Soccer:Manchester City, Manchester United and Stoke will all face difficult matches in the last 32 of the Europa League. Roberto Mancini's side drew holders Porto and their neighbours were paired with fellow Champions League dropouts Ajax, while Stoke face Valencia.

While many expected the demotion to Europe's second tier would be a blow to City and United's prestige, both fixtures would not be out of place in the Champions League knockout phase.

Porto, who secured the trophy last year under the guidance of now Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, host City in the first leg before a return fixture at the Etihad Stadium, while United will play in the Amsterdam ArenA first.

City and Ajax both found themselves in the Europa draw after being edged out of hard groups - City, finishing behind Bayern Munich and Napoli and the Eredivisie side missing out to Lyon and Real Madrid.

Both United and Porto were bettered by less fancied opposition, with Ferguson's side third behind Basel and Benfica and the Portuguese club edged by Apoel Nicosia and Zenit St Petersburg.

Ferguson initially described dropping into the competition as a "penalty", but later suggested he had been misunderstood.

Now he has joined defender Chris Smalling in welcoming the meeting with Ajax.

He said: "I have never played them before in competitive football in my managerial career. They are a good team and we are looking forward to it."

Smalling added: "(Exiting the Champions League) was a massive disappoinment, but then you look at the calibre of teams that are in there (Europa League).

"We have drawn Ajax, they have a lot of history. That will be a good test. If you are in there, a lot of the teams will be kicking on. Whoever wins the competition will be a good team."

Lazio meet Atletico Madrid in another eye-catching fixture that will see one side fall well short of their expectations in the competition.

The three other drop-in sides from the Champions League - Viktoria Plzen, Trabzonspor and Olympiacos - have been matched with Schalke, PSV Eindhoven and Rubin Kazan respectively.

The remaining fixtures in the round of 32 are Salzburg v Metalist Kharkiv, AZ Alkmaar v Anderlecht, Steaua Bucharest v FC Twente, Lokomotiv Moscow v Athletic Bilbao, Udinese v PAOK Salonika, Braga v Besiktas, Wisla Krakow v Standard Liege, Hannover v Club Brugge and Legia Warsaw v Sporting Lisbon.