UEFA Champions League play-off draw

The play-off competitors will hope to take another step on the road to Wembley©uefa.com 1998-2012. All rights reserved.

UEFA Champions League debutants VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach and Málaga CF will face FC Dynamo Kyiv and Panathinaikos FC respectively for a place in the group stage following the play-off draw in Nyon.

Mönchengladbach defeated the Ukrainian side in the semi-finals of the 1976/77 edition, only to lose to Liverpool FC in the Rome final. Panathinaikos will have not have to look far for information about their opponents – coach Jesualdo Ferreira was in charge of the Spanish outfit for a short time in 2010/11.

In the champions route, Celtic FC meet Helsingborgs IF in a tie sure to tug at the heartstrings of Henrik Larsson, the former Sweden striker who scored prolifically for both clubs, and FC Basel 1893 tackle CFR 1907 Cluj. Basel, who reached the round of 16 last season, lost 2-1 to the Romanian team in the 2010/11 group stage before winning the return fixture 1-0 at home. Israeli debutants Hapoel Kiryat Shmona FC were paired with FC BATE Borisov.

The first legs take place on 21/22 August, with 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 17.30CET on 30 August. The losers will take part in the UEFA Europa League group stage. The final takes place at Wembley on 25 May 2013.

UEFA Champions League play-off draw
Champions route
FC Basel 1893 (SUI) v CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)
Helsingborgs IF (SWE) v Celtic FC (SCO)
FC BATE Borisov (BLR) v Hapoel Kiryat Shmona FC (ISR)
AEL Limassol FC (CYP) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v NK Maribor (SVN)

League route
SC Braga (POR) v Udinese Calcio (ITA)
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) v Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)
Málaga CF (ESP) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) v FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
LOSC Lille Métropole (FRA) v FC København (DEN)

Friday, August 10, 2012