Five’s summer of live football continues this week with coverage from the second qualifying round of the 2008 UEFA Cup. Colin Murray presents all the action as Man City head to Denmark to face FC Midtjylland, and Aston Villa welcome Iceland’s FH Hafnarfjordur to Villa Park. As usual, commentary will be provided by Tony Jones and Dave Woods.
The weight of expectation will once again be on Manchester City as they warm up for another tough season in the Premier League. New manager Mark Hughes, recruited from Blackburn, will be hoping to stamp his influence on the team and satisfy controversial club owner Thaksin Shinawatra, who unceremoniously sacked former manager Sven- Goran Erikson at the end of last season.
Man City have had a busy pre-season schedule so far with friendlies against Stockport County, Celtic, Hamburg and AC Milan. They have also had to contend with the first round of UEFA Cup qualifying, having only made it into the competition via the fair-play rankings. Passage into the group stages is not yet certain for City, though they easily swept past EB/Streymur in round one, with a 4–0 aggregate score.
Mark Hughes will not have considered the Faroe Islands minnows a serious test, but he will be pleased to have started his reign with a win. Man City fans, meanwhile, will appreciate the chance to bury the memories of last season, which saw their team finish ninth in the Premier League after an 8–1 battering by Middlesborough on the final day.
This week, Hughes and his men travel to Denmark to take on FC Midtjylland at the SAS Arena, for the second leg of their second-round qualifier. Midtjylland, led by manager Thomas Thomasberg, have never made it past the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds and will therefore be something of an unknown quantity to Man City.
This week’s next live game sees Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa welcome Icelandic side FH Hafnarfjordur to the Midlands for the second leg of their second-round qualifier. Villa find themselves at this stage of the competition thanks to a 3–2 aggregate win over Denmark’s Odense BK in the Intertoto Cup. While Hafnarfjordur have had a great deal of success in domestic competition, this season marks the first time they have made it onto the European stage.
Villa’s pre-season news has been all about their want-away England international Gareth Barry. The midfielder has made no secret of his desire to join Liverpool, but O’Neill’s reported valuation of £18million may mean the 27-year-old will be forced to stay at Villa Park. However, with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also apparently targeting the player, it will be interesting to see where he starts his season.
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