Uefa Cup Draw

[Duckman]

So the group stage for the Uefa Cup has been drawn and the English teams have got some tough groups to try and get out of.

Here's the draw in full:

Group A
Schalke 04
Paris St 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
SC Braga
PORTSMOUTH
Vfl 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
Deportiva La Coruna
Feyenoord
Nancy
Lech Poznan

Out of all the English teams it's probably Pompy and Villa that have the toughest groups.  That Villa group especially looks like a bitch to get out of.  Hamberg are top of the German league, Ajax are rebuilding but always dangerous and no one wants a trip to Slavia Prague.

I still think Manchester City are a good shout for winning this, if they can perform away from home, which they haven't really been able to do in the league yet.

Still, AC Milan coming to Fratton Park should be a laugh!

What do you guys make of the draw?

Peace

Duckman

[Ian "Wolfie" Trumps]

Where are Rangers?

[Kenfucius]

Second in the SPL.

Anyway, I'd have to see how the home/away fixtures are split, but to be honest, I don't see any major problems for Villa there. Prague isn't as bad as Zagreb (if Tottenham are on the road out there), and they should be pretty safe at home against either Hamburg or Ajax, whichever one it is.

Portsmouth, I think, could be in some trouble.

On current form, I have no idea about Tottenham, with the squad they have they SHOULD go through comfortably, but they've been shocking.

Man City, two home wins, one away draw, always going to suffice.

Personally, I think Portsmouth are in the toughest group to call. Beyond that, any shock progression is going to come from the Sevilla/Stuttgart group. On paper, the seeds should advance comfortably, but they'll all hurt each other, in all likelihood, and after watching them a few times, I think that Liege have every chance of nicking a shock win or two.

[Duckman]

Hamberg are top of the league in German and playing some good football under Jol.  I can see them really giving Villa trouble.

Spurs are pretty much dead and buried this season unless they do something great to turn things around.  I don't think they'll get relegated or anything like that, but I don't see much progress in this competition.

As for where Rangers are?  Fuck you, we'll be back next season.

Peace

Duckman

[Ian "Wolfie" Trumps]

A few of my mates are Spurs fans, so I for one hope they do get relegated. One major reason is the influx of foreign managers which I think has had a major burden on the domestic game as well.

Ramos made so many terrible off season decisions its beyond me. Once more paying way too much for a mediocre player aka Bentley and then selling off the entire striker contingent adding an untested Russian loser as a replacement.

They got way more for Keane than what he was worth, got stunk for the value of Defoe and Berba was about right...

Spurs for the drop!

[Quadzilla]

In the words of Kevin Keegan:

'I'd love it, LOVE IT' if Spurs went down.