The lineup for the 2003/04 UEFA Cup is approaching completion with AJ Auxerre and FC Basel among the latest entrants for next season's competition.
Dramatic final
Auxerre came from a goal behind to win 2-1 in the French Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain FC on Saturday. Goals from Djibril Cissé and Jean-Alain Boumsong ensured the team who graced the first group stage of the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League would be involved in European competition.
Second in Switzerland
Basel went one better by reaching the second group stage of Europe's premier club competition last time around but will have to be content with the UEFA Cup next season after securing second place in Switzerland at the weekend to go with their Swiss Cup success earlier this season.
More qualifiers
Other teams to book their place this weekend were the Dutch, Belgian and Romanian cup winners, FC Utrecht, RAA Louviéroise and FC Dinamo Bucuresti. Meanwhile, AS Roma and 1. FC Kaiserslautern will take Italy and Germany's cup places after losing in their respective cup finals against teams qualified for the Champions League.
Gothenburg final
The 2003/04 UEFA Cup promises to have quality in abundance with three former winners already involved. Liverpool FC, Feyenoord and Parma AC have all secured their places in the competition, which will conclude with the final in Gothenburg, Sweden on 19 May 2004.
Access list
Included on the access list for the competition are the three UEFA Intertoto Cup winners - all of whom gain first-round entry - together with three Fair Play entrants, who must compete in the qualifying round.
First-round entrants
Teams from Spain, Italy, England, Germany, France, Greece, Netherlands and Turkey all enter the UEFA Cup in the first round, together with the cup winners from Portugal, Russia, Czech Republic, Scotland, Ukraine and Belgium. Participating teams from other countries must play in the qualifying round.
Champions League losers
In addition to these teams, the 16 losing sides in the Champions League third qualifying round will enter the competition in the first round, and the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage will join in the third round. The teams highlighted in bold below have already made certain of their place.
2003/04 UEFA Cup
List of participants | | Assoc. | Rank | Entry | Club | | UIC1 | - | R1 | - | | UIC1 | - | R1 | - | | UIC1 | - | R1 | - | | FP | - | QR | Manchester City FC | | FP | - | QR | - | | FP | - | QR | - | | ALB | CW | QR | KS Dinamo Tirana or KS Teuta | | ALB | 2 | QR | KS Vllaznia | | AND | CH | QR | UE Santa Coloma | | ARM | CW | QR | FC MIKA | | ARM | 2 | QR | FC Shirak | \ | AUT | CW | R1 | FC Kärnten (beaten finalists) | | AUT | 3 | QR | SV Austria Salzburg | | AZE | CW | QR | no entrants | | AZE | 2 | QR | no entrants | | BEL | CW | R1 | RAA Louviéroise | | BEL | 3 | QR | Sporting Lokeren St-Niklaas Waaslan | | BHZ | CW | QR | FK Zeljeznicar | | BHZ | 2 | QR | FK Sarajevo (finished third) | | BLS | CW | QR | FC Dinamo Minsk | | BLS | 2 | QR | FC Neman Grodno | | BUL | CW | QR | PFC Levski Sofia | | BUL | 2 | QR | PFC Litex Lovech (finished third) | | CRO | CW | QR | HNK Hajduk Split or NK Uljanik | | CRO | 2 | QR | tbd | | CRO | 3 | QR | tbd | | CYP | CW | QR | Anorthosis Famagusta FC | | CYP | 2 | QR | APOEL Nicosia FC (finished third) | | CZE | CW | R1 | FK Teplice | | CZE | 3 | QR | FC Slovan Liberec | | DEN | CW | QR | FC Midtjylland or Brøndby IF | | DEN | 2 | QR | tbd | | DEN | 3 | QR | tbd | | ENG | CW | R1 | Southampton FC (cup finalists) | | ENG | 5 | R1 | Liverpool FC | | ENG | 6 | R1 | Blackburn Rovers FC | | ESP | CW | R1 | RC Recreativo de Huelva or RCD Mallorca | | ESP | 5 | R1 | tbd | | ESP | 6 | R1 | tbd | | EST | CW | QR | FC TVMK Tallinn | | EST | 2 | QR | FC Levadia Maardu | | FAR | CW | QR | NSÍ Runavík | | FAR | 2 | QR | KÍ Klaksvík | | FIN | CW | QR | FC Haka | | FIN | 2 | QR | Myllykosken Pallo-47 | | FRA | CW | R1 | AJ Auxerre | | FRA | 4 | R1 | FC Girondins de Bordeaux | | FRA | 5 | R1 | FC Sochaux-Montbéliard | | GEO | CW | QR | FC Sioni Bolnisi (beaten finalists) | | GEO | 2 | QR | FC Torpedo Kutaisi | | GER | CW | R1 | 1. FC Kaiserlautern (beaten finalists) | | GER | 4 | R1 | Hamburger SV | | GER | 5 | R1 | Hertha BSC Berlin | | GRE | CW | R1 | FC PAOK Thessaloniki | | GRE | 4 | R1 | Panionios GS (finished fifth) | | GRE | 5 | R1 | Aris Thessaloniki FC (finished sixth) | | HOL | CW | R1 | FC Utrecht | | HOL | 3 | R1 | Feyenoord | | HOL | 4 | R1 | NAC Breda | | HOL | 5 | R1 | NEC Nijmegen | | HUN | CW | QR | Ferencvárosi TC | | HUN | 2 | QR | Debreceni VSC (finished third) | | IRL | CW | QR | Derry City FC | | IRL | 2 | QR | Shamrock Rovers FC | | ISL | CW | QR | Fylkir | | ISL | 2 | QR | Grindavík (finished third) | | ISR | CW | QR | Hapoel Ramat Gan | | ISR | 2 | QR | Maccabi Haifa FC | | ISR | 3 | QR | Hapoel Tel-Aviv | | ITA | CW | R1 | AS Roma (beaten finalists) | | ITA | 5 | R1 | Parma AC | | ITA | 6 | R1 | Udinese Calcio | | KZK | CW | QR | FC Zhenis Astana | | KZK | 2 | QR | FK Atyrau | | LAT | CW | QR | FHK Liepajas Metalurgs (cup finalists) | | LAT | 2 | QR | FK Ventspils | | LIE | CW | QR | tbd | | LIT | CW | QR | FK Atlantas | | LIT | 2 | QR | FK Ekranas (finished third) | | LUX | CW | QR | tbd | | LUX | 2 | QR | CS Grevenmacher | | MKD | CW | QR | FK Cementarnica 55 | | MKD | 2 | QR | FK Belasica GS | | MLT | CW | QR | Birkirkara FC | | MLT | 2 | QR | Valletta FC | | MOL | CW | QR | FC Zimbru Chisinau | | MOL | 2 | QR | FC Nistru Otaci (finished third) | | NIR | CW | QR | Coleraine FC | | NIR | 2 | QR | Glentoran FC | | NOR | CW | R1 | Vålerenga Fotball | | NOR | 2 | R1 | Molde FK | | NOR | 3 | QR | SFK Lyn | | POL | CW | QR | Wisla Plock (beaten finalists) | | POL | 2 | QR | tbd | | POL | 3 | QR | tbd | | POR | CW | R1 | UD Leiria (cup finalists) | | POR | 3 | QR | Sporting Clube de Portugal | | ROM | CW | QR | FC Dinamo Bucuresti | | ROM | 2 | QR | FC Steaua Bucuresti | | RUS | CW | R1 | FC Spartak Moskva or FC Rostov* | | RUS | 3 | QR | FC Spartak Moskva or FC Torpedo Moskva* | | SAM | CW | QR | FK Sartid | | SAM | 2 | QR | FK Crvena Zvezda | | SCO | CW | R1 | Dundee FC (beaten finalists) | | SCO | 3 | QR | Heart of Midlothian FC | | SLO | CW | QR | NK Ljubljana | | SLO | 2 | QR | tbd | | SMR | CH | QR | SP Domagnano | | SUI | CW | QR | FC Basel | | SUI | 2 | QR | Neuchâtel Xamax FC (finished third) | | SUI | 3 | QR | BSC Young Boys (finished fourth) | | SVK | CW | QR | ŠKM Púchov | | SVK | 2 | QR | tbd | | SWE | CW | QR | AIK Solna (beaten finalists) | | SWE | 2 | QR | Malmö FF | | TUR | CW | R1 | Trabzonspor | | TUR | 3 | R1 | Gençlerbirligi SK | | TUR | 4 | R1 | Gaziantepspor | | TUR | 5 | R1 | Malatyaspor | | UKR | CW | R1 | tbd | | UKR | 3 | QR | tbd | | WAL | CW | QR | Cwmbran Town FC (beaten finalists) | | WAL | 2 | QR | TNS Llansantffraid FC |
|
| KEY | | UIC | UEFA Intertoto Cup | | FP | Fair Play | | QR | UEFA Cup qualifying round | | R1 | UEFA Cup first round | | CW | Domestic cup winners | | 1 | Domestic league champions | | 2 | Domestic league second-placed team | | 3 | Domestic league third-placed team | | 4 | Domestic league fourth-placed team | | 5 | Domestic league fifth-placed team | | 6 | Domestic league sixth-placed team |
|
* As the third-placed team in Russia, Spartak are already assured a UEFA Cup place. If they win the cup, fourth-placed Torpedo will enter the UEFA Cup; but if Rostov win the cup, they will be in Europe and Torpedo will miss out.
