City and Villa get luck of draw - UEFA Cup
Manchester City and Aston Villa got the draws both managers would of been hoping for when the Final round of UEFA Cup qualifying matches were drawn in Nyon earlier today.
City`s reward for their victory against Faroe Island part timers EB in the previous round is a tie against Danish side Midtjylland, whilst Villa who overcame Danish opposition in the Intertoto Cup at the weekend in the form of Odense will be going to Iceland to play FH.
This draw should ensure that both sides reach the first round proper of the UEFA Cup as obviously their opponents will be respected but not feared.
Queen of the South last seasons Scottish Cup runners up to Rangers play another Danish side Nordsjaelland in their first ever foray into European football and it could yet see them go into the next round.
St Patricks of the Eircom league who had a fine 3-0 aggregate win over Olimps of Latvia in the last round will face Swedish side Elfsborg for their efforts.
Other ties of interest involving big clubs not in this seasons Champions League sees Rosenborg who previously seemed to have a season ticket into the Champions league play Djurgarden of Sweden, Besiktas of Turkey taking on Siroki Brijeg of Bosnia, Vllaznia Shkoder (Albania) v Napoli (Italy) APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus) v Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) Deportivo Coruna (Spain) v Hajduk Split (Croatia) and Stuttgart, German champions only 2 seasons ago playing Gyor of Hungary.
Some of the names their proves that the UEFA Cup though much maligned is a competition many clubs are taking a lot more seriously these days.
