Celtic and Blackburn relish Uefa Cup showdown

As the most high-profile manager in Rangers' history, Graeme Souness is assured of a robust reception when he takes Blackburn Rovers to Celtic at the end of this month for a Uefa Cup second-round collision that is likely to impact far beyond the East End of Glasgow and East Lancashire.

Souness was in charge at Ibrox between 1986 and 1991, launching Rangers on a run that eventually equalled Celtic's record of nine consecutive titles. His current side, 10th in the Premiership, meet the Scottish champions, whose ranks include the former Blackburn striker Chris Sutton, at Celtic Park on 31 October and at Ewood Park on 14 November.

The second leg, in particular, will be widely seen as a dry run for the possible entry of the Old Firm into English football. Celtic's operations chief, Ronnie Hawthorn, anticipated a "warm welcome" at Blackburn. One of Martin O'Neill's few Scottish players, Jackie McNamara, felt "the whole of Britain" would relish the draw. Blackburn's chief executive, John Williams, spoke of a "mouthwatering prospect for the club, players, supporters and town".

Next month's return match gives Celtic's fans the opportunity to allay fears about the sheer numbers who might descend on English grounds were they to join the Premiership. It also offers their team also a chance to prove that their handsome record in testimonial matches south of the border – that includes wins at Leeds and Leicester plus a draw at Tottenham this year – is no fluke.

In Europe, however, Celtic's record against English sides is mixed. As well as the famous victory over Leeds in the European Cup semi-final of 1970, they lost to Liverpool in the Cup-Winners' Cup (1966) and Nottingham Forest in the Uefa Cup (1983). In the last Anglo-Scottish tussle, 10 years ago this month, a Rangers team still bearing Souness' imprint (he had left for Liverpool 18 months earlier) won both legs against Leeds in a European Cup tie billed as the "Battle of Britain".

Terry Venables' latterday Leeds were paired with Hapoel Tel Aviv, with the away leg to be staged at a neutral venue because of the tense security situation in Israel. Hapoel, Chelsea's Uefa Cup conquerors last season, held their first-round match against Austrian opposition in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, before a three-figure attendance.

This time, Levski Sofia face Sturm Graz on the scheduled match day, leaving Hapoel to investigate the possibility of switching the game to Italy, Cyprus or Switzerland. Leeds, who have met Spartak Moscow in Sofia and Partizan Belgrade in the Dutch town of Heerenveen in recent seasons, will be expected to advance wherever Uefa sends them.

Fulham's dubious reward for the first-round defeat of Hajduk Split is another tie with Croatian opponents, Dinamo Zagreb. After the game in Split, Fulham's black players alleged racial abuse by sections of the crowd. Steve Marlet, the French striker, seemed more concerned yesterday to warn against the "cunning, off-the-ball stuff" they had encountered during the club's first European adventure.

Ipswich, who shrugged off a modest start in the Nationwide League to beat FK Sartid in Yugoslavia in the previous round, were paired with Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic. The fact that the Ipswich manager, George Burley, heard the draw en route to last night's match at Grimsby summed up the contrasting tasks his players must juggle.

"The number of games we play in the Uefa Cup can make it more difficult in the First Division," Burley admitted. "But we're not going to throw away European games. We'll give it our best shot."

UEFA CUP SECOND-ROUND DRAW
Fenerbahce v Panathinaikos
Malaga v Amica Wronki (Pol)
Lazio v Red Star Belgrade
Ipswich Town v Slovan Liberec
Ferencvaros v VfB Stuttgart
Boavista v Anorthosis Famagusta
Dynamo Zagreb v Fulham
Parma v Wisla Krakow (Pol)
Anderlecht v Midtjylland (Den)
Partizan Belgrade v Slavia Prague
Apoel Nicosia v Hertha Berlin
Alaves v Besiktas
Legia Warsaw v Schalke 04
Sturm Graz v Levski Sofia
PAOK Salonika v Grasshopper Zurich
Djurgarden (Swe) v Bordeaux
Viktoria Zizkov v Real Betis
Leeds United v Hapoel Tel Aviv
Austria Vienna v Porto
Sparta Prague v Denizlispor (Tur)
National Bucharest v Paris St-Germain
Celtic v Blackburn Rovers
Vitesse Arnhem v Werder Bremen
Celta Vigo v Viking Stavanger

Ties to be played 31 October and 14 November.