meant some embarrassing encounters were sidestepped.
As both Seville and Hamburg along with Spurs were included in the top seeds for the draw for the group stages of the UEFA Cup it meant they couldn’t face each other at this stage.
And with the way Spurs are playing it probably cancels out any chance of meeting either of them in the knockout stage as well.
No doubt it would be uncomfortable for Levy and his chums having to meet and greet the Seville officials who though not too chuffed with what went down last year are apparently now quite happy with the way things have panned out so far this season, as they sit third and unbeaten in La Liga. Though it could have given Levy the ideal opportunity to tap up Seville’s sporting director Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo who was more responsible for the team Ramos and his successor put out in Spain, someone who is just a bit better at the job than a certain Damien Comolli.
It would also have been a tough time for the chairman, his director of football and the man they chased so relentlessly if BMJ was standing on the sideline with that great big Tony Soprano grin on his face as the fans chanted “I love Martin Jol…Martin Jol loves me”. He still loves the club and at least in public there’s no schadenfreude showing itself while his Hamburg sit at the top of German football.
All there is now is Modric facing his old side, Dinamo Zagreb and Pavlyuchenko being cup tied and not being able to face his, Spartak Moscow.
In the past couple of UEFA cup runs most would probably be happy with that group draw, a number of big names were dodged, but this year, well seeing Levy’s squirming little phizog under the above two scenarios might be the only thing to look forward to.