Group B: Valencia face tough task

Valencia CF president Jaime Ortí believes that Group B of the UEFA Champions League second group stage will be the toughest section of all.

'Strongest selection'
The Spanish champions begin their campaign with a home tie against AFC Ajax of the Netherlands and will also have to compete with English title-holders Arsenal FC and AS Roma of Italy for a place in the quarter-finals. "We have been drawn in the group with the strongest selection of teams," Ortí said after this morning's draw in Geneva. "It is full of high-quality sides and is very evenly balanced. Every game is going to be difficult but not just for Valencia but for all the teams in the group."

'Three great teams'

They are three great teams

'No such thing as an easy draw'
Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein concurred with Ortí and Cañizares. "There's no such thing as an easy draw at this stage of the competition," he said. "Our previous group stage was difficult. It's going to be tough, but we've got a strong squad." The clashes with Ajax and Valenica will hold a particular significance for the London club, as Dein explained. "We haven't played Ajax for 30 years although two of our players came from Ajax, Dennis Bergkamp and [Nwankwo] Kanu. Valenica we played two years ago when we got to the quarter-finals and lost on the away goals rule.

'Doesn't matter who you play'
"Prior to that we played them in the 1980 [UEFA] Cup Winners' Cup final when we lost on a penalty shoot-out," Dein added before stressing: "They're all good teams and every game has the same amount of points at stake so it doesn't matter who you play."

'Nice to play an English team'
Ajax president Arie van Eyden was respectful of the other sides in the group. "You cannot say that one opponent is worse than the other one," he said. "It is nice to play an English team. Although there are less English players in Arsenal, they play in a nice way and it will be very satisfying to play each other."

'The hardest draw'