Twente will face another draw next Tuesday. The Conference Tournament Playoff Draw will take place at 2:00 PM. If the Tukkers win against FK Cukaricki and then survive the play-off, Enschede may play in the group stage. There can be a lot during the draw, but also a lot against it. Who are the pro-Twente competitors and which are not?
Now it is known who the potential competitors of the Twente team are. Check out the table below for a complete overview of all potential opponents.
An opponent who might immediately catch the eye and top the list is Villarreal CF. Head coach Unai Emery’s club has been very successful in Europe in the past two seasons. In the 2020-2021 season, he won the European League by defeating Manchester United in the final on penalties. Last season, Villarreal reached the Champions League semi-finals by eliminating European giants Juventus and Bayern Munich. In the semi-final, the score was 2-2 against Liverpool FC after a game and a half. However, the English club turned out to be too big for Villarreal in the second half of the second leg and won 2-5 over two games. The Spaniards did not change much in choice. So Villarreal does not appear to be a very suitable rival for Twente.
In addition to Villarreal, three other teams are already sure of their place in the Conference League playoffs, namely West Ham United, Fiorentina and 1. FC Cologne. West Ham have done well in the Premier League over the past two years, finishing sixth and seventh. Top players like Jarrod Bowen and Declan Rice are still active in the London club. Fiorentina finished seventh in the Italian league last season and reached the cup semi-finals. Their selection hasn’t waned on paper this summer either. 1. FC Köln finished seventh in Germany. Cologne sold midfielder Saleh Ozkan to Borussia Dortmund for five million euros, but got a replacement with Eric Martel. Also with the German national team, there are not many changes to the selection. West Ham, Fiorentina and Cologne are among the first in the major European competitions to keep their selection the same, which makes avoiding them even better.
The names Basel, Brondby, Slavia Prague, Panathinaikos, Young Boys, Basaksehir, FCSB, Rapid Wien and Fenerbahce will sound familiar and are at least considered equivalent. They all have to play a third preparatory role, just like FC Twente. FC Basel, Slavia Prague, Basaksehir and Fenerbahce in particular will look like strong opponents. Basel finished second in the Swiss league last season, fourteen points behind champions Zurich, but did not start well this season with two draws. In the second qualifying round, she continued against the Crusaders of Northern Ireland by winning 3-1 over two matches.
Slavia Prague came second in the Czech Republic. They also did not start well this season with a loss to Hradec Královy. Last season, Slavia played four matches against Feyenoord, but did not win one. Basaksehir and Fenerbahçe ranked fourth and second, respectively, in Turkey. Basaksehir struggled to get past the second qualifier with a 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded Maccabi Netanya in Israel. Fenerbahce lost 1-2 at the hands of Dynamo Kyiv in the second round of qualifying for the Champions League and will now face Slovako, the old club of Sedlyk, in the third round of qualifying for the European League. The loser may come in this match against FC Twente.
FC Basel, Slavia Prague, Basaksehir and Fenerbahce seem to be strong opponents, but they all did not start the season with great success. For Fenerbahce, they have to lose to Slovácko in the Europa League to be able to take on FC Twente, which makes it plausible that the top Turkish club would not be an opponent of the Tukkers.
The remaining names will be considered KuPS, Breidablik, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Aris, AEK, Partizan, Molde, Kisvárda, Zorya Luhansk, Craiova, APOEL, Kyzylzhar, DAC, Neftci Baku, and Slovácko. This makes Maccabi Tel Aviv / Ares, Ik / Partizan, Molde / Kisvarda, Zorya Luhanske / Craiova, Apoel Nicosia / Kizilgar on paper My favorite for Twente. The rest of the potential rivals are sure to be beaten, also because the strongest teams on paper Basel, Slavia Prague and Basaksehir do not have a good start to the season. The clubs from the major European competitions, Villarreal, West Ham United, Fiorentina and 1. FC Cologne, should be avoided by Twente, all his matches against the clubs are of course great days away from home.
The draw will take place next Tuesday. The draw will be broadcast live on the UEFA website at 2:00 pm. A behind-the-scenes draw will be held on Monday, bringing the number of potential competitors to about four or five clubs.
Possible opponents FC Twente UECL playoff round:
Villarreal (Spain)
FC Basel (Switzerland) / Brondby (Denmark)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) / Panathinaikos (Greece)
BSC Young Boys (Switzerland) / Kaps (Finland)
Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey) / Predablik Kopavogur (Iceland)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) / Aris (Greece)
AEK Athens (Greece) / Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)
West Ham United (England)
Molde FK (Norway) / Kisvárda FC (Hungary)
Zorya Luhansk (Ukraine) / CS Universitatea Craiova (Romania)
APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus) / Kizilgar (Kazakhstan)
FCSB (Romania) / DAC (Slovakia)
Rapid Wien (Austria) / Neftci Baku (Azerbaijan)
Fiorentina (Italy)
1. FC Köln (Germany)
Fenerbahce (Turkey) / 1. FC Slovácko (Czech Republic)
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