Illustrious names prepare for draw

A number of renowned European clubs are in the hat for the UEFA Cup fourth-round draw, which takes place at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon on Wednesday.

Club winners
The 16-team field for the fourth round includes several teams who have carried off a European club competition trophy, as well as others who are currently making a name for themselves in the European club game.

Past holders
Italian outfit Internazionale FC have won the UEFA Cup three times in the past decade, in 1991, 1994 and 1998, while compatriots Parma AC took the trophy in 1995 and 1999. Dutch club Feyenoord have to look further back for their one success in the UEFA Cup, which came in 1974.

Famous names
These three clubs are joined by world-famous names such as Milan AC (Italy) and BV Borussia Dortmund (Germany), both UEFA Champions League winners in the last ten years, and PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), who won the European Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1988.

Valencia in the running
Spanish side Valencia CF have established themselves in the European elite in recent seasons, having finished UEFA Champions League runners-up in the past two seasons, while English club Leeds United AFC and Frenchmen Olympique Lyonnais are looking to pick up a European trophy to crown their re-emergence at domestic level.

Surprise packages
Another French club, Lille OSC, have stormed into the limelight from the domestic second division over the past two seasons, and FC Slovan Liberec (Czech Republic), Servette FC (Switzerland) and Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Israel) are aiming to make themselves the surprise packages of the competition.

Two pots
The sixteen clubs have been seeded according to their individual club coefficients. The clubs have been split into two seeding pots, each containing four seeded and four unseeded clubs. The four seeded clubs will be drawn against one of the four unseeded clubs in their respective pots.

Quarter-final draw
The UEFA Cup fourth-round draw will be followed by the draw for the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. No seedings will be used for this draw, which means that each of the eight clubs can be drawn against any of the other seven teams.

Spring clashes
Matches in the UEFA Cup fourth round are scheduled to take place on 21 and 28 February 2002, with the quarter-finals following on 14 and 21 March 2002. The two pots for the draw are as follows (seeded clubs in bold):

Group 1
Valencia CF (ESP)
BV Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Leeds United AFC (ENG)
Milan AC (ITA)
PSV Eindhoven (HOL)
Roda JC (HOL)
Lille OSC (FRA)
Servette (SUI)

Group 2
Internazionale FC (ITA)
Parma AC (ITA)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Feyenoord (HOL)
AEK Athens (GRE)
Rangers FC (SCO)
FC Slovan Liberec (CZE)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR)