Servette face Spanish giants

Servette Geneva will face Valencia in the UEFA Cup fourth round Keystone Archive

Servette Geneva have been drawn against Spanish giants Valencia in the fourth round of the UEFA Cup.

As one of eight unseeded teams in the final 16 of the competition, Servette were guaranteed to find themselves up against strong opposition following Wednesday’s draw at UEFA’s Swiss headquarters in Nyon – and this year’s UEFA Cup teams don’t come much stronger than Valencia.

Double winners of the UEFA Cup in 1962 and 1963 (when the competition was known as the Inter Cities Fairs Cup), the Spanish team have more recently proven themselves among the best in Europe by reaching the final of the Champions League for the past two seasons.

“A choice menu”

“I think it’s a choice menu for Servette,” the club’s director general Patrick Trotignon told swissinfo immediately after the draw. “We knew since yesterday that we’d be up against one of four strong teams, but with Valencia we’ve certainly been handed a team who’ve performed excellently in the Champions League over the past two seasons.”

But despite acknowledging the pedigree of Servette’s next opponents, Trotignon refused to rule out the Swiss team’s chances of causing another upset.

“We’re looking forward to playing against a Spanish side for the second time in this campaign,” insisted the Servette official, with reference to the club’s second round win over Real Zaragoza. “We were successful the first time, so why not the second?”

Confident

Sceptics might respond that Valencia have proven themselves to be a much stronger side than Real Zaragoza in recent seasons. In addition, Servette may suffer from Switzerland’s lengthy winter break, which will see the team travel to Spain after more than two months out of competition.

Nevertheless Trotignon is confident that the Genevan club’s players are finally starting to realise their long-promised potential, and that their good European run this season is no fluke.

“The main difference in the way the team have managed to get so far this year isn’t just a question of technical ability,” Trotignon insisted to swissinfo. “The way they’ve developed mentally is also very important. That’s what has given the players confidence in themselves and in what they can achieve.”

Should they be able to achieve another Spanish surprise, Servette already have an inkling of the reward awaiting them. With UEFA also holding the draw for the quarter-finals on Wednesday, the Swiss club know that they will meet either Inter Milan or AEK Athens in the last eight, if they can stretch their European run yet further.

Lucky draw for Italians

Inter’s pairing against the Athens side was probably the toughest of the fourth round assignments handed down to the three remaining Italian clubs on Wednesday.

Certainly AC Milan and Parma had little to complain about after being drawn against Roda JC Kerkrade and Israeli outsiders Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

The two British teams involved will come up against Dutch opposition in round four with Leeds United, semifinalists in last season’s Champions League, playing PSV Eindhoven and Glasgow Rangers taking on Feyenoord.

Fourth round draw in full:

Roda JC Kerkrade v AC Milan
Lille v Borussia Dortmund
Valencia v SERVETTE GENEVA
PSV Eindhoven v Leeds United
Olympique Lyon v Slovan Liberec
Hapoel Tel-Aviv v Parma
Inter Milan v AEK Athens
Rangers v Feyenoord

Quarter-finals:

Hapoel Tel-Aviv or Parma v AC Milan or Roda JC Kerkrade
Inter Milan or AEK Athens v Valencia or SERVETTE GENEVA
PSV Eindhoven or Leeds United v Rangers or Feyenoord
Olympique Lyon or Slovan Liberec v Lille or Borussia Dortmund

by Mark Ledsom, Nyon