The Ronnie lists the team currently in the qualifying positions in their national leagues and those who could be by the end of the season. It contains some mouth-watering names:

SPAIN: Deportivo La Coruna and Celta Vigo. Other candidates: Barcelona, Real Betis.

ITALY: AS Roma, Chievo Verona. Other candidates: Lazio, AC Milan, Bologna, Juventus, Inter Milan.

GERMANY: Bayern Munich. Other candidates: Schalke, Hertha Berlin, Borussia Dortmund.

FRANCE: Auxerre. Other candidates: Paris St Germain, Olympique Lyonais, Lens.

HOLLAND: Feyenoord. Other candidates: PSV Eindhoven, Vitesse, Heerenveen.

TURKEY: Fenerbahce. Other candidates: Galatasaray.

GREECE: AEK Athens. Other candidates: Olympiakos.

RUSSIA: Lokomotiv Moscow (season finished).

PORTUGAL: Sporting Lisbon. Other candidates: Boavista.

CZECH REP: Slovan Liberec. Other candidates: Viktoria Zizkov.

BELGIUM: Genk. Other candidates: Bruges, Anderlecht.

UKRAINE: Dynamo Kiev. Other candidates: Shakhtar Donetsk.

AUSTRIA: Tirol Innsbruck. Other candidates: Sturm Graz.

NORWAY: Rosenborg. (season finished).

What, no Lokeren or Troyes??

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Answers

Can we choose?? ;-)

If so, I fancy a week or so in Italy (tho not the teams!), France (tho not the Frogs), Austria (that would be nice), Greece (I could go and visit Nobby's Gran) or Turkey (as long as I didn't have to spend too long in Istanbul). Knowing my luck, it'll be bliddy Ukraine or Russia (well, at least Moscow would be "cool").

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Are those the teams starting in the 3rd qualifying round, or does it include those going straight into the group stages?

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Who goes into the EUFA, Chelsea, or Chelsea and Leeds? Plus Blackburn, of course. And would Leeds have to go in earlier than Chelsea?

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

I'm hoping we don't get a moscow team...there is no way my missus would let me go back there....very nice place though! oh and it was about 23 degrees when I went in mid september a couple of years back....

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

OK, so mebbes "cool" was a little off the mark. 23 degrees. Celsius or Fahrenheit?

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Celsius :) I think it was very unseasonal though....

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Jeez..that's a formidable list of potential opponents!

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Jeez..that's a formidable list of potential opponents!

I despair. Who is going to send in the first post "The CL has come too early for us". :-)

I'm happy in the knowledge that every one of those teams above is almost certainly saying - "Bliddy hell if we get Newcastle straight away we've go no chance." Bobby Robson walks on water.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Well, that'll save travel costs, especially if he can pass on these skills :)

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Who is going to send in the first post "The CL has come too early for us". :-)

Oh! Oh! Sir! Please, sir! May I, sir! Please, may I?! Oh! Pick me! Please?!

Can't let Syme and Gav get too far ahead of me in the pessimism stakes, now can I? ;-)

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

ciara - they are the teams that are "...currently in the qualifying positions in their national leagues, and those who could be by the end of the season".

That is they are not expected to go straight into the First League Stage.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

Ah. I read "current qualifying positions" as meaning general qualification for the CL in some capacity...either straight into the groups stage, or going through qualifying. doh!

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

.......actually, it was a little ambiguous! ;o{)

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

I'm on holiday on the 14th but back for the 28th August. In France but nowhere near any of the ones above.

Strange but I stayed in Paris on the night before the Troyes match and then drove off to the Vendee - nearest I got was a roadsign that said left for Troyes - I went straight on - ho hum.

This year we travel Sunday/Monday.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002

NUFC.COM has this pointer http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/index.html the site is full of European Cups stuff.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2002