LONDON (AP) -AC Milan has shrugged off its poor start to the season and is in a strong position to make it to the next round of the UEFA Cup.
Tottenham wishes it could say the same.
A seven-time winner of European football's more prestigious competition, the European Cup which became the Champions League, Milan followed up two losses in Serie A with three victories in a row including the most important of all - 1-0 over neighbor AC Milan at San Siro.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti's team also beat FC Zurich 3-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Cup's first round and only a major slump in Switzerland on Thursday will stop Milan reaching the group phase.
"Milan is healthy again," said Ancelotti, whose job appeared in jeopardy after the first two losses. "We have picked up the pace again and have done some very good things in the past 10 days. In the derby we were stronger than Inter."
While Milan is on the climb, Tottenham remains rooted to the bottom of the English Premier League, and a 1-0 loss to Wisla Krakow on Thursday will mean an end to its UEFA Cup hopes.
With only two points from six games in league action, coach Juande Ramos is under fire from Spurs fans who are upset at his selections.
However, Ramos is back in the familiar territory of the UEFA Cup, a competition he won two seasons in a row with Sevilla before he moved on to Tottenham 11 months ago.
This time he is under serious pressure. The fans are upset that he keeps tinkering with the lineup and formations but Ramos explains that there are always reasons.
"Ramon Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka can't play in Europe, Ledley King can't play in every match, Gareth Bale is injured," said Ramos, whose team lost tamely 2-0 to Portsmouth on Sunday. "We have small injuries each week and I need to change three or four players every match."
While Spurs is last in the Premier League, Wisla Krakow tops the Polish standings and comes off a 4-0 league victory over Arka Gdynia.
"Things aren't going well for them in the league right now," said Wisla coach Maciej Skorza. "So they'll do everything to advance in the UEFA Cup."
Everton is another English club under pressure. The Toffees are level at 2-2 with Standard Liege and have to go to Belgium for the second leg. Standard was close to knocking out Liverpool from the Champions League qualifying round, losing to an extra time goal.
Manchester City, which hasn't won a major title since 1976, appears to be coasting into the next phase however.
Now owned by a mega-rich Abu Dhabi investment group and with Brazilian striker Robinho on the lineup, City is one of the favorites to win the UEFA Cup and leads Cypriot club AC Omonia 2-1 with home advantage.
Italy's Udinese holds a healthy 2-0 lead over Borussia Dortmund and plays the second leg at home but Napoli goes to Benfica 3-2 ahead and can't afford to lose 1-0 or 2-1.
Spanish league leader Valencia should also progress to the group phase, holding a 1-0 lead over CS Maritimo of Portugal.
