Bolton welcome Bayern draw boost

LONDON, England -- Premier League strugglers Bolton Wanderers landed in the same UEFA Cup group as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich when the draw was made in Switzerland on Tuesday.

"We all said Bayern Munich in the group would be fantastic, so we are all very happy," said Bolton chairman Phil Gartside whose other Group F rivals are Portugal's Braga, Red Star Belgrade and Greek hopes Aris Salonika.

Bayern are making their first UEFA Cup appearance in a decade following a run of ten straight Champions League campaigns.

Forty clubs were drawn into eight groups of five with each team playing two home and two away matches.

Bolton have home games against Braga and Salonika before trips to Munich and Belgrade.

French striker Nicolas Anelka told the Bolton Web site that he can't wait for the match in Germany.

"I would love to go there and upset the world of football by winning. It would put Bolton on the map in terms of being a European force," he said.

"Bayern Munich are the best team in the competition and will give us a great test in Munich.The new Allianz Arena, where they play now, is one of the best stadiums in the world."

The top three from each section will be joined by those teams finishing third in the Champions League groups for the last-32 knock-out stage of the UEFA Cup.

Gartside believes the draw could kick-start the season for Bolton, currently second-from-bottom under new manager Sammy Lee, as well as giving the club a financial boost.

Tottenham, whose disappointing start has left manager Martin Jol fearing for his job, are in a section that includes Anderlecht, which would see a repeat of the 1984 UEFA Cup final. Meanwhile, Everton face Larissa -- the Greek club that shocked Blackburn in the last round.

Clubs from the same national associations were kept apart in the draw with AEK Athens up against the likes of Villarreal and Fiorentina and Panionios joined by Bordeaux and Galatasaray.

Panathinaikos, the fifth Greek club in the draw and among the eight top seeds, are in a formidable section that also includes Lokomotiv Moscow and Atletico Madrid.

Draw for the group stages of the UEFA Cup:

Group A: AZ Alkmaar (Ned) Larissa (Gr), Nuremberg (Ger) Everton (Eng) Zenit St Petersburg (Rus)

Group B: Panathinaikos (Gr) Lokomotiv Moscow (Rus) At Madrid (Sp) Copenhagen (Den) Aberdeen (Sco)

Group C: Villarreal (Sp) AEK Athens (Gr) Fiorentina (It) Mlada Boleslav (Cze) Elsborg (Swe)

Group D: Basel (Swi) SV Hamburg (Ger) Rennes (Fr) Dynamo Zagreb (Cro)Brann Bergen (Nor)

Group E: Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) Sparta Prague (Cze) Spartak Moscow (Rus)Toulouse (Fr) Zurich (Swi)

Group F: Bayern Munich (Ger) Bolton (Eng) Braga (Por) Red Star Belgrade (Ser) Aris Salonika (Gr)

Group G: Anderlecht (Bel) Tottenham (Eng) Getafe (Sp) Hapoel Tel Aviv (Isr) Aalborg (Den)

Group H: Bordeaux (Fr) Austria Vienna (Aut) Galatasaray (Tur) Panionios (Gr)Helsingborg (Swe) E-mail to a friend