SV HAMBURG manager Martin Jol feels his side will be up against one of the best six sides in England when they take on Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup.
The second leg at Eastlands will mean a return to England for former Tottenham manager Jol, while the game will also mean a reunion with old team-mates for City midfielders Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong.
Kompany left the HSV-Arena for the Pre
mier League last August, with De Jong making the same move in January. The duo are just two of a host of new faces City manager Mark Hughes has brought into the club, and Jol feels they are now a force to be reckoned with.
"Manchester City are a team that for me are among the best six in England," he said. "They are very strong in every area of the team. I am therefore convinced that we will see two good games. Our goal is the semi-finals."
Both sides endured far from comfortable paths into the last eight, Hamburg coming from two goals down to beat Galatasaray 3-2 in Istanbul and City taken to penalties by Aab Aalborg. Hughes' men had goalkeeper Shay Given to thank for two saves in the shoot-out after they had conceded twice late in normal time to see their 2-0 lead from the first leg wiped out.
On drawing Hamburg, Hughes said: "At this stage of the competition, it's always going to be difficult because there are no weak teams in the last eight. I think this is the plum tie to come out of the draw.
"There's the connection with Hamburg with us having Vincent and Nigel here, and we played them in pre-season which should help our preparations," he added.
Yesterday's draw in Nyon also saw the two French sides left in the competition both paired with eastern European opposition, with Paris St Germain hosting Dynamo Kiev and Marseille travelling to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first legs of their clashes.
Udinese, the last Italian club left in European competition this season, travel to another German side, Werder Bremen.
The full article contains 367 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
