Newcastle in tough Uefa group

Newcastle were handed a daunting task in the draw for the Uefa Cup group stage in Nyon.

The Magpies were drawn with Celta Vigo, Palermo - conquerors of West Ham in the first round - Fenerbahce and Eintracht Frankfurt in Group H.

Tottenham were handed a kinder draw despite being among the lowest seeds and were drawn with Bayer Leverkusen, Bruges, Besiktas and Dinamo Bucharest in Group B.

Blackburn face a tough task to progress from Group E containing Feyenoord, Basle, Wisla Krakow and Nancy.

Rangers will come up against Auxerre, Partizan Belgrade, Livorno and Maccabi Haifa.

Teams only play each other once in the group phase rather than both home and away, therefore top seeds Newcastle could potentially avoid playing testing fixtures in Turkey and Italy.

Leverkusen are likely to represent Spurs' stiffest competition in Group B although their place in the top three, which ensures progression to the third round, is far from guaranteed.

Blackburn face far less hostile trips abroad though Feyenoord, Basle and Nancy are more experienced European campaigners.

Sevilla, AZ Alkmaar, Slovan Liberec, Grasshopper and Braga were drawn together in Group C while Italian outfit Parma feature in Group D with Lens, Heerenveen, Osasuna and Odense.

Ajax will be confident of advancing from Group F containing Sparta Prague, Espanyol, Austria Vienna and Zulte Waregem while Paris St Germain and Panathinaikos will meet in Group G with Rapid Bucharest, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Mlada Boleslav.