Fuente: © UEFA (English)
http://www.uefa.com/

INTERTOTO CUP: Stage set for Intertoto farewell

/noticias.info/ The final edition of the UEFA Intertoto Cup will conclude over the next two weekends, with eleven teams destined to earn a place in the second qualifying round of the 2008/09 UEFA Cup.

Big clubs
The third and final round sees eight more teams enter the tournament, representing the most powerful football associations in Europe, and guaranteeing tough fixtures for the clubs who have battled to get this far. Danish side Odense BK can have no doubt of the severity of the task that faces them as they host Aston Villa FC this weekend, while Israel's Bnei Sakhnin FC have RC Deportivo La Coruña to contend with. Panionios GSS host Italy's SSC Napoli and Russian side FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast will take on 2007 Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart.

Border crossing
NAC Breda, another side kicking off their campaign in the third round, must hit the ground running if they are to eliminate European veterans Rosenborg BK, while Ukraine's SC Tavriya Simferopol travel to Stade Rennais FC as they look to mark their 50th anniversary year with a run to the UEFA Cup. Budapest Honvéd FC have a shorter journey as they cross the border into Austria to take on SK Sturm Graz, but Portugal's SC Braga will be racking up the air miles as they visit Turkey's Sivasspor. FK Rīga make a short hop over the Baltic to meet Sweden's IF Elfsborg, Grasshopper-Club meet PFC Chernomorets Burgas and Azerbaijan's PFC Neftçi take on Romania's SC Vaslui.

2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup third round
First leg: All the first legs are Saturday apart from those marked with a * which are played on Sunday
Second leg: 26/27 July
Winners enter UEFA Cup second qualifying round
Bnei Sakhnin FC (ISR) v RC Deportivo La Coruña (ESP)
Panionios GSS (GRE)* v SSC Napoli (ITA)
Sivasspor (TUR)* v SC Braga (POR)
Grasshopper-Club (SUI) v PFC Chernomorets Burgas (BUL)
FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast (RUS) v VfB Stuttgart (GER)
PFC Neftçi (AZE) v SC Vaslui (ROU)
Stade Rennais FC (FRA) v SC Tavriya Simferopol (UKR)
SK Sturm Graz (AUT) v Budapest Honvéd FC (HUN)
NAC Breda (NED) v Rosenborg BK (NOR)
Odense BK (DEN) v Aston Villa FC (ENG)
IF Elfsborg (SWE) v FK Rīga (LVA) notas_de_prensa_archivo