummies to vent to about their friends and boyfriend...

Agreed. I'd rather see Sporting playing in the group stages and maybe even make ESPN so I can actually see them play than lose out to a team I heard of in the qualifiers.

But you have a point, watching Sporting play the third runner up from Uzbekistan is not much fun.

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"Originally Posted by Dae 8-13-06
.........and besides, who invites an entire message board to a wedding and not have half of them speak Klingon or dress as hobbits or stormtroopers ?

Much love to my chops! "

Udinese is a team to be recokened with. Good luck, guys-

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"Not that I know but I can send you texts with key updates. For example, Balotelli misses a goal, Balotelli with a rash tackle on Bellamy and gets a red card. Throws his shirt at Rafa and goes directly to the City locker room" - England66 in response to Razor's question "Will the Inter-Manchester City game in Baltimore be televised?"

Sporting should be as good or better than last term. If Sporting can start their campaign with a good run and build momentum again they will be hard to stop

1) Peseiro has a year with Sporting under his belt.
2) Duoula will be featured more often for SCP
3) Moutinho can only get better and wiser.
4) Carlos Martins is no longer in Hugo Viana's passenger seat
5) Deivid and Pinilla give SCP depth at the striker position
6) Rochemback could remain healthy
7) Custodio now has a capable backup in Loureiro
8) Tonel is an experienced centreback
9) Varela, Edson, Semedo reinforcements
10) They can't help but learn how they failed to close the deal last term.

This should ensure that Sporting does well, but they have to hit the ground running early on.

Despite all of that, I don't think they'll get past Udinese.

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...women may be able to fake an orgasm, but men can fake whole relationships...

...Women need gofers and dummies to vent to about their friends and boyfriend...

Oh really? Coming from a Porto fan?

Porto got alot of "if's" in terms of their player personnel.
Postiga?, Sokota?, Almeida?, Ivanildo?, Quaresma?, Lisandro?, Lucho?, Diego?, Ibson?, Raul Meireles?, Ricardo Costa?, Bruno Alves? Sonkaya?, Leandro?. The only for sure bets are McCarthy, Pedro Emanuel, Nuno Valente, and Baia.

Atleast Sporting got Liedson, Duoula, Rochemback, Custodio, Beto, Ricardo, Polga, and Moutinho probably, who are the real-deals.

What is it with you guys? I can't make a comment without having my club preference shoved down my throat? Did you watch Udinese play any Serie A matches last season? Did you? They are an excellent side and will make Sporting's life miserable. Oh, and lets not forget Sportings top class record vs Italian sides.

Jesus.

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...women may be able to fake an orgasm, but men can fake whole relationships...

...Women need gofers and dummies to vent to about their friends and boyfriend...

I think I caught maybe one Serie A game of Udinese against some midtable side, So, No, I don't know much about them at all - so maybe its not for me to talk. I just think SCP have a quality side as well. So it should be a great game and tough 2 game series.

If its any consolation, I hope Porto does well in CL.

Sporting on paper are a better team, but any Serie A club is lethal for the Portuguese.