Former UEFA Cup winners meet in knockout stage

Former UEFA Cup winners Galatasaray and Bayer Leverkusen will meet in the first knockout round of the UEFA Cup with a possible clash with Hamburg SV awaiting the winners.

Leverkusen, who lifted the trophy 20 seasons ago, start as favourites to advance after winning their UEFA Cup qualifying group.

Galatasaray, the first and only Turkish club to win a European trophy when they won the UEFA Cup in 2000, qualified from their group despite winning only one of their four matches.

If Leverkusen come through they could face German rivals Hamburg, who qualified as UEFA group stage winners.

Hamburg beat Leverkusen 1-0 in the Bundesliga in August and there is a big German presence in the competition with the top four teams in the Bundesliga still involved.

Leaders Bayern Munich will play Aberdeen in the first knockout round while Werder Bremen, runners-up in this competition last season and lying second to Bayern on goal difference in the Bundesliga, face Braga of Portugal.

The draws for the first and second rounds of the competition were made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on Friday with some intriguing ties in prospect.

FIRST CLUB

Former winners Tottenham Hotspur, the first club to lift the UEFA Cup in 1972 and triumphant again in 1984, and PSV Eindhoven, the 1978 winners, could also face each other in the round of 16 if they both come through their first round ties.

Spurs, now coached by Juande Ramos who won the UEFA Cup as manager of Sevilla in 2006 and 2007, will play Slavia Prague, who were beaten 7-0 by Arsenal when they visited London for a Champions League Group H match in October.

Spurs also beat Slavia 2-0 on aggregate, winning 1-0 home and away in the first qualifying round last season.

PSV, who, like Slavia, dropped down from the Champions League, face Helsingborg of Sweden in the round of 32 and will meet the winners of the Spurs-Slavia tie if they qualify.

With this year's final scheduled for the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14, English clubs will be even more focused than usual on reaching it.

Bolton Wanderers though will have to negotiate their way past Atletico Madrid and then either Sporting Lisbon or Basel if they are to reach the later stages.

"Its a formidable challenge but one that we will relish and we are looking forward to that," said Bolton chief executive Allan Duckworth.

Everton, who won all four of their group matches to qualify for the last 32, face Brann Bergen of Norway in the first knockout round, then either Rosenborg Trondheim or Fiorentina. A rare all-Norwegian European tie is also possible if Brann and Rosenborg qualify.