United Set For Bursa Hoping No Punches Will Be Thrown

Alex Ferguson & his two time Champions’ League winners will be playing at the place where Tony cascarino’s last defiant stand as an Ireland player took place as United make the exhausting trip to Bursa where the Republic lost out in a playoff for Euro 2000 in 1999 with Cascarino trading digs with Turkish police.Manchester United and Rangers have been drawn together in Group C of the Champions League at draw in Monaco.
That means a return to Glasgow for Red Devils boss and Govan native Alex Ferguson, while Gers boss Walter Smith will be making a return to Old Trafford, having briefly worked as Ferguson’s assistant prior to his stint in charge of Scotland.Spanish side Valencia and Turkey’s Bursaspor make up the group.
United and Rangers were drawn together at the same stage in 2003-04 with United winning 3-0 at home and 1-0 at Ibrox.Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham, who secured their first appearance in the Champions League group stage with yesterday’s 4-0 win over Young Boys, were rewarded with a place in Group A alongside Italian holders Inter Milan, Germany’s Werder Bremen and Steve McClaren’s former club FC Twente.Chelsea, among the top seeds, were matched with France’s Marseille, Russia’s Spartak Moscow and Slovakia’s MSK Zilina in Group F.
Arsenal, meanwhile, appeared to have the most straightforward assignment after drawing Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga of Portugal and Serbian outfit Partizan Belgrade in Group H.
All four Premier League sides will have been glad to avoid Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, who were in the second pot for the draw.Madrid were instead drawn in an exciting-looking Group G alongside AC Milan, Ajax and Auxerre.
Lyon are top seeds in Group B where they will meet Benfica, Schalke and Hapoel Tel Aviv, while Barcelona have a chance to overturn last year’s shock home defeat against Russia’s Rubin Kazan in Group D. Panathinaikos and FC Copenhagen make up that four.
Group E includes Bayern Munich, Roma, FC Basel and CFR Cluj.This year’s final will take place at Wembley.

Bob "The Voice" McKenzie Twitter: @BobTheVoice About: