The Dragon in Aragon

A quite unexpected and heavy victory for Swansea in Valencia has a double irony – first of all, that a viscerally Welsh side (albeit with significant foreign elements) is improving the English UEFA co-efficient rankings (and against England’s closest national league competitor, Spain, but that’s by the by) and, secondly, that their place in Europe was assured by Swansea’s arch rivals, Cardiff, in a test case when the Bluebirds (as was) reached the 2008 FA Cup Final, prompting a special UEFA review (of whom, Michel Platini came out in favour of allowing Cardiff to compete in Europe if they were to win, though they in the end didn’t).

Quite a contrast to the last English representatives to pitch up at the Mestalla.  Stoke were the plucky underdogs but lost in the knockout stage.  I expected Swansea to go the same way but Michael Laudrup has a more cosmopolitan and cultured approach than Tony Pulis and has the added advantage of having already coached in Spain, where he led unfashionable Getafe into Europe and even defeated Tottenham at White Hart Lane, what proved to Martin Jol’s last game as Spurs’ boss.

The current Cockerels side is made of sterner and more united stuff as they took out the stuffing from their Europa League opponents from beyond the Arctic Circle, Tromsø, though the Norwegians will be glad to welcome Spurs for the away leg in the dead of winter.  As for Wigan, they took 3,500 fans to Belgium to see them make their Europa League bow (FA Cup winners do not need qualifying rounds), a figure that sometimes eclipses their home ground attendance.  They got a 0-0 result for their troubles, but if they can’t beat a Championship side, will Zulte-Waregem win a game?