UEFA Cup coaches reflect on mixed fortunes

With holders FC Zenit St. Petersburg returning and several other European heavyweights involved, the draw for the UEFA Cup Round of 32 produced some mouthwatering ties on Friday. uefa.com rounds up the reaction of the teams who will recommence action on 18/19 February.

Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Thomas Schaaf, Bremen coach
This is not the worst possible outcome. It will be no different to playing in the UEFA Champions League. I don't need to tell you about Milan, their players and their strength. There are some memories for me thinking about our matches with them in the 1980s and 90s [Schaaf came up against Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti when the two were players in the clubs' first meeting in 1989]. We shouldn't think too much about the last 16 as our full concentration has to be on these games.

FC Zenit St. Petersburg v VfB Stuttgart
Vladislav Radimov, Zenit midfielder 
As holders, we will be favourites against Stuttgart. It is a pity we will have to play the first leg in St Petersburg and we will also be short of regular football. However, I do not think it should stop us from qualifying for the last 16.

ACF Fiorentina v AFC Ajax
Marco van Basten, Ajax coach
It's a nice draw. Obviously I have a connection with Italy and I think we certainly stand a chance to go through. When you are able to beat Hamburg, then you stand a good chance against Fiorentina.

FC Dynamo Kyiv v Valencia CF
Yuri Semin, Dynamo coach
Valencia are one of the big clubs in Spain. They are a very quick team and an interesting match for us – I'm sure the fans will see a great spectacle. There is no clear favourite although they will have a certain advantage because the Spanish league will be in full swing while we will be playing our first competitive matches of 2009. But we will be ready for it and will do our best to approach the matches fully prepared: we will study our opponents thoroughly.

Unai Emery, Valencia coach
I think it's an interesting draw. They are a good team and again we'll have to face playing in cold conditions – we could be looking at playing in low temperatures and even snow. We've got two months so have plenty of time to analyse them.

Aston Villa FC v PFC CSKA Moskva
Martin O'Neill, Villa manager
I think it's very tough – they won all four games in their group. It will be exceptionally tough. However, it doesn't really matter – what was important was to be in the hat. It's a long way off but we'll certainly give it plenty of thought.

Evgeni Aldonin, CSKA midfielder 
There is nothing scary about it. I am actually glad we were drawn against an English club. Aston Villa are fourth in the Premier League but they are not usually that high. I would not like to predict our chances now but it must be said that their season will be in full swing in February unlike ours.

NEC Nijmegen v Hamburger SV
Martin Jol, Hamburg coach
I think we can be satisfied with the draw. NEC are a small club in the Netherlands, but we shouldn't underestimate them. They are defensively really strong and break quickly and dangerously. It's an advantage that we play the first match away, though.

KKS Lech Poznań v Udinese Calcio
Franciszek Smuda, Lech Poznań coach
This will be my third time coaching against Udinese and I lost both those previous ties. In Poland we say that if you fail twice, your best chance to succeed is on your third attempt. They are still one of the top teams in Serie A, though, so it is a really difficult task for us.

FC Shakhtar Donetsk v Tottenham Hotspur FC
Jadson, Shakhtar midfielder
We know how to play English teams and I believe the Tottenham matches will prove to be no exception. We've recently overcome the problems we had and after the winter break we will be seriously preparing for these games. We are at least their equal although they have the advantage of playing regular first-team football by the time the games come round. The first leg will be held in Donetsk so the weather and pitch condition will be very important too.

Olympique de Marseille v FC Twente
Erik Gerets, Marseille coach
Twente are not a big name in Europe but we must be wary of them. They are disciplined and well-organised. They are dangerous down the flanks and we'll have to study them closely.

Olympiacos CFP v AS Saint-Etienne
Ernesto Valverde, Olympiacos coach
St-Etienne are a very strong team and the fact that they qualified ahead of Valencia is evidence of their quality. They also have the advantage of playing the second leg at home. These will be two very tough and tricky encounters for us.

FC København v Manchester City FC
Mark Hughes, City manager
They will be going into the game on the back of their mid-winter break so maybe we can take advantage of that fact. It's one of the tougher draws we could have had from the teams available to us, but we did what we needed to do to avoid teams like Milan and Valencia and that was top the group. It might be a couple of months off yet but I'm looking forward some knockout European football.

FC Girondins de Bordeaux v Galatasaray AŞ
Haldun Üstünel, Galatasaray director of football
We are well aware of our responsibility of being Turkey's only remaining representative in UEFA club competition. Following our elimination in the qualifiers of the UEFA Champions League, our sole aim was to play in the UEFA Cup final and we are taking it step by step. We are at a stage where there are no weak teams but thanks to our performance in the group stage, we have become one of the teams to beat.