MANCHESTER City and Aston Villa were handed seemingly straightforward draws in the Uefa Cup second qualifying round yesterday.
Mark Hughes' side, who qualified due to their impressive disciplinary record, will take on Danish side FC Midtjylland while Intertoto Cup winners Villa face Icelanders Hafnarfjordur.
City found themselves in the unusual position of having to secur
e their passage into the Uefa Cup second qualifying round at Barnsley's Oakwell Stadium on Thursday night.
A second two-goal win over Faroe Island hopefuls EB/Streymur was hardly the stuff dreams are made of and a meeting with Midtjylland is not much more glamorous, even if it is a significant step up in standard.
However, mingling with the likes of Deportivo La Coruna and Besiktas at yesterday's draw in Nyon and knowing a list of illustrious opponents, headed by seven-times European champions AC Milan, lies in wait at the first round proper, has left the mouth of City managing director Paul Aldridge watering.
"The competition is starting to take shape now," said Aldridge. "We have some of the big names of European football coming in at this stage, so it takes on a more traditional feel.
"We've seen representatives from Aston Villa, Besiktas and Deportivo La Coruna here this morning and of course some big names from the Premier League were here for the Champions League draw earlier as well."
It is five years since City last enjoyed the European experience, qualifying through the Fair Play League as they did last term. TNS, Lokeren and eventual conquerors Groclin represented the summit of Kevin Keegan's achievement but Mark Hughes is expecting much better this time around.
Like City, Aston Villa have been drawn to play the first leg of their second qualifying round tie against Iceland's Hafnarfjardar on home soil.
However, in conjunction with their opponents, they have requested the tie is switched, which would see the first leg take place in Iceland on 14 August, with the decider at Villa Park two weeks later. Certainly Martin O'Neill will not be making the same mistake as John Gregory, who effectively sealed his own fate as Villa manager on their last European campaign seven years ago by fielding a weakened team in the home leg against Croatian opponents NK Varteks. Villa were unable to overturn a 3-2 home deficit away from the Midlands and, four months later, Gregory was sacked.
"We are excited just to be in the draw first of all," said O'Neill, whose side defeated Odense in the Intertoto Cup to reach Uefa's secondary competition. "We had two tough games against Odense and now we are determined to do as well as possible."
Unlike City, who attracted under 10,000 to Barnsley, over 30,000 were at Villa Park last weekend, proving how much continental combat means to the 1982 European champions. "The fans showed they have an appetite for European football and I am sure they will back us against Hafnarfjardar," said O'Neill.
Irish outfit St Patrick's Athletic, who beat Latvian side JFK Olimps Riga in the first qualifying round, face a difficult task against experienced European campaigners Elfsborg of Sweden, who comfortably overcame Hibs over two legs in last month's Intertoto Cup.
Uefa Cup Second Qualifying Round: Siroki Brijeg v Besiktas; Zrinjski v Braga Lokomotiv; Sofia v Borac; Vojvodina v Hapoel Tel-Aviv; Aris Salonika v NK Slaven Koprivnica; Litex Lovech v Hapoel Kiryat Shmona; Deportivo La Coruna v Hajduk Split; APOEL Nicosia v Crvena Zvezda; Vllaznia v Napoli; Maccabi Netanya v Cherno More; Omonia Nicosia v AEK Athens; Liepajas Metalurgs v Vaslui; FC Zurich v Sturm Graz; VfB Stuttgart v Gyor; Lech Poznan v Grasshoppers; Slovan Liberec v MSK Zilina; FC WIT Georgia v Austria Magna; Young Boys v Debrecen; Legia Warsaw v FC Moscow; Dnipro v Bellinzona; Interblock Ljubljana v Hertha Berlin; FK Suduva v SV Red Bull Salzburg; Djurgardens IF v Rosenborg; Queen of South v FC Nordsjaelland; Gent v Kalmar; FF Man City v FC Midtjylland; FC Honka v Viking FK; FC Haka v Brondby; Stabaek v Rennes; FC Copenhagen v Lillestrom; Elfsborg v St Patrick's; Aston Villa v FH Hafnarfjordur. (To be played 14 & 28 August)
The full article contains 703 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
