Courtesy: UEFA.com


Top-ranked teams ready for futsal draw

Thursday 8 October 2009

by Paul Saffer

Europe's top-ranked clubs enter the UEFA Futsal Cup when the Elite round draw is made from 13.30CET on Tuesday in Nyon.

Top seeds
Holders Interviú Madrid, previous winners MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, Spanish champions ElPozo Murcia FS and finals regulars AFC Kairat Almaty have been given a bye through the first two stages and will be the top seeds when the 16 Elite round contenders are split into four groups – last week's 12 Main round qualifiers making up the number.

Draw
Elite round Groups A and B will contain one top seed, two Main round group winners and one runner-up, while Groups C and D will contain one top seed, one Main round winner and two runners-up. Every pool will also be allocated one side already selected as mini-tournament hosts: Czech champions FK Era-Pack Chrudim, Italy's Luparense Calcio A5, Araz Naxçivan of Azerbaijan and SL Benfica; they are drawn separately and will be placed in groups according to their seeding. The four Elite round group winners will play in the finals in April with the hosts picked from among the quartet.

Form
While the top seeds have yet to begin their European campaigns, they have been playing domestic fixtures. Murcia triumphed 6-0 on Saturday at two-time UEFA Futsal Cup winners Playas de Castellón FS to continue the only perfect start to the Spanish season after four rounds. Interviú, two points behind, drew with FC Barcelona earlier in the campaign but on Friday won 3-2 at MRA Navarra FS. In Russia, Ekaterinburg have won both their fixtures in the Super League's experiment with 50-minute matches. Kairat competed in a four-team international tournament in Tashkent this week and lost 3-2 to Iran before beating hosts Uzbekistan 5-0 and Kyrgyzstan 8-3 to finish second.

2009/10 UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round entrants
Seeds (bye to Elite round)
Interviú Madrid (ESP, holders)
MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg (RUS)
ElPozo Murcia FS (ESP)
AFC Kairat Almaty (KAZ)

Main round winners
Group 1: Luparense Calcio A5 (ITA)*
Group 2: FK Era-Pack Chrudim (CZE)*
Group 3: Action 21 Charleroi (BEL)
Group 4: SL Benfica (POR)*
Group 5: Araz Naxçivan (AZE)*
Group 6: FC Marlène (NED)

Main round runners-up
Group 1: FC Time Lviv (UKR)
Group 2: FK Nikars Riga (LVA)**
Group 3: Athina '90 Athens (GRE)
Group 4: KMN Puntar (SVN)
Group 5: MNK Potpićan 98 (CRO)
Group 6: Iberia 2003 Tbilisi (GEO)

*Mini-tournament hosts
**Began in Preliminary round

Matches will be played from 14-22 November, with the four group winners progressing to April's finals.






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com