Milan get easy draw

Seven-times European champions Milan were handed a comfortable UEFA Cup assignment yesterday when they were drawn with Heerenveen, Braga, Portsmouth and Wolfsburg in the competition's group stage.

English Premier League strugglers Tottenham Hotspur will take on Spartak Moscow, Serie A joint leaders Udinese, Dinamo Zagreb and Dutch side Nijmegen.

In a tough Group C, 2006 and 2007 UEFA Cup winners Sevilla were drawn against German side Stuttgart, Sampdoria, Partizan Belgrade and Belgian champions Standard Liege.

Group F brought together three former European Champions with Hamburg, Ajax and Aston Villa being pitted against each other, along with Czech champions Slavia Prague and Slovakian side Zilina.

"We are playing clubs from strong football leagues in the Netherlands, Portugal, England and Germany so it will be interesting," Milan's organising director Umberto Gandini told Reuters.

"On the other hand we are a top seeded club, we think we have the ability to go through this round and that's our goal.

"Serie A remains our priority but at the end of the day this is still an international trophy, and one we haven't won before. Winning it also gets you into the UEFA Super Cup so in that sense it's worth a lot to us."

Milan will begin the Group Stage with an away trip to Heerenveen on Oct. 23, with their other away match coming against European newcomers Portsmouth.

"It's fantastic for all our fans, being the first time in Europe and getting drawn against Milan," said Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie.

"Overall, it's a good balanced group and the fact that it's a group format rather than a knock-out match against Milan means we've got half a chance."

Tottenham hope a good run in Europe could help to revive their domestic fortunes, having taken just two points from seven matches.

"I'm sure we will do well and will use the UEFA Cup to get our confidence back," said Tottenham's director of football Damien Comolli.

"I think if there is any positive result that gives us confidence we will take it."

Spurs face a difficult start to their group with a visit to Udinese but they avoided a trip to Moscow - instead playing Spartak at home in their final group match on Dec. 18.

"I wouldn't have minded going to Moscow - I like the city and as people know I like the players," said Comolli who was instrumental in Tottenham's signing of cup-tied striker Roman Pavlyuchenko from Spartak.

"Playing Udinese away will be difficult though. They are doing very well and they are technically very strong but we've got a few games to play before that so we are just trying to get positive results now rather than thinking long term."

Seville board member Manuel Vizcaino Fernandez was optimistic that his club would secure one of the three top places needed to progress to the last 32.

"We knew this year's draw would be especially difficult but I think if we play in our normal way we can get to the next round," Vizcaino told Reuters.

"We are considered one of the big teams in Europe now thanks to what we achieved in the UEFA Cup, so although we treat all competitions equally this one has special importance in terms of our history."

The draw

Group A
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Paris St Germain (France)
Manchester City (England)
Racing Santander (Spain)
Twente Enschede (Netherlands)
Oct. 23: Schalke vs Paris Saint Germain; Twente vs Racing Santander.

Group B
Benfica (Portugal)
Olympiakos Piraeus (Greece)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Hertha Berlin (Germany)
Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Oct. 23: Galatasaray vs Olympiakos Piraeus; Hertha Berlin vs Benfica.

Group C
Sevilla (Spain)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Sampdoria (Italy)
Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)
Standard Liege (Belgium)
Oct. 23: Partizan Belgrade vs Sampdoria; Sevilla vs VfB Stuttgart.

Group D
Tottenham Hotspur (England)
Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Udinese (Italy)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands)
Oct. 23: Dinamo Zagreb vs NEC Nijmegen; Udinese vs Tottenham Hotspur.

Group E
Milan (Italy)
Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Braga (Portugal)
Portsmouth (England)
VfL Wolfsburg (Germany)
Oct. 23: Braga vs Portsmouth; Heerenveen vs Milan.

Group F
Hamburg (Germany)
Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
Aston Villa (England)
Zilina (Slovakia)
Oct. 23: Aston Villa vs Ajax Amsterdam; Zilina vs Hamburg.

Group G
Valencia (Spain)
Club Bruges (Belgium)
Rosenborg Trondheim (Norway)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
St Etienne (France)
Oct. 23: Rosenborg Trondheim vs Club Bruges; FC Copenhagen vs St Etienne.

Group H
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Deportivo (Spain)
Feyenoord (Netherlands)
AS Nancy (France)
Lech Poznan (Poland)
Oct. 23: CSKA Moscow vs Deportivo La Coruna; Nancy vs Feyenoord.

Fixture schedule

Matchday 1: October 23.
Matchday 2: November 6.
Matchday 3: November 27.
Matchday 4: December 3/4.
Matchday 5: December 17 & 18.

First knockout round: February 18/19; February 26.
Second knockout round: March 12; March 18/19.
Quarter-finals: April 9; April 16.
Semi-finals: April 30; May 7.
Final: Istanbul - May 20.