Europa Champions League 2010/2011

Third round qualifying staged between July 17 and August 4, including traditional continental powerhouses from yesteryear such as Dynamo Kiev, Celtic, Anderlecht, Partizan Belgrado, Fehenerbahce and Ajax

From UEFA.com:

The stage is set for this Friday's UEFA Champions League play-off draw in Nyon after the third qualifying round concluded with a flurry of goals and penalty excitement.

BSC Young Boys claimed a famous victory in Turkey, a 1-0 win enough to see off a Fenerbahçe SK side forced to play much of the second period with ten men 3-2 on aggregate. Things were more comfortable for SC Braga, FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Zenit St. Petersburg in the League route – the qualifying path involving non-champions from Europe's top 15 associations – but AFC Ajax endured a nervous finale as they edged past PAOK FC on away goals.

The quintet will be joined in the draw by five newcomers – AJ Auxerre, SV Werder Bremen, UC Sampdoria, Sevilla FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC – though the ten domestic titleholders competing in the Champions route all had to come through qualifying. FC Basel 1893, RSC Anderlecht and FC København all negotiated potentially tricky ties, though in one of the shocks of the round NK Dinamo Zagreb lost 6-5 on penalties to Moldova's FC Sheriff.

Draw format
In both routes teams will be divided into two groups of five for the draw; five seeded and five unseeded in accordance with UEFA club coefficient rankings. The play-offs are played over two legs on 17/18 and 24/25 August. The ten play-off winners will join the 22 automatic entrants in the UEFA Champions League group stage, the draw for which is held in Monaco at 18.00CET on 26 August.

The draw for the UEFA Champions League play-off round was conducted in Nyon on 6 August 2010.

Two-time UEFA Cup winners Sevilla FC face an Iberian derby against SC Braga, who eliminated Celtic FC in their maiden match in Europe's top club competition. That meeting takes place in the League Route while in the Champions Route, Norwegian titleholders Rosenborg BK take on Danish counterparts FC København and old ties will be renewed when Czech side AC Sparta Praha meet Slovakia's MŠK Žilina.

Other eye-catching ties include four-time European Champion Clubs' Cup winners AFC Ajax meeting FC Dynamo Kyiv and SV Werder Bremen taking on 1992 runners-up UC Sampdoria. Tottenham Hotspur FC will make their UEFA Champions League debut against BSC Young Boys, who won 1-0 in Istanbul to knock out Fenerbahçe SK on Wednesday.

The fixtures have already been announced, with the first legs to be held on 17/18 August and the returns a week later. The ten winners will join the 22 automatic entrants in the UEFA Champions League group stage, the draw for which is held in Monaco at 18.00CET on 26 August. The losers will take part in the UEFA Europa League group stage.


UEFA Champions League play-off round
Champions Route
FC Salzburg (AUT) Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR)
Rosenborg BK (NOR) FC København (DEN)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI) FC Sheriff (MDA)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE) MŠK Žilina (SVK)
FK Partizan (SRB) RSC Anderlecht (BEL)

League Route
BSC Young Boys (SUI) Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG)
SC Braga (POR) Sevilla FC (ESP)
SV Werder Bremen (GER) UC Sampdoria (ITA)
FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS) AJ Auxerre (FRA)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) AFC Ajax (NED)

The lineup is complete for the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage and 32 clubs await the draw at 18.00CET on Thursday at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

Former champions AFC Ajax, returning duo AJ Auxerre and FC København and group-stage newcomers MŠK Žilina and Tottenham Hotspur FC became the final five sides to earn their berths at the conclusion of the play-off round on Wednesday night, all celebrating victories at home. Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC, FC Basel 1893, FK Partizan, SC Braga and SV Werder Bremen had earlier won through in Tuesday's play-off second legs to join the 22 automatic entrants led by holders FC Internazionale Milano.

In all, 18 associations are represented and as well as Tottenham and Žilina, Braga, Hapoel, Bursaspor and FC Twente will be making their group-stage debuts. By contrast, Manchester United FC will be in the draw for a record 16th time out of a possible 19. Only 12 of last year's 32 contenders have qualified again.

For the draw, the 32 teams are split into four seeding pots depending on each club's coefficient. Every group will contain one team from each of the seeding pots, though no club can play a side from their own association and there are further procedures determining the exact placing of each contender.

Pot 1
Internazionale (Ita)
Barcelona (Spa)
Manchester United (Eng)
Chelsea (Eng)
Arsenal (Eng)
Bayern München (Dui)
AC Milan (Ita)
Olympique Lyon (Fra)

Pot 2
Werder Bremen (Dui)
Real Madrid (Spa)
AS Roma (Ita)
Shaktar Donetsk (Oek)
Benfica (Por)
Valencia (Spa)
Olympique Marseille (Fra)
Panathinaikos (Gri)

Pot 3
Tottenham Hotspur (Eng)
Glasgow Rangers (Sch)
Ajax (Ned)
Schalke 04 (Dui)
FC Basel (Zwi)
Sporting Braga (Por)
FC Kopenhagen (Den)
Spartak Moskou (Rus)

Pot 4
Hapoel Tel Aviv (Isr)
FC Twente (Ned)
Rubin Kazan (Rus)
Auxerre (Fra)
CFR Cluj (Roe)
Partizan Belgrado (Ser)
MSK Zilina (Slw)
Bursaspor (Tur)