UEFA Cup - Portsmouth handed Milan test

Eurosport - Wed, 08 Oct 00:05:00 2008

Portsmouth have landed a glamour draw against seven-times European champions AC Milan in the UEFA Cup group stage.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Serie A Milan-Inter Kaką Ronaldinho - 0

Harry Redknapp's side will pit their wits against the likes of Kaka and Ronaldinho, with Heerenveen, Braga and Wolfsburg completing Group E.

Pompey needed extra time to see off Guimaraes in the first round, and were rewarded with a glamour tie against the Italian giants, who missed out on the Champions League after finishing fifth in Serie A last season.

Tottenham Hotspur were spared an encounter with the likes of Milan or Sevilla thanks to their status as top seeds, but were still handed a tough draw.

The Premier League's bottom club face Russian side Spartak Moscow, Udinese of Serie A, Dinamo Zagreb and NEC Nijmegen.

Manchester City were given an intriguing draw including a match against former England manager Steve McClaren's FC Twente, who lost to Arsenal in Champions League qualifying.

City also face big guns from Germany and France, in the form of Schalke and Paris Saint-Germain, and Spanish debutants Racing Santander.

The other English representatives, Aston Villa, face Martin Jol's Hamburg and former European greats Ajax, along with Slavia Prague and MSK Zilina of Slovakia.

Each team plays two home and two away games. The top three teams from each group progress to the knockout stage, where they are joined by the eight teams finishing third in the Champions League group stage to make up the last 32.

Matches will be played on October 23, November 6, November 27, December 3 and 4, and December 17 and 18.

Group A: Schalke, Paris-SG, Manchester City, Racing Santander, Twente

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

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

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

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

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

Group G: Valencia, Club Brugge, Rosenborg, Copenhagen, St-Etienne

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

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 78 - 97 of 97

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  1. man utd owns

    From jrlea38, on Wed 8 Oct 10:26AM

  2. Sorry Doc but Arsenal have never been relegated. Yes, they finished botoom but were not relegated because of World War 1.

    From WILLIAM, on Wed 8 Oct 9:00AM

  3. german clubs will win the uefa cup and champions league

    From maggie, on Wed 8 Oct 3:52AM

  4. Steven u must be smokin crack if u think pompey will beat milan !!!! ac milan always turn on something special on european nights just watch them cruch ur poor pompey/

    From diman, on Wed 8 Oct 1:03AM

  5. Last time SPurs started this bad (1912-13) the Arse were relegated, something for you Yids to cling too !

    From doc_scrumpy, on Tue 7 Oct 11:07PM

  6. well spurs have more uefa trophys in there cabinet than the likes of villa and portsmouth so what if there bottom of table they will bounce back because i know they will i am a spurs fan since i was 5 i am now 31 and will follow them to hell and back

    From sharon b, on Tue 7 Oct 10:27PM

  7. Villa-Portsmouth final?

    That's optimistic - if they both go through to the next round.

    Please, lets stay in the real world :)

    From David R, on Tue 7 Oct 10:10PM

  8. Partizan will win the UEFA CUP this year for sure. GDE GOD TI DA IGRAS TU SU TVOJI GROBARI, SAMO TEBI VERNI SAMO TEBI ODANI

    From Agheil, on Tue 7 Oct 9:43PM

  9. VILLA POMPEY final would be great UP THE VILLA

    From simon s, on Tue 7 Oct 9:40PM

  10. MR mrk_ck just to let you know that Pompey got into the UEFA Cup because they won the FA CUP, not becauase of where they finished in the league, OK?

    From Lord Dambo of Purbrookshire, on Tue 7 Oct 8:50PM

  11. BRAVEHEART=@#$%

    PLAY UP POMPEY!!

    From Lord Dambo of Purbrookshire, on Tue 7 Oct 8:47PM

  12. Pompey will be disgraced and well they deserve to be

    From Braveheart, on Tue 7 Oct 8:41PM

  13. City you really need to start gellin now this is the time. City_til_I_die.

    From young644@..., on Tue 7 Oct 8:36PM

  14. spurs city final, spurs to be a mid week team!!!

    From clarkythesparky@..., on Tue 7 Oct 8:23PM

  15. Would have been better to hear John Westwood & co belt out the chimes in Milan, La Scala would have closed for the night !

    Kaka will kak himself :)

    From doc_scrumpy, on Tue 7 Oct 8:15PM

  16. im going to prague... come on VIlla, it will be a mint game for Ajax to come to villa park. cant wait!! MON Claret and blue army

    From its obvious, on Tue 7 Oct 8:08PM

  17. Villa vs Hamburg sounds like a damn cracker!

    At least much more than underperforming milan vs even-lower-performing pompey game, which has some cool names in it, but.. thats about it..

    From arskipaski, on Tue 7 Oct 7:54PM

  18. villa to win for sure !!!
    great team spirit, lots of quality and a top manager too......its on the cards, put your money on the villa to win!
    avfc forever

    From mandyinlooe, on Tue 7 Oct 7:48PM

  19. POMPEY PLAY UP PLAY UP POMPEY,POMPEY WILL BEAT MILAN AS THERE SO CALLED SUPER STARS ARE IN FOR A SHOCK WHEN THEY GET OFF THE COACH TO ENTER THE GROUND,IT IS A LONG WAY FROM THE SAN SIRO.

    From derektwilliams, on Tue 7 Oct 7:31PM

  20. love 2 see chelsea r out of europe

    From Jivan, on Tue 7 Oct 7:27PM
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