Tough qualification for the Champions League
By Håvard Lindheim, 5 Februar 2007, 09:29
Rosenborg will most likely not be seeded in the decisive qualificating round to the Champions League, and will have to hope for a lucky draw.
During the past few years, RBK has collected fewer and fewer points in the European cups (two for each win; one for a draw), and hence have fallen on UEFA's club ranking. During the last five seasons, RBK - some poor nation points included - collected 31,609 points, which gives a measly 76th spot on the list.
However, this is more than good enough to be seeded in the 2nd qualifying round, promising opponents in the class of Elfsborg, Tampere, and old aquaintances like MTK Budapest, Shelbourne, Ventspils and Sheriff Tiraspol.
In the third and final round, though, things look worse. With today's European league tables, Rosenborg is ranked 22 of 32. It is not yet clear which 16 will finish on the top of the list, but for the moment, Real Madrid, Bayern München, Valencia, Liverpool and Arsenal are all possible opponents. Luckily one can also draw somewhat easier teams, like Anderlecht, Glasgow Rangers and Celtic. Vålerenga did draw Club Brugge and Galatasaray in 2005 and 2006, but have possibly used up the Norwegian luck quota for a while?
In all, both skill and luck is needed for the Champions League hymn to sound at Lerkendal again. However, qualifying to the UEFA cup this autumn isn't neccessarily a bad thing, as wins and draws in this second most interesting tournament also gives valueable points.
Important dates:
29.06. Draw for the 2nd qualifying round
27.07. Draw for the 3rd qualifying round
01.08. 2nd qualifying round 1st match
08.08. 2nd qualifying round 2nd match
15.08. 3rd qualifying round 1st match
29.08. 3rd qualifying round 2nd match
30.08. Draw for the group stage
During the past few years, RBK has collected fewer and fewer points in the European cups (two for each win; one for a draw), and hence have fallen on UEFA's 