Aston Villa to play CSKA Moskva in next round of UEFA Cup, then either Spurs or Shakhtar

They won four out of four in the group stages !! wont be easy but hey a good test for our boys . MOSCOW !

This is easily the worst draw we could of had!
I bet MON is thinking that he should of actually tried to win the Hamburg game now!!
At least we got to the last 32 i suppose.
Nevermind, it gives us more time to concentrate on the top 4 finish!

Then play Shaktar or Tottenham, come on!!

Why did it have to be another game in a cold climate! Couldn't UEFA give us a nice game in Spain or on the Southern French coast?

The only thing I will say about our chances is that the Russian League doesn't start until March, so they might not be at match fitness. Might give us a slight advantage.

Ooops, Moscow!....We would have to meet a good side at some stage...So lets get rid of Moscow nice and early.
I was hoping for a nice warm place to go to...Next round maybe...Dont think I'll get to Russia

lol, we get either Spurs or Shaktar Donestk if we qualify

You know guys the funny thing here in Russia we're also sorry not to draw someone for Spain or Italy. Yeah, why did it have to be another game in a cold climate!
Welcome to Moscow!

I think MON should rest 7 for this game as well..!!!!!(Im optimistic that we will make some quality signings during the window which will give us a fighting chance for this game!!) This game will be a challenge no doubts about that, but with the game being in Feb and with the new players having time to settle then we should get into the last 16...we need a good reslut at home however! UTV

Where is Shatkar?

This is the hardest we could've got in my eyes ... Unless we get a big win at home I think are journey will be over in Europe. That's what happens when you don't go out to win every game ... If and a big if we win the next round would be a lot easier.

Croatia

SOrry not Croaitan, Ukrainian.

I will start saving for Croatia then...

CSKA starting their winter break so when we play them it will be like a pre-season game for them and their main goal scorer is supposedly being transferred in January.

Still believe no-one to fear in this competition. Keep the faith.

Tough, tough, TOUGH draw that. Sorry but just cannot see us going much further in this now.

No use crying over spilt milk, but Nijmegen and then Boreaux/Galatasary for Hamburg I see. That is a far preferable route than the one we've ended up with.

Of course they are a hard team to play, but we dont want to play in europe to play in easy games we go to europe to play against the very best. We can beat them, we have the quality. Come on villa show CSKA how to play the game. Up The Villa!!!

Ouch, 2nd leg in Russia is going to be extremely difficult. Was praying we'd hold out for St Etienne. Ah well, it'll be just as difficult for them to come over here so we'd just better make that 1st leg count big time. No away goals!!!

Reply to vivavilla86:

Ouch, 2nd leg in Russia is going to be extremely difficult. Was praying we'd hold out for St Etienne. Ah well, it'll be just as difficult for them to come over here so we'd just better make that 1st leg count big time. No away goals!!!

I have really good feeling about this draw. I am expecting that we will qualify to the final 16!

I didn't realise it would be pre-season for them. That offers us an advantage, but we need to protect the delicate hamstrings of Gabby and Young while we're out there.

Let's hope we can take a lead with us to Moscow.

Bring on CSKA, no question in my mind that we can beat them. If we want the top four then we we must beat the best.

Gutted - I'm even more annoyed now that MoN put such a sh1t side out against Hamburg. I, like many others made the effort to go out there, and were rewarded with a hopeless b-side, and because of that, we now face Moscow. Bang out of order, O'Neill.

Why so down about facing a decent team? Thats what being in Europe is all about!!!! At least VP will be sell out rather than half empty.

Should get a load of tickets for over there as well if its 78k capacity.

Calling Moscow calling Moscow, come in Moscow

UTV

Can anybody actually find flights to Moscow?

You could look at it as this... we've drawn a decent side in Uefa cup = more desirable to play for (better chances of getting good players in Jan!)

Moscow. In February. That will be brutal believe me. I'm speaking as a England fan who went out there to watch the national team.

We'll need a 2 goal lead to take out there to stand any chance at all.

Ground does hold 78,000. I think we'll be rattling around in that to be honest with you. A lot of folks spent up for the Hamburg visit. I doubt whether we'd sell more than 500 tickets for the away leg.

I agree with Stocky, the whole point in being in Europe is to test yourselves against the very best. Yes its a tough draw, but I still fancy us to come through. If we can get a couple of goals lead in the first leg then I see no problems in seeing out the tie.

I reckon that it will be an English 1-2 in Europe this season, with both trophies heading back our shores. I see no reason Villa can't be the one to be holding the UEFA cup come May.

Surely they will have to re-arrange the Chelsea fixture on the 21.02.09.

If we are still in prime position in the league at this time, I would hope MON rests a few big guns again, as I am more concerned finishing higher up the league. We should hopefully have decent replacements in Jan who are capable of containing and controlling a game.

Up the Villa .... comon ... comon we will get through this, have the faith.

I honestly fail to see the problem, yeah they won all four of their games, but for three of our games we put out a reserve side and still qualified comfortably despite the two losses, if we can beat Ajax at home, and our reserve side can be the first to beat Slavia Prague at their ground, then there is no reason our full strength Villa side (plus a few extra additions in January AS WELL AS a hopefully fully fit again John Carew can't overcome Moscow.

UTV!!! If we can get past this hurdle, then we are more than capable of beatng Spurs (Who I tip to go through too, although Redknapps comments about managers wanting to get out of Europe left me a little reluctant to back to)

vivavilla86

i'm all booked up!!

You have to beat teams like this to win the cup, why people are moaning is bizarre to me. Even if we had an easy game in the next round you are still going to face clubs of this quality in the latter stages.

Damian... where did you get your flights from?? I've checked Ryanair and Easyjet and can't find anything to Moscow

SAS www.sas.se

vivavilla - try this

LINK

Ryanair? EasyJet? Ha, ha, ha!!! Don't be daft. You'll have to go scheduled flights with 'proper' airlines.

Lufthansa. KLM. FinnAir. Try one of those.

Think you need a visa to get into Russia as well, so don't forget to factor that in.

I reckon we drew one of the easier last 16 teams in Spures and Shaktar. It's just a matter of getting past CSKA at home and holding out away.

Have to recommend this site:
www.dohop.com

Yikes... not cheap then. Cheapest I can find is ~£400ish return.

Reply to David C:

Ryanair? EasyJet? Ha, ha, ha!!! Don't be daft. You'll have to go scheduled flights with 'proper' airlines.

Lufthansa. KLM. FinnAir. Try one of those.

Think you need a visa to get into Russia as well, so don't forget to factor that in.

Well excuse me for never having been to Russia before!

wa is the istanbull chant i heard it at the last match bu didn no it .....

Ok scratch that... Einar's very helpful link has found some much cheaper flights. £160, not bad!

38. vivavilla86 Wrote: | 13.42GMT | Dec 19, 2008
Yikes... not cheap then. Cheapest I can find is ~£400ish return.

Reply You shouldn't be paying more than £165 return. Skyscanner or my opodo are good sites. Basic accommodation if you're staying overnight is about £45

I must admit this is probally the worst game we could of had but lets face it they are probally yhinking the same thing also it looks as if there main striker Love is fishing for a move in January so this could make things slightly easier.UTV.

Hi, all people who are trying to get flights to Moscow i recommend you try this site www.kayak.co.uk
just put a quick search in to leave on the Wed (25th) and return on the Fri(27th) from Birmingham your looking at about £195 return,this price will inc all taxes.
Hope this helps.

£45 a visa.

Check which Moscow airport you're flying into as well. There's 5 of them!!! Don't forget its a massive city this. 10 times the size of Brum (10.5 million inhabitants).

Anyone know whether CSKA's new ground will be open by Februrary?Or will they still be using Dinamo Moscow's ground? If its the latter, it only holds 36,000. Luzhni Stadium is the one that holds 78,000 - AND CSKA do not play there. Unless someone can prove otherwise.

Guys, This is a great draw. One of the biggest games we've had for years! I live here and can recommend great bars and clubs. This place is full of women!

Of course the better news is that we're a step closer to being the winners of the Intertoto Cup!

Only us, Deportivo, Braga and Stuttgart remain. If we outlast them we become Intertoto 08/09 Champions

The stadium won't be ready for Feb they will probably use Luzniki 78k. With Visas, i recommend some sort of package deal which includes getting the visa for you, cause trying to get a visa at the russian embassy, well, you can if you get there early enough

why the pessimism?! if were to win this competition isnt it better that we look back with honour and say "we played the best teams we could have played - and still won the damn competition!"

im saying we should all get behind the team, be 100% confident, im LOVING the fact that were playing moscow! big big big match - great for publicity! BRING IT ON!

Reply to david c:

£45 a visa.

Check which Moscow airport you're flying into as well. There's 5 of them!!! Don't forget its a massive city this. 10 times the size of Brum (10.5 million inhabitants).

Anyone know whether CSKA's new ground will be open by Februrary?Or will they still be...

i bet your a great crack down the pub not..arrogant git

Reply to Martin:

Guys, This is a great draw. One of the biggest games we've had for years! I live here and can recommend great bars and clubs. This place is full of women!

Thats handy!

I have to agree with Hoofhearted, this is pretty much worse case scenario!
And regarding the winter break/'this a pre-season game for them' thoughts- does anyone remember Zenit St Petersburg last year?? They had the same break and wiped the floor all through the tournament
I'm still annoyed we finished 3rd, especially after beating Ajax and away to Prague.
Still, better than many previous years when we didn't even need to watch a live UEFA draw heh??

lets get one thing straight, THEY WILL NOT FANCY PLAYING US, im very happy with this draw, if we are going to win this we should fear no team. im so sure we will go all the way and win this.... UTV

Reply to Si Daniels:

Gutted - I'm even more annoyed now that MoN put such a sh1t side out against Hamburg. I, like many others made the effort to go out there, and were rewarded with a hopeless b-side, and because of that, we now face Moscow. Bang out of order, O'Neill.

Stereotypical critising fan!!! MON got us to where we are, Id rather be playing Moscow then some other teams.. remember MON have already been to a UEFA cup final... when was the last time u took someone there?????

Why are we fearing moscow?? Are CSKA better than Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal... No they arent. We wanna mix it with the big boys and we are up there with the big boys... they r goin 2 sh1t themselves seeing us 4th in the BEST league in the world!! Keep the faith!! UP THE VILLA!! Road to Istanbul!!!

If we are good enough to win this comp then surely we should be confident of beating this team. If we are not good enough then we are better off losing at this stage and focusing 100% on the most important competetion which is finishing 4th in the premier league (or higher).

Seriously Moscow is amazing, really would suggest going to anyone, particulalrly if u get to see Villa play as well!

what is the matter with all of you? this pessimism is bothering the shit out of me. sure, we have to go to russia, but WE ARE BETTER THAN THEM. we are a top 4 side; why is everyone forgetting that???

now that i look at the last couple of comments i see some other villa faithful are agreeing with my sentiments. cheers, boys.

Reply to Christian:

I have to agree with Hoofhearted, this is pretty much worse case scenario!
And regarding the winter break/'this a pre-season game for them' thoughts- does anyone remember Zenit St Petersburg last year?? They had the same break and wiped the floor all through the tournament
I'm...

WORST CASE SCENARIO!!! Christian – you are a complete wimp, a nailed-on scaredy-cat.

Why are you so afraid? If we think we’re a top four club we should be relishing this match. Also, because Moskva are are a proper football side we will approach the game properly, like Ajax, and therefore are more likely to win it. Staff24 is right - they will not fancy playing us.

I know it's far ahead but I think I'd rather play Spurs than Shakthar. I saw Shakthar beat Barca at the Nou Camp the week before last and, although Barca has a second team out, Shakthar played them off the park. That said, we seem to struggle against teams managed by Redknapp.

LINK

For anyone interested we're holding the AVFCBlogForum Works Christmas Do tonight. Bring a bottle, all welcome.

LINK

Sorry gave you the wrong venue on the last post. Here is the correct location. See you all there.

I think its a decent draw considering who we could of got but itl be tough. Just hope MON doesn't play the 2nd team like he did in Hamburg. I really believe we can go far if the draws go our way and MON plays the first team.
A good run in the UEFA cup will be great for the likes of Gabi and Ashley. Hopefully tempt them to stay and do great things at the Villa!

Erm....HELLO! free beer in the AVFCBlogForum Works Christmas Do follow the link Nan has posted!!

We are the team to beat in this competition. Assuming we play our first team ;o

I hope we get through and get to give spurs another hiding

Martin, will Wagner Love be off by the time Villa play this tie. I think that will be critical to how it is going to go.
I am not saying this out of fear, but I do think Villa were handed a tough draw. CSKA Moscow is a good team and that is a difficult second leg. Then the next round is no peach.
Look at the effect Harry Redknapp has had on Spurs. To me they are threat in any of the cups they are in especially if they do well with loan signings.
And Shaktar Donetsk are experience European campaigners that if it weren't for a late Donati goal would've made the last 16 of the Champions League recently. If the Villa get through those two and into the quarterfinals then I make them favorites to win the Cup no matter who is left. They will have earned a place in the last 8!

There was only one side i wanted to avoid in the draw and these were the team,I just cannot see us beating them, especially at there gaff, we need to be at least 2 or 3 goals ahead to have any chance, especially if they have there plastic pitch out. I'm afraid i cannot see we have much chance at all seeing apart from really the Ajax game i think we've been pretty god damn awfull..

20/20 hindsight

This is a game we can win.

ON our day, as demonstrated this season already, we can go up against some of the best teams in the world.

I think we'll win this match over the two legs.

72. Damian Wrote: | 12.42GMT | Dec 20, 2008
This is a game we can win.

I totally agree. What concerns me is the Chelsea fixture on the 21.02.09 after the 1st leg. There can be no excuses for not bringing in adequate replacements i the transfer window. League must take priority. We should be looking to win the league, but settle for 3rd if we have a blip.

Anyone know how many tickets have been sold for the CSKA fans, ill be in the North Stand lower right next to them.