I did a quick run over of all Champions League 2nd round qualifying match-ups and posted it to Newsvine. Here's what I put down on FC København vs Beitar Jerusalem:
FC København (DEN) v Beitar Jerusalem FC (ISR): Drawing each other is just not a very good feeling for either team as they both expected to make it beyond this round. Beitar Jerusalem's owner, Arcadi Gaydamak has invested heavily in strengthening his team and expects a return on that investment. Both teams are full of national team players of Scandinavian countries and Israel respectively - and Israel has done very well so far in the European Championship qualification group E where they are currently ranked second three points ahead of England. ... Approximate outcome probabilities: Home win 60%, draw 25%, away win 15%.
Unfortunately, our new man, Libor Sionko, will not get to play the games against Beitar Jerusalem. Like all good fans I was informed of the deadline for signing players for this round, and knew it had passed. But strangely, in their news section UEFA.com suggest he could play (UEFA.com / København seek hangover remedy). This is not the case. But actually, our sports director has asked UEFA for some disambiguating of related football law paragraphs with the expected result that he can't play (Tipsbladet.dk / FCK-indkøb bliver ikke klar til Beitar-kampene). Don't know if it'd be such a smart thing to field a newcomer in this type of game anyway.
A guy we do expect to see - and perhaps boo a little? - is Cristian Álvarez. Having considered the offers from both Beitar Jerusalem and FC København this summer, Álvarez chose Jerusalem. And has handed the presentation DVD of FC København to his new club for use in preparations. Quite unfortunate.
In the department of the curious but irrelevant: FC København have given free tickets to all players and team leaders of the 5th Homeless World Cup that is currently taking place in Copenhagen (fck.dk).
Update - just saw this one: Back from the dead and ready to face Beitar. It's Ståle's near death experience over again and a few words on tomorrow's game:
While he may not fear death, Solbakken is apprehensive about the encounter with Beitar, especially about having to travel to Jerusalem for the return, he says. "After three games we finally won in the league, but we still haven't reached the point where we need to be as far as our game is concerned. After all, we won against a weak team and Beitar is a lot more dangerous."
Is there any player in particular that worries you at Beitar?
Solbakken: "No, but Beitar is a good team that could easily fit among the top teams in Denmark. Beitar has a strong defense and in our first matches this season we have found it hard to create chances. In our last match we created chances, but still found it hard to score."
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Jerusalem Post / Betar ready for crucial Champions League qualifier
"Copenhagen is a good team, but so are we. I hope we play well and at the end of the tie advance to the next round," coach Yitzhak Schum said. "They're a very strong and organized team, but I think that we'll get the job done over the two matches." [...] "The match is wide open," Betar manager Giora Spiegel said. "The team is ready and all that is left is to see if the game unfolds as we planned. Our goal is to play well and to prove to the Danes and to ourselves that we're a good team."
They even offer a lineup: Tvrtko Kale will start in goal for the Israeli champion after moving to Jerusalem from Maccabi Tel Aviv over the summer, with Arik Benado and Shimon Gershon expected to anchor the back four. New Chilean signing Christian Alvarez will play on the right side of defense, meaning Yoav Ziv will likely move to the left-back position. Derek Boateng, Idan Tal and Gal Alberman are expected to play in the center of midfield, with Barak Itzhaki and Michael Zandberg attacking the Danish defense from the right and left respectively.
Toto Tamuz will probably start as the team's lone striker, with new Brazilian signing Romulo, who joined from Cruzeiro last week, on the substitute's bench.
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