Nyon, Switzerland - SV Hamburg will face Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam and English Premier League club Aston Villa in the group stages of the UEFA Cup following the draw made Tuesday at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The Bundesliga leaders spearhead a handful of German teams in the competition and will also face Slavia Prague and Zilina in Group F, with the top three teams progressing to the knockout stages.
"It's a nice group and we can look forward to some good games," said Hamburg coach Martin Jol.
AC Milan have been pitted against FA Cup holders Portsmouth, Felix Magath's VfL Wolfsburg, Braga and Heerenveen in Group E while in Group A big-spending Manchester City face Schalke 04, Paris Saint Germain, Racing Santander and Twente Enschede.
"It's a great draw," said a delighted Magath after seeing his side being pitted against seven-time European champions Milan.
Portuguese giants Benfica have a manageable task in Group B which also consists of Greek side Olympiakos Piraeus, Galatasaray, Hertha Berlin and FC Kharkiv
In Group C, Standard Liege's reward for eliminating Everton is matches against the 2005 and 2006 UEFA Cup winners Sevilla, VfB Stuttgart, Sampdoria and Partizan Belgrade.
Juande Ramos will hope to put his woes at Premier League bottom club Tottenham Hotspur behind him by successfully navigating a path through Group D which is made up of Spartak Moscow, Udinese, Dinamo Zagreb and NEC Nijmegen.
Spanish league leaders Valencia will be favourites to top Group G, which also includes Club Brugge, Rosenborg, FC Copenhagen and Saint- Etienne, while Group H pits CSKA Moscow against Deportivo La Coruna, Feyenoord Rotterdam Nancy and Lech Poznan.
The top three from the eight groups go through to the knockout stages of the competition where they will be joined by the eight Champions League teams who finishing third in their groups.
Match dates are October 23, November 6, November 27, December 3/4, December 17/18. Istanbul's Sukru Saracoglu Stadium will stage the UEFA Cup final on May 20, 2009.
