ISRAEL: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Hapoel Tel Aviv and Celtic prepare for Europa League match

Record ID: 396003

  • Title: ISRAEL: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Hapoel Tel Aviv and Celtic prepare for Europa League match
  • Date: 17th September 2009
  • Summary: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (SEPTEMBER 16, 2009) (REUTERS) CELTIC PLAYERS PRACTICING IN BLOOMFIELD STADIUM AHEAD OF MATCH AGAINST HAPOEL TEL AVIV WHICH WILL BE HELD ON THURSDAY (SEPTEMBER 17) PLAYERS RUNNING VARIOUS OF PLAYERS JUMPING CELTIC MANAGER TONY MOWBRAY WALKING PLAYERS STRETCHING PLAYERS AS SEEN FROM AFAR CELTIC MANAGER TONY MOWBRAY SITTING NEXT TO TABLE, CONVENING NE
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA79ZYWM3944Q3E09KX1KLC3D9O
  • Story Text: Israel's Hapoel Tel Aviv and Scotland's Celtic made last minute preparations on Wednesday (September 16), ahead of their first match in the UEFA Europa League, starting it's first season on September 17th.
    The 2009-2010 season will be the first for the Europa League, now replacing what was known as the UEFA Cup. Forty-eight teams were placed in 12 groups of four when the draw for the new competition was made, and will play play each other home and away as Europe's second tier competition now reflects more closely that of the Champions League.
    The old UEFA Cup system of five team groups from which three teams qualified has been replaced by a format which will see the top two teams in each group qualifying for the knockout round of 32, joined by he eight teams dropping down after finishing third in their Champions League groups.
    In the 2001/2002 season, Hapoel Tel Aviv became the only Israeli team to reach the UEFA Cup's quarter finals, losing to Milan. Celtic, however, managed to reach the finals in the 2002/2003 season, losing to Porto in the final in Spain.
    Former European champions Hamburg SV, who will host the final next May, were also drawn to play in the group alongside Celtic, Hapoel and Rapid Vienna.
    Celtic's Head of Operations Ronnnie Hawthorn told Reuters after the draw: "It is always good to win a competition, but it would be particularly good to become the first winners of the Europa League, especially as we were also the first British club to win the European Cup in 1967."
    Besides Hamburg and Celtic, there are many other former European champions and previous UEFA Cup winners taking part, including Ajax Amsterdam who were drawn to play Anderlecht, Dinamo Zagreb and Timisoara of Romania.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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