Lineup complete for Champions League play-offs
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
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The entry list for Friday's play-off draw has been confirmed following the conclusion of the third qualifying round, with Arsenal FC and AC Milan among the sides lying in wait.
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The lineup for the UEFA Champions League play-off draw is now complete following the conclusion of the third qualifying round on Wednesday.
Fifteen teams – including former European champions Celtic FC, FC Steaua Bucureşti and PSV Eindhoven – won through this week to take their place in the hat. It is a high-pedigree lineup, with Olympique Lyonnais, FC Zenit St Petersburg and last season's UEFA Europa League semi-finalists FC Basel 1893 also entering Friday's draw at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
The split format remains, with all teams in the hat allocated to either the champions route or the league route, depending on how they qualified for the competition. All ten teams in the champions route, drawn at 11.45CET, came through the third qualifying round. Five teams enter the league route 15 minutes later – Arsenal FC, AC Milan, FC Schalke 04, Real Sociedad de Fútbol and FC Paços de Ferreira – alongside five qualifiers.
Five in each section are seeded according to their club coefficient rankings established at the beginning of the season, and will be drawn against the other five. Balls containing the seeded clubs will be placed in one bowl, with balls for the unseeded clubs positioned in another. A ball will be taken from each bowl and placed in a large empty bowl in the middle, where they will be shuffled. The first team drawn will play its first match at home, against the second side drawn.
The ten winners in the play-off round ties join 22 automatic entrants in the group stage draw in Monaco on 29 August.
UEFA Champions League play-off round draw lineup
League route
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
AC Milan (ITA)
FC Schalke 04 (GER)
FC Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
FC Metalist Kharkiv (UKR)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)
Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP)
FC Paços de Ferreira (POR)
Champions route
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
Celtic FC (SCO)
FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
FK Austria Wien (AUT)
Legia Warszawa (POL)
NK Maribor (SVN)
PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL)
FC Shakhter Karagandy (KAZ)
