It has been a while since we’ve had some UEFA competition to talk about but the UEFA Cup Round of 32 kicks off today and tomorrow with some fantastic matchups.

The showcase fixture has to be Werder Bremen vs AC Milan. Werder have struggled this seasons and are basically out of the running in the Bundesliga title hunt so the UEFA Cup is one of their only shots (they are also still active in the DFB Pokal) at some glory for this season. Their most recent result can be seen as a microcosm of their season. A 1-1 draw at home against last place Borussia Monchengladbach has to be viewed as another lost opportunity. Despite creating a wealth of chances and dominating posession, Werder simply could not find their touch in front of goal and dropped valuable points.

AC Milan have also seen their chances of a domestic league triumph go up in smoke after they lost 2-1 to bitter rivals Inter Milan this past weekend. The loss drops them 11 points behind Inter and while they could still make up that ground, it looks a tall order at the moment. Going into this match, Milan have two notable injury worries. Undoubtedly their best player, Kaka, is unlikely to play due to a left foot injury. David Beckham may also not be ready to go after a slight hamstring pull. Beckham has been the subject of many headlines as Milan attempted to make his loan deal permanent but have failed to reach an agreement with MLS.

I am looking for Milan’s experience and depth to pull them through this tie but it could be a close one.

A couple of teams I am pushing to make the next round are PSG and FC Twente. Both are led by coaches who have had their reputation tarnished by underperforming squads and impatience in the job. McClaren was dismissed as England manager after missing out on Euro 2008 qualifying. There has been much laughter at his expense but he has quietly done a nice job with FC Twente. They were unfortunate to be drawn against Arsenal in their Champions League qualifying attempt but have done well in UEFA Cup play. McClaren has led the club to 2nd place in the Eredivisie, currently ahead of traditional powerhouses Ajax and PSV.

Paul Le Guen was ushered out the door at Ibrox after less than a full season in charge. He landed in another job, this time with Paris St. Germain, who at the time of his hiring were lying 17th in Ligue 1 and in danger of being relegated but he led them to safety in his 1st season finishing 15th. This season he has them challenging at the other end of the table as they currently sit 2nd in the league.

My predictions for the Round of 32 are below.

Wednesday fixtures:
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) v Valencia (ESP)
Zenit St-Petersburg (RUS) v VfB Stuttgart (GER)
Olympiakos (GRE) v St Etienne (FRA)
Aston Villa (ENG) v CSKA Moscow (RUS)
Werder Bremen (GER) v AC Milan (ITA)
Paris St Germain (FRA) v VfL Wolfsburg (GER)
NEC Nijmegen (NED) v Hamburg SV (GER)
Sampdoria (ITA) v Metalist Kharkov (UKR)
Bordeaux (FRA) v Galatasaray (TUR)
Aalborg (DEN) v Deportivo La Coruna (ESP)
Braga (POR) v Standard Liege (BEL)

Thursday fixtures:
Lech Poznan (POL) v Udinese (ITA)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v Tottenham (ENG)
FC Copenhagen (DEN) v Manchester City (ENG)
Marseille (FRA) v FC Twente (NED)
Fiorentina (ITA) v Ajax (NED)

Who do you see advancing? Which ties have the most potential for upset?

UEFA held the draw for the UEFA Cup group stage today and some fascinating pairings emerged. Both Martin Jol and Steve McClaren will take their new clubs back to England as FC Twente will face Manchester City and Jol’s Hamburg will take on Aston Villa.

This year’s groups are looking really tough and the field contains eight former UEFA Cup winners, and six former European Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions League winners.

The top three teams in each group qualify for the knockout stages, to be joined by the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League groups. Here are the groupings with my picks to advance. A couple of potential upsets are on the cards. I think Ajax might not make the Round of 32 with their form being so inconsistent. They’ve been drawn in with some very good teams and it’s going to be tight to see who goes on.

Potential for upset exists in Groups B and E as well where Olympiakos and Portsmouth might struggle. Portsmouth have had a poor start to the season and are looking shaky at the back. Olympiacos are simply in a tough group and may struggle to beat out Hertha Berlin, Benfica and Galatasaray (a team featuring ex-Liverpool attackers Harry Kewell and Milan Baros).

I’ve picked Rosenborg to advance as they are nearing the end of their season and should be in good form/shape and as they are not likely to win their domestic league, they will look to these games to give their season some positivity.

Group A:
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Paris St Germain (France)
Manchester City (England)
Racing Santander (Spain)
FC Twente (Netherlands)

Group B:
Benfica (Portugal)
Hertha Berlin (Germany)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Olympiacos (Greece)
Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)

Group C:
Sevilla (Spain)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Sampdoria (Italy)
Standard Liège (Belgium)
Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)

Group D:
Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Udinese (Italy)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Tottenham Hotspur (England)
NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands)

Group E:
AC Milan (Italy)
SC Braga (Portugal)
Wolfsburg (Germany)
Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Portsmouth (England)

Group F:
Hamburg (Germany)
Aston Villa (England)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
Ajax (Netherlands)
MSK Zilina (Slovakia)

Group G:
Valencia (Spain)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
Rosenborg (Norway)
Club Brugge (Belgium)
St Etienne (France)

Group H:
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Deportivo La Coruna (Spain)
Feyenoord (Netherlands)
AS Nancy (France)
Lech Poznan (Poland)

The UEFA Cup first-round draw was held on Friday and there are a number of interesting new faces in the competition. One of those teams is Dutch side FC Twente, who as we’ve detailed in previous posts, is now coached by former England boss Steve McClaren. Twente, who were entered into the UEFA Cup after they were soundly defeated by Arsenal in Champions League qualifying, have been drawn against French club Rennes.

Two early favourites have to be six-times European champions AC Milan and Sevilla, who won the UEFA Cup in successive seasons (2006 and 2007) under coach Juande Ramos (now with Tottenham Hotspur). AC Milan face Swiss outfit FC Zurich in the opening round while Sevilla start out against FC Salzburg of Austria.

The first-leg ties will be played on September 18th with the return legs taking place on October 2nd. The 40 teams that progress from this round will entered into the group stage of the competition.

Here are the results in full (my predicted winners are bolded):

AC Milan v FC Zurich
Politehnica Timisoara v Partizan Belgrade
Hertha Berlin v St Patricks
Banik Ostrava v Spartak Moscow
Metalist Kharkiv v Besiktas
Portsmouth v Guimaraes
Kayserispor v PSG
Sevilla v SV Red Bull Salzburg
Wolfsburg v Rapid Bucuresti
Sampdoria v FBK Kaunas
Maritimo v Valencia
Dinamo Zagreb v Sparta Prague
Manchester City v Omonia Nicosia
Young Boys v Club Brugge
AS Nancy v Motherwell
Everton v Standard Liege
Napoli v Benfica
AC Bellinzona v Galatasaray
NEC v Dinamo Bucuresti
Racing Santander v FC Honka
APOEL Nicosia v Schalke 04
Litex Lovech v Aston Villa
FK Austria Magna v Lech Poznan
Vitoria Setubal v Heerenveen
SK Brann v Deportivo La Coruna
Slavia Prague v Vaslui
Slaven Koprivnica v CSKA Moscow
Brondby v Rosenborg
Cherno More v VfB Stuttgart
Rennes v FC Twente
Ajax v Borac
Tottenham v Wisla Krakow
FC Copenhagen v FC Moscow
MSK Zilina v Levski Sofia
Borussia Dortmund v Udinese
Braga v Artmedia Petrzalka
Feyenoord v Kalmar FF
Hamburg v Unirea Urziceni
Hapoel Tel-Aviv v Saint Etienne
FC Nordsjaelland v Olympiacos