Spurs get Inter and United face Rangers in Europe

Peter Crouch said he wanted to play against Inter Milan in the Champions League and his wish was granted as Spurs were picked in the same group as the current holders as the draw for the group stages of the competition was made in Monaco.

There will also be a battle of Britain as Manchester United were pitted against Scottish champions Rangers in Group C, while Chelsea and Arsenal avoided the danger teams and should make it through to the last 16 with ease.

None of the English clubs could be drawn against each other in the group stages and the three automatic qualifiers were all seeded, and therefore avoided the other big guns.

But, as usual, plenty of other clashes and personal battles were thrown up. The Gunners will be up against their former striker Eduardo after landing Shakhtar Donetsk in Group H. Chelsea will play Marseille, managed by the former Blues player Didier Deschamps. And Roman Abramovich will get the chance to return to his homeland when Chelsea take on Spartak Moscow, although he is unlikely to be as accommodating to the Russians as he was when they played Spurs in the Uefa Cup in 2008. On that occasion he let them train at Chelsea's facilities and even arranged a warm-up game against the Blues reserves.

Spurs, who were not seeded and were drawn from the third pot of teams, face a tough task if they are to progress to the last 16. Not only must they play Inter, now managed by Rafa Benitez, they must overcome Werder Bremen and FC Twente, who last season won the Dutch league under the direction of the now-departed Steve McClaren.

As if to underline the challenge facing Spurs, Uefa's club player of the season awards all went to Inter stars. Julio Cesar won the goalkeeping honour, the defender's title went to Maicon. Wesley Sneijder was named best midfielder and Diego Milito won the striker's prize.

Elsewhere in the draw, Manchester United got Valencia, who came third in Spain's La Liga last season, and little-known Turkish outfit Bursaspor, in addition to Rangers.

Arsenal's group looks the easiest on paper. Apart from Shakhtar Donetsk, who were knocked out of the Europa League by Fulham last season, they face Portuguese outfit SC Braga - who beat Celtic in qualifying - and FK Partizan of Belgrade.

The toughest looking group is Group G, where AC Milan take on Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid, who missed out on the seedings, along with Ajax and Auxerre.

Champions League draw:Group A: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Tottenham, FC Twente.
Group B: Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Group C: Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor.
Group D: Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan.
Group E: Bayern Munich, Roma, FC Basle, Cluj.
Group F: Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, MSK Zilina.
Group G: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre.
Group H: Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Braga, FK Partizan. ·