Play-off draws fixed for 5 August
Thursday, July 28, 2011
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Friday 5 August is the date for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League play-off draws in Nyon, with media representatives having until the Thursday to apply for accreditation.
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The draws for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League play-offs will take place on Friday 5 August.
The pairings for this stage of the two club competitions will be made during ceremonies taking place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, starting at 12.00CET and 13.30CET respectively. The draw ceremonies will be conducted by UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino and UEFA competitions director Giorgio Marchetti.
The play-offs mark the final step to qualifying for the group stage of the two club competitions. For the UEFA Champions League play-offs, the ten teams in the champions route will be divided, with five seeded and five unseeded in accordance with the UEFA club coefficient rankings.
For the league route the ten teams will be split according to the club rankings established at the beginning of the season. In both cases, the teams drawn first will play the first leg at home. The clubs entering the league route at this play-off stage are four-time European champions FC Bayern München, 2006 runners-up Arsenal FC, recent semi-finalists Olympique Lyonnais and Villarreal CF, and Italy's Udinese Calcio.
For the UEFA Europa League draw, the 76 teams will be divided into four groups of ten teams and into three groups of 12 teams, with an equal number of clubs seeded and unseeded within each group. Clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. As with the UEFA Champions League draw, the teams drawn first will play at home first.
Media representatives wishing to attend these draws have to apply via e-mail to fame_accreditations@uefa.ch before 12.00CET on Thursday 4 August. Due to the number of club representatives expected for the draws, only six photographers and a restricted number of cameramen will be allowed to attend the draw in the auditorium. A sound system will also be installed for cameramen.
A live feed from the draw hall will be available in the media working area, which is also equipped with a Wi-Fi connection. The draw will be transmitted live on UEFA.com and Eurosport.