The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla won their second consecutive UEFA Cup, defeating Espanyol 3–1 on penalties after the match finished 2–2 after extra time. Sevilla became the second side to win the competition for two consecutive seasons, following the hiatus of the original record holder Real Madrid achieved in 1985 and 1986.
Walter Pandiani of Espanyol was the top goals scorer of this UEFA Cup edition with 11 goals.
Association team allocation
A total of 155 teams from 52 UEFA associations competed for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup. Associations were allocated places according to their 2005 UEFA league coefficient, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2000–01 to 2004–05.[1]
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup:[2]
Associations 1–6, 16–21 each have three teams qualify
Associations 7 and 8 each have four teams qualify
Associations 9–15, 22–39, 41-50 each have two teams qualify
Associations 40, 51 and 52 each have one team qualify
The top three associations of the 2005–06 UEFA Fair Play ranking each gain an additional berth
(FP): Additional fair play berth (Norway, Belgium, Sweden).
Number of teams do not include teams transferred from the Intertoto Cup.
Distribution
The title holder would have been given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup through domestic performance; however, this additional entry was not necessary as Sevilla, winners of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, qualified for the UEFA Cup through domestic performance. This means that the following changes to the default allocation system were made to compensate for the vacant title holder spot in the group stage:
The first UEFA Cup qualifying entrant of association 14 (Austria) gained direct access to the 1st round – Pasching.
The domestic cup winners of associations 19 and 20 (Switzerland and Norway) are moved from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Teams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round (70 teams)
2 domestic league champions from associations 51 and 52
31 domestic league runners-up from associations 19–50 (except Liechtenstein)
4 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 18–21
30 domestic cup winning teams from associations 21–50
Italy (ITA): Based on the initial final league positions, Roma, Lazio and Chievo earned direct entries to the UEFA Cup first round. Following 2006 Italian football scandal investigations (resulting in massive points deductions), Lazio lost their European entry entirely while Roma and Chievo were promoted to Champions League. Three Italian UEFA Cup berths were given to Palermo, Livorno, and Parma.[4]
Serbia (SRB): Serbia and Montenegro 3rd-placed team Voždovac failed to obtain UEFA licence and were replaced by the 4th-placed team, Hajduk Kula.[6] All Serbian club qualified for this season's UEFA competitions though Serbia and Montenegro domestic tournaments, but represented its official successor Serbia.[7]
Kazakhstan (KAZ): Kazakhstan Cup winners Astana failed to obtain UEFA licence and were replaced by Cup runners-up, Kairat.[6]
Early issues
Italian match-fixing scandal
The 2006 Serie A scandal resulted in major changes to the clubs that originally qualified in Italy. Originally, Roma took the cup winners' place as losing finalists in the 2006 Coppa Italia, as the winners, Internazionale finished in the top four in the league and qualified for the Champions League. The other two UEFA Cup places initially went to Lazio and Chievo.
Lazio, however, as well as the remaining three Champions League qualifiers (Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina), were formally indicted on 22 June on charges relating to the scandal.[8]
On 14 July, all four of the indicated clubs were penalised by an Italian court and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Results of the FIGC appeal were announced on 25 July. The impact on the UEFA Cup was:
Lazio were barred from European competition.
Roma and Chievo were promoted to the Champions League.
FIFA suspended the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) from all international competitions on 3 July 2006 because of "political interference in sport" after the Greek government passed a law, giving it control of the sports authorities in Greece. After the law was amended to address FIFA's objections, FIFA reinstated the HFF on 12 July. The Greek government in response, decided to withdraw all of its funding to the Hellenic Football Federation.[9]
Teams that have qualified for the group stage of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup Red: Group A; Yellow: Group B; Green: Group C; Black: Group D; Purple: Group E; Pink: Group F; Blue: Group G; Orange: Group H.
The top three teams (highlighted in green) of each group qualified for the next round. Based on paragraph 4.06 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of all the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:[10]
superior goal difference from all group matches played;
higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
higher number of goals scored away in all group matches played;
higher number of wins;
higher number of away wins;
higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons (see paragraph 6.03 of the UEFA regulations).
^On 19 January, UEFA declared that Feyenoord had been disqualified after crowd misbehaviour in their final group stage match against Nancy. UEFA announced on 25 January that Tottenham Hotspur had received a bye. This was confirmed after a final appeal.
Round of 16
The first legs were held on 8 March 2007, while the second legs were held on 14 and 15 March 2007.
The draw for the final stages, included quarter-finals and semi-finals, was held on 16 March 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. The quarter-final matches were played on 5 April and 12 April 2007.
^Aleksandar Bošković (30 June 2006). "Farewell to Yugoslavia". Magazine. UEFA. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
^"4. UEFA Cup Finals"(PDF). UEFA Europa League Statistics Handbook 2012/13. Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2013. p. 72. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
