ZURICH - Portsmouth have landed a glamour draw against seven-times European champions AC Milan in the UEFA Cup group stage.
Harry Redknapp’s side will pit their wits against the likes of Kaka and Ronaldinho, with Heerenveen, Braga and Wolfsburg completing Group E.
Pompey needed extra time to see off Guimaraes in the first round, and were rewarded with a glamour tie against the Italian giants, who missed out on the Champions League after finishing fifth in Serie A last season.
Tottenham Hotspur were spared an encounter with the likes of Milan or Sevilla thanks to their status as top seeds, but were still handed a tough draw.
The Premier League’s bottom club face Russian side CSKA Moscow, Udinese of
Serie A, Dinamo Zagreb and NEC Nijmegen.
Manchester City were given an intriguing draw including a match against former England manager Steve McClaren’s FC Twente, who lost to Arsenal in Champions League qualifying.
City also face big guns from Germany and France, in the form of Schalke and Paris Saint-Germain, and Spanish debutants Racing Santander.
The other English representatives, Aston Villa, face Martin Jol’s Hamburg and former European greats Ajax, along with Slavia Prague and MSK Zilina of Slovakia.
Each team plays two home and two away games. The top three teams from each group progress to the knockout stage, where they are joined by the eight teams finishing third in the Champions League group stage to make up the last 32.
Matches will be played on October 23, November 6, November 27, December 3 and 4, and December 17 and 18.
Group A: Schalke, Paris-SG, Manchester City, Racing Santander, Twente
Group B: Benfica, Olympiacos, Galatasaray, Hertha Berlin, Metalist Kharkiv
Group C: Sevilla, Stuttgart, Sampdoria, Partizan Belgrade, Standard Liege
Group D:Tottenham Hotspur, Spartak Moscow, Udinese, Dinamo Zagreb, NEC Nijmegen
Group E: Milan, Heerenveen, Braga, Portsmouth, Wolfsburg
Group F: Hamburg, Ajax, Slavia Prague, Aston Villa, Zilina
Group G: Valencia, Club Brugge, Rosenborg, Copenhagen, St-Etienne
Group H: CSKA Moscow, Deportivo La Coruna, Feyenoord, Nancy, Lech Poznan
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