Hot on the heels of the conclusion of the qualifying round last night, the draw for the first round of the UEFA Cup takes place at 13.00CET today at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Ninety-six in the hat
Ninety-six teams from across Europe will be in the hat, including clubs of the calibre of FC Barcelona, Liverpool FC and BV Borussia Dortmund. The 16 losing clubs from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round are also in the draw along with the three UEFA Intertoto Cup winners, AC Perugia, FC Schalke 04 and Villarreal CF.
Seeded teams
For the purposes of the draw, 48 of the 96 participants have been seeded. Based on geographical criteria and in accordance with the club coefficient ranking list the clubs have then been divided into six groups of 16 teams. Two pots will be prepared for each group, one for the eight seeded teams, and the other for the eight which are not.
Draw procedure
The balls containing the seeded teams will be placed in one bowl and the balls containing the teams that are unseeded in the same group will be put in another bowl. A ball will be taken from each bowl and placed in an empty bowl, where they will be shuffled. The first team drawn will play its first match at home, against the second team drawn. This procedure will be repeated for each group from 1 to 6.
Match dates
Any tie reversals or changes of date will be announced in the Grimaldi Forum at 14.30CET. The first round matches are due to be played on 24 September and 15 October. The eight clubs that finish third in their Champions League groups will join the UEFA Cup in the third round.
UEFA Cup first round draw (seeded teams in bold)
| Group 1 | Group 2 | | Valencia CF (ESP) | FC Barcelona (ESP) | | RC Lens (FRA) | 1. FC Kaiserslautern (GER) | | Newcastle United FC (ENG) | Udinese Calcio (ITA) | | AC Perugia (ITA) | NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) | | SL Benfica (POR) | Blackburn Rovers FC (ENG) | | Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR) | Panionios NFC (GRE) | | FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) | PFC Levski Sofia (BUL) | | PFC CSKA Sofia (BUL) | Heart of Midlothian FC (SCO) | | NAC Breda (HOL) | FK Teplice (CZE) | | Dundee FC (SCO) | Gençlerbirligi SK (TUR) | | RAA Louviéroise (BEL) | MTK Hungária FC (HUN) | | AIK Solna (SWE) | Hapoel Ramat-Gan FC (ISR) | | FC Torpedo Moskva (RUS) | SV Austria Salzburg (AUT) | | FC Dinamo Bucuresti (ROM) | FC Nordsjælland (DEN) | | NK Publikum (SLO) | ŠKM Púchov (SVK) | | FK Cementarnica 55 (MKD) | NK Željeznicar (BHZ) |
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| Group 3 | Group 4 | | Liverpool FC (ENG) | AS Roma (ITA) | | Hertha BSC Berlin (GER) | FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA) | | SK Slavia Praha (CZE) | FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) | | Villarreal CF (ESP) | Wisla Kraków (POL) | | Grasshopper-Club (SUI) | Hamburger SV (GER) | | Grazer AK (AUT) | Manchester City FC (ENG) | | FC Aris Thessaloniki (GRE) | NK Varteks (CRO) | | FC København (DEN) | UD Leiria (POR) | | Vålerenga IF (NOR) | NEC Nijmegen (HOL) | | Trabzonspor (TUR) | KSC Lokeren OV (BEL) | | HNK Hajduk Split (CRO) | Molde FK (NOR) | | Ferencvárosi TC (HUN) | FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) | | FK Sartid (SCG) | Debreceni VSC (HUN) | | Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski (POL) | Esbjerg fB (DEN) | | NK Olimpija Ljubljana (SLO) | FC Artmedia Petržalka (SVK) | | CSF Zimbru Chisinau (MOL) | FK Vardar (MKD) |
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| Group 5 | Group 6 | | Parma AC (ITA) | RCD Mallorca (ESP) | | BV Borussia Dortmund (GER) | Feyenoord (HOL) | | Rosenborg BK (NOR) | FC PAOK (GRE) | | Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) | FC Schalke 04 (GER) | | Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) | Southampton FC (ENG) | | AJ Auxerre (FRA) | FC Basel (SUI) | | FK Crvena Zvezda (SCG) | FC Sochaux Montbéliard (FRA) | | FC Utrecht (HOL) | Brøndby IF (DEN) | | Gaziantepspor (TUR) | FK Viktoria Žižkov (CZE) | | FK Austria Wien (AUT) | FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROM) | | FC Metalurh Donetsk (UKR) | FC Kärnten (AUT) | | Neuchâtel Xamax FC (SUI) | Malatyaspor (TUR) | | Odense BK (DEN) | SFK Lyn (NOR) | | Malmö FF (SWE) | NK Kamen Ingrad (CRO) | | MŠK Žilina (SVK) | APOEL FC (CYP) | | FK Ventspils (LAT) | Myllykosken Pallo-47 (FIN) |
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