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Sticky situation for Toffees in Uefa Cup first round

29/08/2008

Belgian champions Standard Liege will be back on Merseyside sooner than expected after being drawn against Everton in the Uefa Cup first round.

Laszlo Boloni's men narrowly lost out to the Toffees' local rivals Liverpool 1-0 on aggregate in qualifying for the Champions League earlier this week.

But they will have the chance of immediate revenge against another Premier League team, while David Moyes faces a difficult task in leading his side into the group stages of Europe's second tier competition.

Otherwise, English clubs have largely avoided the more difficult ties in the draw for the first round proper.

Portsmouth face arguably the most difficult task, having been paired with Portuguese club Guimaraes.

Fair Play qualifiers Manchester City face Cypriot minnows Omonia, and Aston Villa play Bulgarian club Litex Lovech.

Tottenham Hotspur have a potential banana skin tie against Wisla Krakow of Poland, although pundits would still expect Juande Ramos' side to ease into the group stage.

Scotland's sole remaining representatives, Motherwell, have a difficult task in making the next round after being drawn against dangerous French outfit AS Nancy.

Elsewhere, there are a few genuine glamour ties that will have pundits and broadcasters licking their lips in anticipation.

Serie A giants AC Milan have been paired with one of Switzerland's biggest clubs in FC Zurich.

The draw has not been kind to Italian sides, with Napoli drawn against Portguese powerhouse Benfica and Udinese handed a tough tie against German giants Borussia Dortmund for a place in the groups.

Sampdoria have the easiest draw on paper, with FBK Kaunas the opposition. However, fans of the Serie A side will be wary having witnessed the Lithuanians knocking out Uefa Cup finalists Rangers in the second qualifying round for the Champions League.

Two-time Uefa Cup champions Sevilla play FC Salzburg of Austria, while the eastern European 'derby' between Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia and Sparta Prague of the Czech Republic should also be a good contest.

Uefa Cup first round draw in full:

Group 1
AC Milan (ITA) v FC Zurich (SUI)
FC Timisoara (ROU) v FK Partizan (SRB)
Hertha Berlin (GER) v St Patrick's Athletic (IRL)
Banik Ostrava (CZE) v Spartak Moscow (RUS)
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) v Besiktas (TUR)

Group 2
Portsmouth (ENG) v Vitoria Guimaraes SC (POR)
Kayserispor (TUR) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Sevilla (ESP) v FC Salzburg (AUT)
VfL Wolfsburg (GER) v FC Rapid Bucharest (ROU)
Sampdoria (ITA) v FBK Kaunas (LTU)

Group 3

Maritimo (POR) v Valencia (ESP)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v Sparta Prague (CZE)
Manchester City (ENG) v AC Omonia (CYP)
BSC Young Boys (SUI) v Club Brugge (BEL)
AS Nancy (FRA) v Motherwell (SCO)Group 4

Everton (ENG) v Standard Liege (BEL)
Napoli (ITA) v Benfica (POR)
Bellinzona (SUI) v Galatasaray (TUR)
NEC Nijmegen (NED) v Dinamo Bucharest (ROU)
Racing Santander (ESP) v Honka Espoo (FIN)

Group 5

APOEL FC (CYP) v FC Schalke 04 (GER)
Litex Lovech (BUL) v Aston Villa (ENG)
Austria Vienna (AUT) v Lech Poznan (POL)
Setubal (POR) v Heerenveen (NED)
SK Brann (NOR) v Deportivo La Coruna (ESP)

Group 6

Slavia Prague (CZE) v SC Vaslui (ROU)
Slaven Koprivnica (CRO) v CSKA Moscow (RUS)
Brondby (DEN) v Rosenborg (NOR)
Cherno More Varna (BUL) v VfB Stuttgart (GER)
Stade Rennes (FRA) v FC Twente (NED)

Group 7

Ajax (NED) v Borac (SRB)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) v Wisla Krakow (POL)
FC Copenhagen (DEN) v FC Moscow (RUS)
MSK Zilina (SVK) v Levski Sofia (BUL)
Borussia Dortmund (GER) v Udinese (ITA)

Group 8

SC Braga (POR) v FC Artmedia (SVK)
Feyenoord (NED) v Kalmar FF (SWE)
Hamburg (GER) v AFC Unirea Urziceni (ROU)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR) v Saint-Etienne (FRA)
FC Nordsaelland (DEN) v Olympiacos (GRE)