Onward with the Uefa Cup

So, last night Bolton Wanderers played out a 0 - 0 draw against Athletico Madrid in Madrid and, by virtue of having won the first leg in Bolton 1 - 0 progressed to the last 16 of the Uefa Cup where they will face Sporting Lisbon!

We've never been this far in Uefa Cup before! I'm dead chuffed.

When I was a kid I used to hear about teams like Athletico Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, Dynamo Kiev, Spartak Moscow, Benfica, Red Star Belgrade and others and they sounded so exotic. So distant. So much better than the rest. These were great football teams - not the likes of teams Bolton Wanderers would ever play against. No, these were reserved for the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United who we might play if we were lucky enough to get drawn against them in the FA Cup. But these wonderfully sounding foreign teams that conjured up visions of strange cities that I would never travel to (Bolton can have that effect on its kids) - they were out of the reach of my team.

And now here we are, playing against them and reaching the last 16 of the Uefa Cup.

Pinch me I must be dreaming!