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Van Gaal gripped by Group A lineup

AZ Alkmaar coach Louis van Gaal hailed the UEFA Cup's "variety and quality" after his club were drawn to face opposition from Russia, England, Germany and Greece.

Dick Advocaat is taking Zenit places
Dick Advocaat is taking Zenit places ©Getty Images

AZ Alkmaar coach Louis van Gaal has hailed the "variety and quality" of the UEFA Cup after his club were drawn to face FC Zenit St. Petersburg, Everton FC, 1. FC Nürnberg and Larissa FC in Group A.

Praise
The former AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and Netherlands chief echoed UEFA's own comments before today's group-stage draw – that the competition represents the "geographical spread and footballing variety" of European football – while also stressing the strength of opposition involved.

'Tough but doable'
Van Gaal said: "Seeing the participating clubs, you can see that the quality of the UEFA Cup really has increased, and that is evident in our group. It is a tough, but doable, draw, although more difficult than in previous years for us." Alkmaar, as one of only two teams to have played in every group stage since its inaugural edition of 2004/05, are well-placed to commentate. The tournament regulars reached the semi-finals in the above campaign before a quarter-final finish last term.

Attractive draw
With AZ, who were also Dutch Cup runners-up last season, being pitted against Russian, English, German and Greek opponents, Van Gaal added: "It is attractive seeing the variety of the clubs. But the travelling distances are not so bad, and we have the advantage of playing our final match at home against Everton in front of our great supporters. So it will be a chance to make up for any damage incurred along the way."

Strong field
Group A certainly does not lack quality. Second seeds Zenit are second in the Russian title race; Everton were sixth in England last time around; Nürnberg and Larissa are domestic cup holders. Zenit striker Andrei Arshavin admitted as much, saying: "Being in the second pot has not given us any advantage, because we will play strong teams who are equal in class. There will be a lot of interesting games."

Old pals' act
For Van Gaal, there is also an impending reunion with another former Netherlands coach, Dick Advocaat – now in charge at Zenit. "It will be nice to meet Dick again. He is doing very well over there. I just hope the weather conditions will still be reasonable when we go to Russia at the end of October."