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Soccer News: Cup draw

Liverpool will have the chance to succeed where Aston Villa failed, after the draw for the third round of the UEFA Cup pitted…

Sat Nov 07 1998 - 00:00

Liverpool will have the chance to succeed where Aston Villa failed, after the draw for the third round of the UEFA Cup pitted them against Celta Vigo, who knocked out John Gregory's team on Tuesday. Liverpool defeated another Spanish side, Valencia, in the previous round.

The first leg will be played in Spain on November 24th with the return leg at Anfield a fortnight later. Rangers face the bookies' favourites Parma at Ibrox in the first leg. Parma won the competition at Wembley in 1995.

But for Steve McManaman and Patrik Berger's late goals in Valencia, Tuesday night would have seen all Spain's UEFA Cup teams progress and all England's representatives crash out at the second-round stage. As it is, Spain, along with France, has four teams left in the competition, Italy has three, and England, Switzerland, Belgium and Scotland are each left with one. Italy or France could have an extra representative because the outcome of the Fiorentina-Bordeaux tie is still in doubt after the Italian leg was abandoned.

Spain's achievement is even more impressive in that it has three teams in the Champions League and Mallorca still in the Cup Winners' Cup.

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Chelsea have ended the farcical situation surrounding Brian Laudrup by rushing through a deal to sell the striker to FC Copenhagen for a fee of little more than £1 million.

The Dane, who on Thursday scored the Chelsea goal which eliminated his new club from the Cup Winners' Cup, recently declared that he was homesick. Earlier in the season, however, he complained long and hard about the manager Gianluca Vialli's policy of rotating his players.

Rangers yesterday completed the £3.5 million purchase of the French striker Stephane Guivarc'h from Newcastle United. Guivarc'h is likely to occupy a seat on the bench at St Johnstone tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Paul Ince was yesterday fined £1,500 by the English FA for flashing a V sign after he was sent off while on England duty in Sweden two months ago. The fine is in addition to a three-match ban.

Draw for the third round of the UEFA Cup:

Zurich (Swi) v AS Roma (Ita); Monaco (Fra) v Marseille (Fra); Grasshoppers (Swi) or Fiorentina (Ita) v Bordeaux (Fra); Real Sociedad (Spa) v Atletico Madrid (Spa); Lyon (Fra) v Club Brugge (Bel); Rangers (Sco) v Parma (Ita); Celta Vigo (Spa) v Liverpool (Eng); Bologna (Ita) v Real Betis (Spa).