Boro set to host big boys in UEFA Cup

MIDDLESBROUGH have landed the most glamorous ties of the new-look UEFA Cup - but also face the most difficult opponents of the inaugural group phase of the competition.

Lazio and Partizan Belgrade will visit the Riverside while Steve McClaren’s men face trips to Spain to play last season’s semi-finalists Villarreal and to Greece where they should at least be confident of a result against Egaleo.

With three sides to qualify from each group of five - each club plays two home matches and two away - Middlesbrough will have high hopes of progressing, while Newcastle should have little to fear in Group D with home matches against Sporting Lisbon and Dinamo Tbilisi from Georgia, and trips to French club Sochaux and Panionios in Greece.