Uefa Cup Draw: AC Milan were handed a relatively comfortable Uefa Cup assignment today though Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth may have something to say about that as the Premier League side were drawn in the same group as the seven-times European champions.

Pompey were placed alongside the 2007 Champions League winners in Group E along with Heerenveen, Braga and Wolfsburg.

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie was delighted, saying: "It is a good group all the way round.

"If you look at the teams there are 40 good sides in the Uefa Cup, it is a tough competition to come through.

"But we will enjoy it and I am sure our fans will pinch themselves thinking Portsmouth Football Club are going to play AC Milan in European competition."

Manchester City will come up against former England manager Steve McClaren's FC Twente in Group A.

McClaren's side have already been beaten by Arsenal this season in a Champions League qualifier and will face another stiff test against Mark Hughes' men.

Schalke, Paris St Germain and Racing Santander make up the group.

And Twente boss McClaren is looking forward to the meetings with City and Schalke - now coached by his predecessor Fred Rutten.

"It's a fantastic draw for the fans, for the club and for the players," said McClaren. "It's one of the toughest draws, but we've got a great draw and it's very exciting."

Struggling Tottenham will face Spartak Moscow, Udinese, Dinamo Zagreb and NEC Nijmegen.

Spurs are bottom of the Premier League after a miserable start to the season but they reached the group phase of the Uefa Cup with victory against Wisla Krakow over two legs.

Juande Ramos' side at least received the fillip of a top seeding in the draw, meaning they avoided some of the top-ranked sides such as AC Milan and Sevilla in their group.

They were placed in Group D and will play each other side once - with two home and two away fixtures - and the clash against Dinamo Zagreb will see summer signing Luka Modric come up against his old club.

Aston Villa will come up against a familiar foe in the shape of former Spurs boss Martin Jol in Group F.

Martin O'Neill's men will tackle Jol's high-flying Hamburg side, Dutch giants Ajax, Czech Republic side Slavia Prague and MSK Zilina of Slovakia in their search for European success.

Each team will play each other side once - with two home and two away fixtures.

Ties are to be played on October 23rd, November 6th, November 27th, December 3rd/4th and December 17th/18th.

Group A
Schalke
PSG
Manchester City
Racing Sandander

Group B
Benfica
Olympiacos
Galatasaray
Hertha Berlin

Group C
Sevilla
VfB Stuttgart
Sampadoria
Partizan

Group D
Tottenham
Spartak Moscow
Udinese
Dimano Zagreb

Group E
Milan
Heerenveen
Braga
Portsmouth

Group F
Hamburg
Ajax
Slavia
Aston Villa

Group G
Valencia
Club Brugge
Rosenborg
Kobenhavn

Group H
CSKA Moscow
Deportivo
Feyenoord
Nancy

Pot 1:
AC Milan, Sevilla, Valencia, Benfica, Schalke 04, CSKA Moscow, TOTTENHAM, Hamburg.

Pot 2:
VfB Stuttgart, Ajax, Olympiacos, Deportivo La Coruna, Club Brugge, Spartak Moscow, Paris SG, Heerenveen.

Pot 3:
Rosenborg, Udinese, Feyenoord, SC Braga, Slavia Prague, MANCHESTER CITY, Galatasaray, Sampdoria.

Pot 4:
Hertha Berlin, Partizan Belgrade, Nancy, PORTSMOUTH, ASTON VILLA, Racing Santander, FC Copenhagen, Dinamo Zagreb.

Pot 5:
Saint-Etienne, VfL Wolfsburg, Standard Liege, FC Twente, NEC Nijmegen, Metalist Kharkiv, Lech Poznan, MSK Zilina.