Past masters meet in group stage

German giants FC Bayern München will face Bolton Wanderers FC, SC Braga, Aris Thessaloniki FC and 1991 European champions FK Crvena Zvezda in the UEFA Cup group stage after the draw was made in Nyon on Tuesday.

'Toughest group'
Group F will be a tough assignment for 1995/96 tournament winners Bayern, who are making their first UEFA Cup appearance in a decade after ten consecutive UEFA Champions League campaigns. When the Bundesliga side last lifted the trophy, the competition followed a traditional knockout format. A group stage was introduced in 2004/05 and the only teams to have featured in all three editions so far, AZ Alkmaar and FC Basel 1893, will hope to profit from that experience.

Experience
Dutch club AZ line up against FC Zenit St. Petersburg, Everton FC, 1. FC Nürnberg and Larissa FC in Group A, while Basel have been assigned a tricky-looking Group D with Hamburger SV, Stade Rennais FC, NK Dinamo Zagreb and Norwegian league leaders SK Brann. Helsingborgs IF's reward for a remarkable 8-6 aggregate defeat of SC Heerenveen in the first round is games against FC Girondins de Bordeaux, FK Austria Wien, Galatasaray SK and Panionios GSS in Group H. Meanwhile, in Group G two-time tournament winners Tottenham Hotspur FC meet RSC Anderlecht in a repeat of the 1984 final which Spurs won on penalties.

Two home, two away
Each team will play two matches at home and two away between: 25 October, 8 November, 29 November, 05/06 December and 19/20 December. Click here for the fixture list. The winners, runners-up and third-placed sides from each group will progress to the Round of 32 where they will be joined by the eight third-placed clubs from the UEFA Champions League group stage. At this point, the traditional two-game format begins with the exception of the final, to take place at the City of Manchester stadium on 14 May 2008.