UEFA Cup draw today for the clean-sweep five
Greece’s five UEFA Cup contestants, Panathinaikos, AEK, Panionios, Aris and Larissa, all through to the European club-level competition’s group stage, find out today who their rivals will be in the next stage, when the draw is held in Nyon, Switzerland. The draw’s 40 participants will be drawn into eight groups of five teams, with each side playing two games at home and two away. The winners, runners-up and third-placed sides from each group will advance to the last 32 where they will be joined by the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League’s group stage. The competition then converts to home-and-away knockout encounters all the way to the UEFA Cup final, scheduled for May 14 at Manchester City’s Maine Road stadium. Panathinaikos goes into the draw as Greece’s only team in Pot 1, reserved for the top-ranked clubs. AEK will be drawn from Pot 2, Panionios from Pot 4, while Aris and Larissa both go into Pot 5. AEK goes into the draw having maintained both top spot in the domestic Super League and a perfect record after four rounds of play with a 3-0 away win late Sunday night over fellow UEFA Cup qualifier Panionios.
