New names join giants in draw

Top seeds
As for the last two seasons, the entrants enter in one of three stages, with the top four seeds – holders MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, former winners MFK Dinamo Moskva and Interviú Madrid plus last season's fourth-placed side Kairat Almaty – not entering until November's Elite round, drawn on 25 September and producing the entrants for next April's final four showpiece. The next 18 sides, which include 2005 champions Action 21 Charleroi and the previous season's runners-up SL Benfica, are given a bye to the Main round from 6-14 September, in which six groups will each provide two further Elite round contenders.

Draws
The Main round lineup will be completed by six teams qualifying from as many Preliminary round groups, with 23 clubs competing from 9-17 August. Five of the Preliminary round groups will contain four teams, one from each of the seeding pots, and the sixth just three, with no fourth seeds. Six teams designated as mini-tournament hosts will be kept apart from each other as well as the teams in their own seeding group, and the procedure will be similar for the Main round, with the winners of the six Preliminary round groups treated as the fourth seeding pot. Among the entrants are two teams from nations represented for the first time – Denmark's Albertslund IF and Vídir Gardi of Iceland. However, among the absentees are ElPozo Murcia FS, beaten on penalties by Ekaterinburg in last season's final in Moscow, as they were defeated in the Spanish play-off decider by Interviú.