European Draws

David Beckham will face his World Cup adversary Diego Simeone in the quarter-finals of the Champions' Cup.

Beckham will be pitted against Simeone after Manchester United were paired with Inter Milan yesterday in Geneva, while Chelsea have been drawn against Norwegians Valerenga in the Cup Winners' Cup.

Beckham became public enemy No. 1 when he was sent off during France 98 for aiming a petulant kick at Simeone during England's second round match with Argentina in St Etienne.

Beckham was blamed by many as England's 10 men lost out on a place in the quarter-finals on penalties.

The midfielder has weathered the abuse from opposing fans this season, but just when he thought the controversy was dying down his date with Simeone will stoke it all up again. Beckham's confrontation with Simeone adds extra spice to an already mouthwatering tie.

The first leg on March 3 will be at Old Trafford, because United qualified for the last eight as one of the two best runners-up, with the return in the San Siro on March 17.

Inter topped Group C ahead of European champions Real Madrid and United chief executive Martin Edwards admits Ronaldo and company will provide tough opposition. Edwards, though, does not think United should fear anyone after coming through the group stages so impressively.

''Inter will be tough, but then whoever we would have drawn would have been difficult,'' he said. ''If you are going to win the European Cup you have to be prepared to play the best teams at some stage.

''However we've come through the toughest qualifying group, which contained Barcelona and Bayern Munich, without losing a game, so we are not afraid of facing anybody.''

Inter president Massimo Moratti was thrilled by the quarter-final draw. The club's vice-president Gianmaria Visconti di Modrone said: ''Our president Massimo Moratti will be very happy to face Manchester United. He's always been a fan of the Red Devils.''

Chelsea will have fond memories of Scandinavia after their last-eight draw yesterday, having won the trophy in Stockholm earlier this year with a 1-0 victory over German side Stuttgart.

Manager Gianluca Vialli will be pleased to have avoided Cup favourites Lazio in the quarter-finals, the Italian side containing such players as Chile's Marcelo Salas having been drawn against Panionios.

Valerenga, who play in the 25,000-capacity Ulleval National Stadium, are coached by former Norwegian national coach Egil Olsen - who coached the Norway side against Scotland when the sides drew 1-1 in the World Cup - and have had a remarkable turn around in fortunes in recent years.

They were relegated to the second division for the 1997/98 season but not only gained promotion to the top flight at the first attempt, but also defeated Stromsgodset - who lost to Aston Villa in the UEFA Cup - 4-2 in the Norwegian Cup final.

Olsen's side currently lie seventh in the first division and are somewhat surprising quarter-finalists, having beaten fancied outsiders Besiktas of Turkey 4-3 on aggregate in the previous round. Chelsea's first leg will be at Stamford Bridge on March 4, with the return in Oslo a fortnight later, while United play on March 3 at Old Trafford and at the San Siro on March 17. Draws:

Champions' Cup - Real Madrid (Spain) v Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Man Utd (England) v Inter Milan (Italy), Juventus (Italy) v Olympiakos (Greece), Bayern Munich (Germany) v Kaiserslautern (Germany). 1st leg ties to be played Wednesday March 3. 2nd leg ties to be played Wednesday March 17 1999.

UEFA Cup - Marseille (France) v Celta Vigo (Spain), Bologna (Italy) v Lyon (France), Bordeaux (France) v Parma (Italy), Atletico Madrid (Spain) v Roma (Italy). 1st leg ties to be played Tuesday March 2 1999. 2nd leg ties to be played Tuesday March 16.

Cup Winners Cup - Chelsea (England) v Valerenga (Norway), Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) v Maccabi Haifi (Israel), Varteks (Croatia) v Real Mallorca (Spain), Lazio (Italy) v Panionios (Greece). 1st leg ties to be played Thursday March 4. 2nd leg ties to be played Thursday March 18.

David Platt has been appointed to Sampdoria's coaching staff and is expected to be confirmed as their manager today. The former England captain, 32, was flying out to Italy last night and will be paraded at a news conference at 10am.

Eric Gerets, the trainer of Belgian league champions Club Brugge, signed a three-year deal yesterday to coach PSV Eindhoven. He will replace Bobby Robson at the end of this season.