UK Football

By Mike Collett

MONACO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Standard Liege of Belgium, who were narrowly eliminated from the Champions League by Liverpool on Wednesday, will return to Merseyside to face Everton in the first round of the UEFA Cup.

The Belgian champions held Liverpool to a goalless draw in the first leg of their third qualifying round match. They were just two minutes away from forcing a penalty shootout at Anfield before conceding the only goal of the tie to Dirk Kuyt two minutes from the end of extra time.

AC Milan, who have been European champions seven times but who have never won the UEFA Cup, were drawn against FC Zurich in the opening round, one of three tough ties handed to Italian teams.

Napoli, who won the UEFA Cup in 1989 but have been absent from European competition for 14 seasons, were drawn to play Benfica of Portugal, twice champions of European in the early 1960s, while Udinese will play former European champions Borussia Dortmund, who were unseeded in the draw.

Ajax Amsterdam, who won the UEFA Cup in 1992 and have been European champions four times, will play FK Borac of Serbia.

Sevilla, who won the UEFA Cup in successive seasons under coach Juande Ramos in 2006 and 2007 before playing in the Champions League last season, will face FC Salzburg of Austria.

Ramos, now in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, the first winners of the UEFA Cup in 1972, face Wislaw Krakow of Poland, who were eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers by Barcelona.

PORTSMOUTH DEBUT

Galatasaray, the first Turkish club to win a European trophy when they won this competition in 2000, would love nothing more than to win the final again especially as it is being played in Istanbul at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, the home of their city rivals Fenerbahce.

They start their campaign against Bellinzona of Switzerland.

Among the debutants in this seasons competition are Portsmouth, who won their first major honour since 1950 when they lifted the FA Cup in May.

Chief Executive Peter Storrie said after the draw: "We are going to take this competition very seriously, our manager Harry Redknapp takes every competition we enter very seriously.

"There are two Vitorias in Portugal but the one we are playing are from Guimaraes and had a very good season last season finishing third. We would have preferred to be at home in the second leg but either way it is going to be fantastic."

First leg ties will be played on Sept. 18 with the return legs on Oct 2. The 40 teams who come through the opening round will enter the group stage starting in late October.

The final is at Fenerbahce's Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul on May 20.