Savo Milošević will miss Thursday's tie (©AFP)

Osasuna lose Milosevic for Rangers trip

CA Osasuna will be without injured striker Savo Milošević for the first leg of their UEFA Cup Round of 16 tie at Rangers FC on Thursday.

Ziganda concerns
The 33-year-old Serbian was forced off midway through the first half of Sunday's 1-0 Spanish league loss at Real Racing Club Santander after pulling his left calf muscle, which will prevent him playing any part in Glasgow. Milošević's injury compounds coach José Angel Ziganda's concerns ahead of the first leg, which marks the furthest Osasuna have progressed in European competition. Ziganda is already missing the suspended Patxi Puñal while Valdo and Ludovic Delporte are ruled out with muscular problems.

Aleksandr Kerzhakov, the Sevilla striker

Round of 16 has Spanish flavour

The four-pronged bid to keep the UEFA Cup in Spain continues on 8 March when eight Round of 16 first legs are played, with the final at Hampden Park in Glasgow on 16 May looming ever closer.

Sevilla run
Having lifted the trophy last year, Sevilla FC are striving to become the first team to successfully defend the cup since Real Madrid CF in 1985/86 as they tackle FC Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian side have not reached a European quarter-final since their continental debut in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and have not scored in any of four trips to Spain - all of which have ended in defeat.

Rangers aim
As for Spain's other contenders, RC Celta de Vigo welcome Werder Bremen, who knocked out AFC Ajax in the last 32, RCD Espanyol travel to Maccabi Haifa FC - conquerors of 2005 winners PFC CSKA Moskva - and CA Osasuna visit Rangers FC, hoping for a repeat of their 2-1 aggregate success against the Scottish club in the first round 21 years ago. Rangers, meanwhile, aim to follow Feyenoord (2002) and Sporting Clube de Portugal (2005) in advancing to a final played in their home city.

Tottenham return
Inaugural UEFA Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur FC were given a bye into this round after Feyenoord were excluded from the tournament. The Londoners return to action with a trip to SC Braga, whom they beat 9-0 on aggregate when defending the trophy for the second time in 1984/85. England's other representatives, Newcastle United FC, play AZ Alkmaar as the 1968/69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup winners attempt to become the first team to pick up the UEFA Intertoto Cup and UEFA Cup in the same season. Newcastle are the only Intertoto survivors, while Maccabi alone remain from the 16 sides that joined the competition following elimination from UEFA Champions League qualifying.

Benfica face PSG
Braga's Portuguese rivals SL Benfica are the sole former European champions in the hat and fly the flag for the UEFA Champions League group stage refugees along with Bremen and Shakhtar. They journey to Paris Saint-Germain FC, who like Rangers and Bremen are seeking to add this trophy to a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph. There is also a Franco-German fixture, as RC Lens confront Bayer 04 Leverkusen, the third of the names on the UEFA Cup roll of honour still involved.