NYON - UEFA Cup favorites Bayern Munich reckon they have been handed the toughest tie possible after being paired with Primera Liga outfit Getafe in the quarter-finals.
The Bavarians, who advanced to the last eight with a 6-2 aggregate victory over Anderlecht this week, will play the first leg at home on April 3 before travelling to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez for the second a week later.
Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld feels Michael Laudrup's team will pose a big hurdle to the Bundesliga leaders.
"We got the strongest team left in the competition," Hitzfeld told www.fcbayern.de.
Striker Miroslav Klose added: "Beforehand I said hopefully not Getafe or Zenit St Petersburg. Now it is Getafe.
"That is not an easy task, but it is certainly winnable."
Getafe coach Laudrup claimed he was elated after the draw put his side in a win-win situation.
According to the Dane, even if his side lose there is no shame in leaving the competition at the hands of a team with real European pedigree.
"What more could we want?" he asked.
"We have the chance to play the favourites. If our journey ends here, it couldn't be a better way to go. And if we win... well!"
This is Getafe's first season in the UEFA Cup, but they have already claimed the scalp of another European giant by beating Benfica in the last round.
But Laudrup is well aware this will be the biggest test his team have faced so far.
"Now we are talking about a top European side and not just another team. We're talking about the best team in this competition with well-renowned players.
"And in the middle of the two games we've got a trip to the Nou Camp... what a week that'll be."
In contrast to Laudrup, Bayer Leverkusen director of sport Rudi Voller was not so happy after his side were drawn against Russian outfit Zenit.
Voller admitted he had been hoping for a different opponent in the last eight.
"I had hoped for Rangers but that did not happen unfortunately," he said.
"I think our chances against the Russian champions are 50-50."
Leverkusen coach Michael Skibbe was more content with the draw, and was especially glad to avoid another all-German encounter after being tied with Hamburg in the last round.
He said: "It's a very attractive draw. I am glad that we have got a foreign opponent. We will now watch the Russians intensively."
Midfielder Bernd Schneider added that Zenit's previous exploits in the competition showed they should not be taken lightly despite not being a big name on the European scene.
"St Petersburg are not well known to us but they are the Russian champions and knocked out Marseille so they must be strong," he said.
"We need a good result in the first leg."
PSV Eindhoven coach Sef Vergoossen, meanwhile, plans to analyse quarter-final opponents Fiorentina in close detail before their clash.
Vergoossen admitted he does not know a great deal about the Italian outfit but will use his contacts at other Dutch clubs to find out more information.
"We have time to analyse them extensively," he told www.psv.nl.
"We don't know much about them and we will certainly contact FC Groningen (who played Fiorentina in September) just like Heerenveen helped us before the match against Helsingborg. We have enough time.
"We have a chance but we have a chance against any opponent."
Vergoossen also said he was not bothered about playing the first leg at home, saying it makes "no difference".
Rangers - solitary British representatives in the draw - have been paired with Bolton's conquerors Sporting Lisbon.
The Light Blues' manager Walter Smith has been delighted with his team's progress in the competition and believes they could advance beyond the last eight.
Speaking on Friday lunchtime, just prior to the draw, Smith said: "I don't know how far we can go. We can only continue to try to win it.
"There was a little bit of disappointment dropping down from the Champions League into the UEFA Cup.
"But once you get over the first-round game (in the knockout stages) as we did with Panathinaikos you start to pick up again."
The semi-final draw threw up the possibility of an all-German last-four clash with the winners of Bayern's game against Getafe facing the victors from the Leverkusen-Zenit encounter.
Fiorentina or PSV will take on either Rangers or Sporting Lisbon in the other semi.
