THE prospect of an all-English clash between Aston Villa and Tottenham in the UEFA Cup has been thrown up by the draw for the first knock-out round - but both clubs have to see off testing opponents from eastern Europe first.
Villa face CSKA Moscow, the only team in the group phase to win all four of their matches, in the round of 32 while Spurs have to play Shakhtar Donetsk of the Ukraine.
The draw appears to have handed Manchester City the better chance of becoming the first English side since Liverpool in 2001 to win the tournament after they were paired with FC Copenhagen.
Villa's opponents CSKA won the competition in 2005 and Villa captain Martin Laursen admits it will be a challenge to visit Russia at that time of year.
He said: "The first thought was 'it is not the best to have to travel to Russia at the end of February'.
"I've been told it is a plastic pitch but I am sure we will make the necessary preparations.
"We have no need to fear anyone. We have a good chance to beat Moscow."
Tottenham's draw is similarly uncomfortable - Shakhtar Donetsk drop down from the Champions League where they finished third in their group, but achieved decent results including victory over Barcelona in the Nou Camp.
Manchester City's task looks more straightforward but manager Mark Hughes is not taking anything for granted.
He said: "There are all tough games at this stage of the competition but they will be going into the game on the back of their mid-winter break so maybe we can take advantage of that fact.
"It's one of the tougher draws we could have had from the teams available to us, but we did what we needed to do to avoid teams like AC Milan and Valencia and that was top the group, so we're pleased with that."
Should City progress past Copenhagen they could face further Danish opposition after they were drawn to play either Aalborg or Deportivo La Coruna in the round of 16.
Holders Zenit St Petersburg will face another trip to Germany after they were drawn to play Stuttgart.
On their way to last season's title Dick Advocaat's side overcame German outfits Bayer Leverkusen, in the quarter-finals, and then Bayern Munich in the last four before beating Rangers 2-0 in the final.
In what proved a tough draw for the German sides Werder Bremen were paired against AC Milan while Wolfsburg face Paris St Germain, who booked their place last night with a 4-0 rout of FC Twente.
Martin Jol will take his Hamburg side to his homeland with a tie against NEC Nijmegen while their Dutch rivals Ajax face Fiorentina, who were beaten in the semi-finals last season.
Steve McClaren's Twente will also face a Champions League team in the form of Marseille.
The last-32 ties will be played on February 18 and 19 with the return legs on February 26, with the final of the tournament to be played at Fenerbahce's Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul on May 20.
The draw appears to have handed Manchester City the better chance of becoming the first English side since Liverpool in 2001 to win the tournament after they were paired with FC Copenhagen.
Villa's opponents CSKA won the competition in 2005 and Villa captain Martin Laursen admits it will be a challenge to visit Russia at that time of year.
He said: "The first thought was 'it is not the best to have to travel to Russia at the end of February'.
"I've been told it is a plastic pitch but I am sure we will make the necessary preparations.
"We have no need to fear anyone. We have a good chance to beat Moscow."
Tottenham's draw is similarly uncomfortable - Shakhtar Donetsk drop down from the Champions League where they finished third in their group, but achieved decent results including victory over Barcelona in the Nou Camp.
Manchester City's task looks more straightforward but manager Mark Hughes is not taking anything for granted.
He said: "There are all tough games at this stage of the competition but they will be going into the game on the back of their mid-winter break so maybe we can take advantage of that fact.
"It's one of the tougher draws we could have had from the teams available to us, but we did what we needed to do to avoid teams like AC Milan and Valencia and that was top the group, so we're pleased with that."
Should City progress past Copenhagen they could face further Danish opposition after they were drawn to play either Aalborg or Deportivo La Coruna in the round of 16.
Holders Zenit St Petersburg will face another trip to Germany after they were drawn to play Stuttgart.
On their way to last season's title Dick Advocaat's side overcame German outfits Bayer Leverkusen, in the quarter-finals, and then Bayern Munich in the last four before beating Rangers 2-0 in the final.
In what proved a tough draw for the German sides Werder Bremen were paired against AC Milan while Wolfsburg face Paris St Germain, who booked their place last night with a 4-0 rout of FC Twente.
Martin Jol will take his Hamburg side to his homeland with a tie against NEC Nijmegen while their Dutch rivals Ajax face Fiorentina, who were beaten in the semi-finals last season.
Steve McClaren's Twente will also face a Champions League team in the form of Marseille.
The last-32 ties will be played on February 18 and 19 with the return legs on February 26, with the final of the tournament to be played at Fenerbahce's Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul on May 20.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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