The draw for the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League first and second qualifying rounds will be held on Friday.
Madrid triumph
In all 72 teams will ultimately get the chance to emulate Real Madrid CF's success last month when they lifted the European Champions Clubs' Cup after winning 2-1 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Hampden Park final. Zinedine Zidane was the hero for Madrid, scoring the winner after Lucio had cancelled out an early goal from Madrid's Raúl González.
Dates set
The draw will take place at the NOGA Hilton Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland. The first-leg matches in the first qualifying round will be played on 17 July, with the return games to follow a week later. The second qualifying round games will be played on 31 July and 7 August.
Chance to shine
With the likes of Madrid not joining the competition until the first group stage, the early rounds allow the focus to be on some of Europe's lesser lights. As such teams like Barry Town AFC, FC Sheriff Tiraspol and FBK Kaunas will no doubt relish the chance to test their skills against internationally recognised opponents like Brøndby IF, Club Brügge KV and SK Sturm Graz.
Old Trafford final
This 2002/03 Champions League final will be played on 28 May 2003. The honour of staging Europe's showpiece match has gone to Old Trafford in Manchester.
Clubs directly qualified for the UEFA Champions League first group stage | Draw: 29 August 2002 at 16:00CET (Monaco) | Pos | Club | Coeff. | |
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1
Clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round | Draw: 26 July 2002 at 12:00CET (Nyon, Switzerland) First leg matches: 13-14 August 2002 Second leg matches: 27-28 August 2002 | Pos | Club | Coeff. | |
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17
Clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round | Draw: 21 June 2002 at 12:00CET (Geneva, Switzerland) First leg matches: 31 July 2002 Second leg matches: 7 August 2002 | Pos | Club | Coeff. | 35 | FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) | 59.979 | 36 | AC Sparta Praha (CZE) | 48.312 | 37 | Club Brugge KV (BEL) | 41.762 | 38 | Boavista FC (POR) | 36.124 | 39 | Grazer AK (AUT) | 25.625 | 40 | Brøndby IF (DEN) | 20.687 | 41 | Maccabi Haifa (ISR) | 18.666 | 42 | Legia Warszawa (POL) | 17.750 | 43 | Lillestrøm SK (NOR) | 15.737 | 44 | FC Basel (SUI) | 14.312 | 45 | FK Partizan (YUG) | 14.165 | 46 | NK Zagreb (CRO) | 12.520 | 47 | PFC Levski Sofia (BUL) | 11.582 | 48 | NK Maribor (SLO) | 10.916 | 49 | FC Dinamo Bucuresti (ROM) | 8.958 | 50 | Hammarby IF FF (SWE) | 8.620 | 51 | MŠK Zilina (SVK) | 7.832 | 52 | Zalaegerszegi TE (HUN) | 6.874 | Clubs in bold are seeded for the draw |
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Clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round | Draw: 21 June 2002 at 12:00CET (Geneva, Switzerland) First leg matches: 17 July 2002 Second leg matches: 24 July 2002 | Pos | Club | Coeff. | 53 | FC Skonto (LAT) | 8.582 | 54 | APOEL Nicosia FC (CYP) | 4.666 | 55 | Tampere United FC (FIN) | 4.020 | 56 | FC Torpedo Kutaisi (GEO) | 3.499 | 57 | FC Sheriff Tiraspol (MOL) | 2.582 | 58 | ÍA Akranes (ISL) | 2.416 | 59 | FC Belshina Bobruisk (BLS) | 2.041 | 60 | FBK Kaunas (LIT) | 1.915 | 61 | Shelbourne FC (IRL) | 1.665 | 62 | FK Vardar (MKD) | 1.498 | 63 | Hibernians FC (MLT) | 1.249 | 64 | Barry Town AFC (WAL) | 0.916 | 65 | FC Flora (EST) | 0.832 | 66 | FC Pyunik (ARM) | 0.666 | 67 | FK Zeljeznicar (BHZ) | 0.666 | 68 | Portadown FC (NIR) | 0.665 | 69 | B36 Tórshavn (FAR) | 0.582 | 70 | KS Dinamo Tirana (ALB) | 0.582 | 71 | F91 Dudelange (LUX) | 0.416 | 72 | FC Zhenis Astana (KAZ) | 0.000 | Clubs in bold are seeded for the draw |
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