VERY TOUGH DRAW FOR ENGLISH CLUB… Portsmouth have drawn Italian giants AC Milan, while Manchester City will face former England boss Steve McClaren’s Twente in the Uefa Cup group stages. Struggling Tottenham have been handed a tough-looking draw after being pitted against Spartak Moscow, Udinese, NEC Nijmegen and Luka Modric’s former club Dinamo Zagreb in Group D. Aston Villa have been drawn alongside Dutch titans Ajax and Martin Jol’s Hamburg in Group F, with Slavia Prague and MSK Zilina making up the rest of the group.

Portsmouth in their first ever European campaign could face seven-time European Cup winners Milan after being drawn alongside the Italians, Heerenveen, Braga and Wolfsburg in Group E. Moneybags Manchester City have arguably been handed the toughest draw after being pitted against Schalke, Paris St Germain, Racing Santander and FC Twente in Group A.

Group A : Schalke, Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City, Racing Santander, FC Twente

Group B : Benfica, Olympiakos, Galatasaray, Hertha Berlin, Metalist Kharkiv

Group C : Sevilla, Stuttgart, Sampdoria, Partizan Belgrade, Standard Liege

Group D : Tottenham, Spartak Moscow, Udinese, Dinamo Zagreb, NEC Nijmegen

Group E : AC Milan, Heerenveen, Braga, Portsmouth, Wolfsburg

Group F : Hamburg, Ajax, Slavia Prague, Aston Villa, MSK Zilina

Group G : Valencia, Club Brugge, Rosenborg, FC Copenhagen, Saint-Etienne

Group H : CSKA Moscow, Deportivo La Coruna, Feyenoord, Nancy, Lech Poznan

Each team plays two matches at home and two away, with the top three teams from each group qualifying for the last 32.

(From Skysport)

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