UEFA CUP GROUP PHASE DRAW:TRY TELLING anyone at Fratton Park that the Uefa Cup has lost its appeal. Yesterday's draw for the competition's group stages was one for Portsmouth supporters to savour after Milan, the seven-times European Cup winners, were handed a trip to the south coast.
There was bemusement and excitement in Harry Redknapp's voice as Portsmouth's manager considered some of the most famous names in football playing at Fratton Park next month.
"Who could imagine the thought of Paolo Maldini, Ronaldinho, Kaka and all those running out to play here?" said Redknapp. "But who could have imagined Portsmouth winning the FA Cup and having four players in the England squad? Now it could all happen."
Portsmouth's stand-out fixture in the draw will take place on November 27th, sandwiched between trips to Sporting Braga in Portugal and Wolfsburg in Germany, before they host the Dutch club Heerenveen in their final group game.
"I don't think anyone expected to see AC Milan at Fratton Park, to be honest," said Peter Crouch, who was in the Liverpool side that lost to Milan in the 2007 Champions League final. "Hopefully we can use that to our advantage. We can make it difficult for them . . . The changing-rooms are a little bit smaller than most, but Paolo Maldini can say that he's done it all now."
While the other three English clubs could not hope for opponents as glamorous as the Serie A giants, Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa were all given eye-catching fixtures. City would appear to have the most demanding task, with Mark Hughes' side in the same group as Paris St-Germain, Schalke, Racing Santander and Twente, the Dutch team now managed by the former England coach, Steve McClaren.
Tottenham, meanwhile, will be renewing relations with two clubs they plundered in the summer, with White Hart Lane hosting Luka Modric's former side Dinamo Zagreb as well as Roman Pavyluchenko's previous employers, Spartak Moscow.
Juande Ramos' side - who will be without the cup-tied Pavyluchenko - start their group campaign with a trip to Italy to take on Udinese two weeks tomorrow.
The draw has given Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa side little margin for error as they seek to become one of the three clubs to qualify from Group F. Ajax visit Villa Park for the opening game before Villa travel to Slavia Prague, host MSK Zilina from Slovakia and then finish up with what promises to be their toughest assignment, a trip to Germany to face Hamburg, who lead the Bundesliga by three points and are managed by Martin Jol.
Guardian Service
