Holders head list of lucky losers

Past winners
AFC Ajax are the other past winners who go into the competition having finished third in Champions League Group C. Ajax, UEFA Cup winners in 1992, drew 2-2 with FC Bayern München last night to ensure they ended up ahead of Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC on the sides' head-to-head record.

Valencia return
Valencia's return to the UEFA Cup - which they won by defeating Olympique de Marseille 3-0 in Gothenburg last May - was confirmed on Tuesday when they lost 2-0 at home to Werder Bremen. The other six teams who will step into the UEFA Cup are PFC CSKA Moskva, FC Dynamo Kyiv, Fenerbahçe SK, Olympiacos CFP, Panathinaikos FC and FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

Shakhtar pip Celtic
Shakhtar defeated FC Barcelona 2-0 in Ukraine to pip Celtic FC - the 2003 UEFA Cup finalists - to third position in Group F on Tuesday, while CSKA's 3-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain FC secured their place.

Greek duo
With Panathinaikos already confirmed as UEFA Cup entrants on Tuesday, their great rivals Olympiacos joined them in the competition last night after losing 3-1 at Liverpool FC. Dynamo Kyiv did likewise after their 3-0 reverse at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Twelve places to fill
With 12 sides already having booked berths in the last 32 after UEFA Cup Matchday 4 last week, there remain another 12 places to fill when the group stage concludes on 15 and 16 December. For the full state of play in each group, click here.

Draw next week
The draw for the Round of 32 takes place at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on 17 December. This round sees the competition return to a knockout format with the two-legged ties scheduled for 16 and 24 February.

Regulations
According to the regulations, the eight teams entering the tournament from the Champions League will be paired with runners-up from the eight groups. Each group winner, meanwhile, will play a third-ranked team, and the group winners and runners-up will be at home in the second leg. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against one another.