UEFA Champions League third qualifying round draw
Friday, July 15, 2016
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The draws for the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round draw have been made, with the likes of Ajax, Steaua, Olympiacos, Shakhtar, Anderlecht and Fenerbahçe joining the fray.
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The two draws for the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round have been made.
The first was for the league route, made up of Monaco, the third-placed team in France last season, plus the league runners-up from the European associations ranked seventh to 15th in UEFA's coefficients.
The second draw was the champions route, involving the 17 winners of the second qualifying round ties (the second legs are next week) plus the champions of Greece, the Czech Republic and Romania.
The victors in both routes advance to the play-offs. Defeated sides transfer to the UEFA Europa League play-off round.
All ties are played 26/27 July & 2/3 August.
- League route
Ajax (NED) v PAOK (GRE)
Sparta Praha (CZE) v Steaua București (ROU)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v Young Boys (SUI)
Rostov (RUS) v Anderlecht (BEL)
Fenerbahçe (TUR) v Monaco (FRA)
- Ajax and PAOK met at this stage six years ago, Luis Suárez on target as the Dutch team edged through on away goals after the sides drew 3-3 in Thessaloniki following a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam.
- Steaua beat Sparta Praha 7-3 on aggregate in the European Cup first round in 1988/89, going on to reach the final. Marius Lacatus and Gheorghe Hagi both hit three goals across the tie.
Entering in play-off round (draw 5 August)
Manchester City (ENG)
Porto (POR)
Villarreal (ESP)
Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER)
Roma (ITA)
Second qualifying round ties end on Tuesday and Wednesday
- Champions route
Rosenborg (NOR)/IFK Norrköping (SWE) v The New Saints (WAL)/APOEL (CYP)
Vardar (MKD)/Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)/Alashkert (ARM)
Olympiacos (GRE) v Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR)/Sheriff (MDA)
Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU)/Astana (KAZ) v Lincoln (GIB)/Celtic (SCO)
Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)/Trenčín (SVK) v Zrinjski (BIH)/Legia Warszawa (POL)
Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) v Qarabağ (AZE)/F91 Dudelange (LUX)
Astra Giurgiu (ROU) v Crusaders (NIR)/FC København (DEN)
BATE Borisov (BLR)/SJK Seinäjoki (FIN) v Dundalk (IRL)/FH Hafnarfjördur (ISL)
Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL)/Mladost Podgorica (MNE) v Valletta (MLT)/Crvena zvezda (SRB)
Partizani (ALB)/Ferencváros (HUN) v FC Salzburg (AUT)/Liepāja (LVA)
The sides boasting the best UEFA coefficients were seeded (the second qualifying round winners took the coefficient of the seeded team from those ties). The clubs were divided before the ceremony into two groups, from which the seeded sides were drawn against the unseeded teams.
- Bye to group stage (draw 25 August)
Pot 1 (holders & champions of top 7 ranked nations)
Real Madrid (ESP, holders)
Barcelona (ESP)
Leicester City (ENG)
Bayern München (GER)
Juventus (ITA)
Benfica (POR)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
CSKA Moskva (RUS)
Other pots
Atlético Madrid (ESP)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Arsenal (ENG)
Sevilla (ESP)
Napoli (ITA)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Basel (SUI)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Lyon (FRA)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Sporting CP (POR)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Beşiktaş (TUR)