Challengers ready for new season

There will be 54 teams from 46 nations in the running for the 2012/13 UEFA Women's Champions League, and 32 of them will be involved in the qualifying round draw at 14.00CET on 28 June in Nyon.

The top two in the eight highest-ranked nations according to the access list, and the champions of the next six nations receive byes to the round of 32, the other entrants must compete to join those 22 clubs in the knockout phase from 11 to 16 August.

Those 32 sides have been ranked according to their coefficient, and one team from each of the four seeding positions will be placed in the eight groups for the draw, which will be conducted by Karen Espelund, member of the UEFA Executive Committee and chair of the UEFA Women's Football Committee, and Mikael Salzer, UEFA's head of women's and futsal competitions.

Eight teams have also been designated as hosts and will be drawn from a separate pot, placed in their group according to their seeding position. Among the qualifying round hopefuls are Faroese side KÍ Klaksvík, keeping up their record of entering all 12 seasons of UEFA women's club competition, plus the first ever Montenegrin entrants, Ekonomist.

The eight group winners, plus the two best runners-up, proceeding to the draw for the round of 32, with the two-legged knockout phase beginning the following month. Teams entering for the first time seeded straight to the last 32 include two of the national runners-up: VfL Wolfsburg and Birmingham City LFC, maiden Spanish title-winners FC Barcelona, plus Icelandic champions Stjarnan.

Holders Olympique Lyonnais – hoping to become the only team to win three titles in a row – will also enter at that stage, along with fellow former champions 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam and Arsenal LFC. The second Russian entrants will be decided by the time the league ends on 28 June.

The final will be on 23 May in London, two days before the men's UEFA Champions League decider at Wembley. The 2011 final was held at Fulham FC's Craven Cottage, Lyon beating Potsdam 2-0 to lift the trophy for the first time.

Tournament calendar
Qualifying round draw: 14.00CET, 28 June
Qualifying round: 11-16 August
Round of 32 & 16 draw: 23 August
Round of 32: 26/27 September & 3/4 October
Round of 16: 31 October/1 November & 7/8 November
Quarter-final & Semi-final draw: 20 November
Quarter-finals: 20/21 & 27/28 March
Semi-finals: 13/14 & 20/21 April
Final (London): 23 May

Full entry list with coefficients

Bye to round of 32 (*national runners-up)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA, holders)
1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (GER)
Arsenal LFC (ENG)
FC Rossiyanka (RUS)
Brøndby IF (DEN)
ASD Torres Calcio (ITA)
FCF Juvisy Essonne (FRA)*
ASD CF Verona (ITA)*
NÖSV Neulengbach (AUT)
Göteborg FC (SWE)*
AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
Fortuna Hjørring (DEN)*
WFC Malmö (SWE)
Røa Fotball Elite (NOR)
VfL Wolfsburg (GER)*
FC Energia Voronezh or FK Zorkiy Krasnogorsk (RUS)*
Standard Fémina de Liège (BEL)
Birmingham City LFC (ENG)*
Stabæk Football (NOR)*
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Stjarnan (ISL)
ADO Den Haag (NED)

Qualifying round (**hosts)
Seeding position 1
Glasgow City LFC (SCO, draw pot 5)
RTP Unia Racibórz (POL, 5)
FC PAOK (GRE, 5)
FC Zürich Frauen (SUI, 5)
Apollon LFC (CYP, 1)**
SU 1 ° Dezembro (POR, 5)
WFC SFK 2000 Sarajevo (BIH, 1)**
FC NSA (BUL, 5)

Seeding position 2
MTK Hungária FC (HUN, 4)
WFC Kharkiv (UKR, 4)
FC Bobruchanka (BLR, 4)
Gintra Universitetas (LTU, 4)
PK-35 Vantaa (FIN, 1)**
ASA Tel-Aviv FC (ISR, 4)
Olimpia Cluj-Napoca (ROU, 4)
BIIK (KAZ, 4)

Seeding position 3
WFC Osijek (CRO, 3)
KÍ Klaksvík (FRO, 3)
ŽFK Spartak (SRB, 1)**
Peamount United (IRL, 3)
ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK, 1)**
ZNK Nase Taksi-SNT 2010 (MKD, 1)**
Glentoran Belfast United (NIR, 3)
WFC Pomurje (SVN, 1)**

Seeding position 4
Pärnu Jalgpalliklubi (EST, 2)
Ataşehir Belediyespor (TUR, 2)
Cardiff Met LAFC (WAL, 2)
FC Noroc Nimoreni (MDA, 2)
Ada Velipoje (ALB, 2)
Birkirkara FC (MLT, 1)**
SKONTO FK (LVA, 2)
Ekonomist (MNE, 2)