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Your support makes all the difference.ANY lingering gloom over the halving of English representation in Europe was banished in the Geneva Casino last night when the wheel of fortune favoured Norwich and Arsenal with plum ties against two of Italy's finest.
Norwich, the Uefa Cup conquerors of Bayern Munich, were paired with another of the continent's great names, Internazionale, while Torino bar Arsenal's way in the Cup-Winners' Cup.
Inter, 13 times Italian champions and with a squad boasting the likes of Walter Zenga, Dennis Bergkamp and Ruben Sosa, stand a modest fifth in Serie A and scraped a 4-3 aggregate win over Cyprus's Apollon Limassol this week. If Mike Walker wants to see them in a competitive environment - and sample the atmosphere of San Siro - tomorrow's Milan derby offers the Norwich manager an ideal opportunity.
Unlike Norwich, Arsenal will be at home in the second leg of their quarter-final, which conventional wisdom claims as an advantage. The tie takes the Gunners to Italy for the first time since Paul Vaessen's goal beat Torino's rivals, Juventus - after a draw at Highbury - to reach the final in 1980.
Torino trailed 2-0 at home to Aberdeen in the last round, only to end up 5-3 victors overall, and are ninth in the league. Apart from their Uruguayan strikers, Carlos Aguilera and Enzo Francescoli, George Graham's side must also be wary of Benito Carbone, the scorer of a hat-trick against Scotland's Under-21s last month.
The Champions' League schedule will make rueful reading for Manchester United. They would have been looking forward to a visit from Barcelona this month. Instead, that prestigious and lucrative fixture falls to the Turks of Galatasaray.
Of the two mini-leagues, Group B looks the stronger. Milan, the favourites, are pitted against Werder Bremen, the first Bundesliga club to reach the league stage; Porto, the 1987 winners, and Anderlecht. Barcelona, seeded to meet Milan in the final, face Monaco, who replaced Marseille after the holders' expulsion, as well as Spartak Moscow and Galatasaray.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS' LEAGUE Group A: * Barcelona, Monaco, Spartak Moscow, Galatasaray. Group B: * Milan, Werder Bremen, Anderlecht, Porto. Fixtures: 24 November: Group A: Monaco v Spartak Moscow, Galatasaray v Barcelona. Group B: Anderlecht v Milan, Porto v Werder Bremen. 8 December: Group A: Barcelona v Monaco, Spartak Moscow v Galatasary. Group B: Werder Bremen v Anderlecht, Milan v Porto. 2 March: Group A: Spartak Moscow v Barcelona, Monaco v Galatasaray. Group B: Milan v Werder Bremen, Anderlecht v Porto. 16 March: Group A: Barcelona v Spartak Moscow, Galatasaray v Monaco. Group B: Werder Bremen v Milan, Porto v Anderlecht. 30 March: Group A: Spartak Moscow v Monaco, Barcelona v Galatasaray. Group B: Milan v Anderlecht, Werder Bremen v Porto. 13 April: Group A: Monaco v Barcelona, Galatasaray v Spartak Moscow. Group B: Anderlecht v Werder Bremen, Porto v Milan.
EUROPEAN CUP-WINNERS' CUP Quarter-final draw: Torino v Arsenal; Ajax v Parma; Benfica v Bayer Leverkusen; Real Madrid v Paris St Germain. (First-leg ties 1 or 2 March; second-leg ties 15 or 16 March).
UEFA CUP Third-round draw: Norwich City v * Internazionale; * Sporting Lisbon v Austria Salzburg; * Eintracht Frankfurt v Deportivo La Coruna; Brondby (Den) v * Borussia Dortmund; * Bordeaux v Karlsruhe (Ger); Cagliari v * KV Mechelen (Bel); * Boavista (Por) v OFI Crete (Gr); * Juventus v Tenerife. (First-leg ties 23 or 24 November; second-leg ties 7 or 8 December).
* Seeded teams.
Joe Lovejoy, Team News, Football
Diary, page 26
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