Blues boss Hughes welcomes ‘plum tie’ against Hamburg

HAMBURG boss Martin Jol feels his side will be up against one of the best six sides in England when they take on Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

The second leg at Eastlands will mean a return to England for former Spurs boss Jol, while the game will also mean a reunion with former team- mates for City midfielders Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong.

Kompany left the HSV-Arena for the Premier League last August, with De Jong making the same move in the January transfer window.

“Manchester City are a team that for me are among the best six in England,” Jol said. “They are very strong in every area of the team. I am therefore convinced that we will see two good games. Our goal is the semi-finals.”

Both sides endured far from comfortable paths into the last eight, Hamburg coming from two down to beat Galatasaray 3-2 in Istanbul and City taken to penalties by Aab Aalborg.

Mark Hughes’ men had goalkeeper Shay Given to thank for two saves in the shoot-out after they had conceded twice late in normal time to see their 2-0 advantage from the first leg wiped out.

On drawing Hamburg, Hughes said: “At this stage of the competition, it’s always going to be difficult because there are no weak teams in the last eight. I think this is the plum tie to come out of the draw.

“There’s the connection with Hamburg with us having Vincent and Nigel here, and we played them in pre-season which should help our preparations,” he added. “We are a very different side from then to now, and we can look forward to this with confidence.”

The draw in Nyon also saw the two French sides left in the competition both paired with eastern European opposition, with Paris St Germain hosting Dynamo Kiev and Marseille travelling to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first legs of their clashes.

Udinese, the last Italian club left in European competition this season, travel to another German side, Werder Bremen.

A north German derby could be on the cards in the semi-finals, with Hamburg and Bremen due to meet if they can get past Man City and Udinese respectively.

The draw for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup is as follows:

Hamburg v Man City; Paris St Germain v Dynamo Kiev; Shakhtar Donetsk v Marseille; Werder Bremen v Udinese

*First legs on Apr 9; 2nd legs on Apr 16.

Semi-final draw:

Werder Bremen/Udinese v Hamburg/Man City

PSG/Dynamo Kiev v Shakhtar Donetsk/Marseille

*1st legs on Apr 30; 2nd legs on May 7