Group Stage Set
October 3, 2006
Tuesday's draw pits Bayern Leverkusen against Tottenham from the English Premiership League in the next stage of the UEFA Cup. And in that match they'll be seeing a familiar face: striker Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian goal-getter spent five seasons at Leverkusen before leaving for White Hart Lane in the off-season.
Leverkusen begin the group stage against 13-time Belgian champions Brugge. Their other opponents are Romania's Dinamo Bucharest and Besisktas Istanbul from Turkey. None of the games will be a walk in the park, but coach Michael Skibbe and his squad will be pleased with their lot, since the top three teams in each group qualify for the next knock-out stage of the competition.
Tough draw for Frankfurt
Frankfurt faces a much a tougher campaign. They have to take on Newcastle United, Celta Vigo, Palermo and Fenerbahce Istanbul. Palermo is currently in second place in Italy's Seria A, and Frankfurt will also have to confront established teams from the Premiership and Spain's Primera Division.
Nonetheless, Frankfurt coach Friedhelm Funkel said he was happy with the draw. "It's an amazingly great group," Funkel told German soccer magazine Kicker. "We're looking forward to some super matches. We have the opportunity to learn a lot, and we'll try to spoil the plans of one of the other of the big clubs."
The Bundesliga's other two representatives in the UEFA Cup, Schalke and Hertha Berlin, both crashed out of the competition in the previous round.