SOCCER: EUROPA LEAGUE:WEMBLEY MIGHT yet be hosting a London derby, a Classico or another encounter between Manchester United and Barcelona when the Champions League final comes around on May 28th, but the organisers of Dublin's Europa League equivalent will have been left a little downhearted by yesterday's quarter-final draw which was made in the wake of so many big names making their exit from the competition on Thursday night.
Organisers of the final, which is to be staged at the Aviva Stadium on May 18th, had been hoping one of the remaining English sides – Liverpool or Manchester City – might make it through to the decider, but both went out in rather tame fashion after failing to cancel out the away defeats they suffered in their first legs against Braga of Portugal and the Ukraine’s Dynamo Kiev respectively.
The only other British side still involved – Rangers – failed to capitalise on a creditable away result in Eindhoven with the Scots losing 0-1 at home while there were other lesser setbacks for Uefa and the FAI as the last remaining representatives of France and Germany, Paris Saint Germain and Bayer Leverkusen, both also suffering elimination.
Those clubs represented large mainland Europe TV markets and countries that would have been expected to send a lot of fans to Dublin for the final. With all of the Italian sides already gone, there will be some concern amongst the organisations behind the event that yesterday’s draw makes it possible for the final to be an encounter between two Dutch, two Portuguese or one Russian and one Ukrainian side.
The latter line-up has been pretty much the nightmare scenario for everyone at Abbotsown, host broadcaster TV3 and Uefa as there would be a fear interest amongst audiences in western Europe would tail off considerably. Both clubs have squads built around local players augmented with a significant number of less well-known Brazilians and sprinkled with various other, mainly eastern European nationalities.
Perhaps the most nervous man just now, though, is Aiden McGeady, the rather media shy Glasgow-born Irish international who faces the prospect of being the centre of an awful lot of attention should his Spartak side, which coasted through against former champions Ajax this week, end up in the final.
The final was projected to achieve an audience of some 40 million on the night, bring 40,000 visitors to Dublin and generate up to €30 million for the local economy. It seems unlikely, however, those estimates made late last year will have been unaffected by the loss of the likes of Liverpool who, it had been hoped, might have generated a particularly high level of local interest.
Around 7,000 tickets for the game have already been sold to Irish residents and a round of sales aimed at neutrals living across Europe that will account for a similar number is due to finish on Monday morning.
Quarter-final draw
To be played April 7th 14th
Porto v Spartak Moscow
Benfica v PSV Eindhoven
Villarreal v FC Twente
Braga v Dynamo Kiev
Semi-final Draw
(April 28th May 5th)
Braga/Dynamo v Benfica/PSV
Porto/Spartak v Villarreal/Twente
