'Historic' contest in the offing

Panathinaikos FC and Fenerbahçe SK have been drawn together in the UEFA Cup second round in what will be an intriguing first meeting between Greek and Turkish neighbours.

Special significance
Fenerbahçe defeated AIK Solna to go through to the second round while Panathinaikos, quarter-finalists in last season's UEFA Champions League, beat Bulgaria's PFC Litex Lovech. Their meeting is lent special significance by the relationship between Greece and Turkey, historic rivals but now making a joint bid to stage EURO 2008.

'A difficult opponent'
"Panathinaikos are a good team and a difficult opponent for us," Fenerbahçe vice-president Sadettin Saran said. "But our chances are 50-50 I think. This draw also has historical importance since it is the first time a Turkish team will play against a Greek team. We are looking forward to these two matches."

'Good and friendly games'
"A difficult but historic draw" was the verdict of Sofoklis Pilavios, Panathinaikos's international relations manager. "I hope we will see two very good and friendly games," he added. The Greek league has been halted by financial problems but Pilavios was hopeful this would not damage his club's European prospects. "The clubs and the state will meet and find solutions to all these matters," he said. "Every club who are not playing have slight fitness problems, but Panathinaikos will be ready for Fenerbahçe." 
 
Top seeds
S.S. Lazio, top seeds in the draw, will face a tough two-legged tie with former European champions FK Crvena Zvezda, who have already eliminated one Italian team, AC Chievo Verona, from the competition. Zvezda sport director Dusan Savic warned that his team would be out to produce "a new surprise".

Zvezda eye surprise
"We will try to do everything to defeat Lazio and so make a new surprise in the UEFA Cup," he said. "We have drawn the most difficult, but most attractive opponent. The Italians seem to be our destiny. We have eliminated Chievo and this weekend Yugoslavia will play Italy." Lazio coach Roberto Mancini said: "Crvena Zvezda are definitely tough opponents, but I cannot complain because in the UEFA Cup every team is difficult to defeat. I'm sure that we will see two entertaining matches."

Old boys
The tie will take Lazio's Dejan Stankovic and Sinisa Mihajlovic back to their old club. Stankovic said: "It will stir many memories and emotions. I grew up with the Zvedza shirt and I'm still a big fan of theirs. It will be exciting to play at my old home ground." Mihajlovic described Zvezda as "a good and young side" and added: "It will be really tough to beat them and it will be really tough for me to play against them because I won everything that was possible to win with this team."

Slavia threat
FK Partizan, another Yugoslavian club who caused a surprise in the first round by defeating Sporting Club de Portugal, will face SK Slavia Praha. "Czech football is on the rise again and Slavia are a very good side," Nenad Bjekovic, Partizan's sports director, said. "After the dramatic way we qualified against Sporting, the ambitions of the club and our fans have grown, but we have to be very careful."