The Road to Moscow

The long road to the UEFA Champions League final started today with the draw for matchups in the first two rounds of Champions League qualifying. One of the more interesting second round matchups could be FC København (FC Copenhagen) versus Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem FC. Scottish club Rangers FC also enter the competition in the second round. One other note is that Irish club Derry City appears in qualifying despite not winning their league. Shelbourne won the Football League of Ireland but did not apply for a license to take part in the UEFA-sanctioned tournaments.

First qualifying round ties to be played on July 17/18 and 24/25. Second qualifying round ties will be played on July 31/August 1, and August 7/8. The final will be held on May 21, 2008 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

First qualifying round
Lenkoran (Azerbaijan) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
APOEL (Cyprus) v BATE (Belarus)
Sheriff (Moldova) v Ranger’s (Andorra)
Hafnarfjordur ((Iceland) v HB (Faroe Islands)
TNS (Wales) v Ventspils (Latvia)
Pobeda (FYR Macedonia) v Levadia (Estonia)
Olimpi (Georgia) v Astana (Kazakhstan)
Zeta (Montenegro) v Kaunas (Lithuania)
Tampere (Finland) v Murata (San Marino)
Dudelange (luxembourg) v Zilina (Slovakia)
Linfield (N Ireland) v Elfsborg (Sweden)
Derry (N Ireland) v Pyunik (Armenia)
Marsaxlokk (Malta) v Sarajevo (Bosnia)
Domzale (Slovenia) v Tirana (Albania)

Second qualifying round
Derry/Pyunik v Shakhtar Donestsk (Ukraine)
Crvena Zvezda (Serbia) v Pobeda/Levadia
Rangers FC (Scotland) v Zeta/Kaunas
Debrecen (Hungary) v Linfield/Elfsborg
Zaglebia (Poland) v Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Genk (Belgium) v Marsaxlokk/Sarajevo
TNS/Ventspils v Salzburg (Austria)
Olimpi/Astana v Rosenborg (Norway)
Hafnarfjordur/HB v APOEL/BATE
Kobenhavn (Denmark) v Beitar Jerusalem (Israel)
Dudelange/Zilina v Slavia Prague (Czech Rep)
Tampere/Murata v Levski (Bulgaria)
Domzale/Tirana v Lenkoran/Dinamo Zagreb
Besiktas (Turkey) v Sheriff/Ranger’s