Tricky groups for Spurs and Reds

Tottenham and Liverpool were both handed Italian jobs after being paired with Lazio and Udinese in today’s Europa League group-stage draw.

Spurs – denied a Champions League spot despite finishing fourth in the Barclays Premier League after Chelsea’s European Cup triumph – were placed in Group J, which also contained Greek club Panathinaikos and Maribor of Slovenia.

Three-time winners Liverpool will also face mega-rich Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala and Swiss side Young Boys in Group A.

They and Tottenham were both top seeds but were arguably handed tougher groups than Newcastle, who were seeded third ahead of their first European campaign for six years.

The Magpies were in Group D along with Bordeaux, Club Brugge and Maritimo.

Group A

Liverpool Udinese Young Boys Anzhi

Group B

Atletico Madrid Hapoel Tel Aviv Plzen Academica

Group C

Marseille Fenerbahce Borrusia M’Gladbach AEL Limassol

Group D

Bordeaux Club Brugge Newcastle United Maritimo

Group E

Stuttgart FC Copenhagen Steuau Bucuresti Molde

Group F

PSV Eindhoven Napoli Dnipro AIK Solna

Group G

Sporting FC Basel Genk Vidoeton

Group H

Inter Milan Rubin Kazan FK Partizan Neftci

Group I

Lyon Athletic Club Sparta Prague Hapoel Kiryat Shmona

Group J

Tottenham Hotspur Panathinaikos Lazio Maribor

Group K

Bayer Leverkusen FC Metalist Kharkiv Rosenborg Rapid Vienna

Group L

FC Twente Hannover Levante Helsingborgs

First Group Stage matches to be played on Thursday September 2012