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Spain to face Netherlands on road to Denmark

Spain will meet 2006 and 2007 champions the Netherlands in qualifying for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Denmark after the two sides were paired in Group 4 at Wednesday's draw in Aarhus.

The draw for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Denmark took place at the Musikhuset in Aarhus
The draw for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Denmark took place at the Musikhuset in Aarhus ©UEFA.com

Spain will meet 2006 and 2007 champions the Netherlands in qualifying for the 2011 UEFA European Championship in Denmark after the two sides were paired together in Group 4 at Wednesday's draw in Aarhus.

Interesting match ups
Though the Jong Oranje will not be on hand to defend their trophy in Sweden this summer, they will be sure to provide a stern test for a Spain side that won all eight of its games in the qualifying group stage for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Finland, who will also play Spain in Group B in this summer's tournament, Poland and Liechtenstein complete the section.

England meet Portugal
Elsewhere, five-times champions Italy have been pitted against Wales, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Luxembourg in Group 3, while England and Portugal, who were drawn together in qualifying for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, will square off once again in Group 9. Serbia, finalists in 2007, will meet neighbours Croatia in Group 7, while Sweden, who qualified for this summer's finals automatically as hosts, will play Israel, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kazakhstan in Group 6.

Competition structure
With Denmark automatically qualifying for the finals in June 2011 as hosts, the remaining 52 teams were drawn into ten groups, eight with five teams and two with six, with the nations allocated to five draw pots in accordance with their coefficient ranking. Group stage matches will be played according to a standard, home-and-away, league system, kicking off on 28/29 March 2009 and concluding with the final matches in all ten groups on 7 September 2010.

Play-offs
The ten group winners and the four best runners-up at the end of the group stage will move on to the play-off for the final tournament, with the winners of those seven two-legged ties joining hosts Denmark in the final tournament. The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship takes place in Sweden in June with Belarus, England, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain and Serbia qualifying along with the hosts.

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Qualifying group stage
28 March 2009-7 September 2010
Group 1Group 2
1 Russia1 Turkey
2 Romania2 Switzerland
3 Moldova3 Armenia
4 Latvia4 Republic of Ireland
5 Faroe Islands5 Georgia
6 Andorra6 Estonia

Group 3Group 4
1 Italy1 Spain
Wales2 Finland
3 Hungary3 Netherlands
4 Bosnia-Herzegovina4 Poland
5 Luxembourg5 Liechtenstein

Group 5Group 6
1 Germany1 Israel
2 Czech Republic2 Sweden
3 Northern Ireland3 Bulgaria
4 Iceland4 Montenegro
5 San Marino5 Kazakhstan

Group 7Group 8
1 Serbia1 France
2 Croatia2 Ukraine
3 Norway3 Belgium
4 Slovakia4 Slovenia
5 Cyprus5 Malta

Group 9Group 10
1 England1 Austria
2 Portugal2 Belarus
3 Greece3 Scotland
4 F.Y.R. Macedonia4 Albania
5 Lithuania5 Azerbaijan