German trio enter equation

German challenge
Bundesliga sides BV Borussia Dortmund, FC Schalke 04 and Hamburger SV begin their European campaigns as three of the eight seeds. They will bid to reach one of the three finals to be played in August, with the prize at stake being entry to the UEFA Cup.

In opposition
Dortmund travel to Belgium to face KRC Genk, while Schalke host FK Vardar of F.Y.R. Macedonia in the magnificent AufSchalke Arena, and Hamburg will be hoping lightning does not strike twice when they visit Switzerland's FC Thun. Thun defeated another German team, VfL Wolfsburg, in the second round.

Absentee list
However, it will not be easy for Hamburg as coach Klaus Toppmöller is forced to grapple with a long absentee list. Bastian Reinhardt, Christian Rahn, Naohiro Takahara and Benjamin Lauth are all injured, while Tomáš Ujfaluši and Mehdi Mahdavikia are on holiday and with the Iranian national side respectively.

Romance of the cup
Meanwhile, Cork City FC will seek to continue their European adventure when they play France's FC Nantes Atlantique. The Irish club have already dispatched Swedish and Dutch opponents in Malmö FF and NEC Nijmegen. And Nantes will be wary of underestimating Cork as they bid to become the first Irish team to progress to the semi-final of a UEFA club competition.

Spanish heavyweight
Club Atlético de Madrid are another seeded side to enter the fray. They take on FC Zlín of the Czech Republic, who were convincing 3-0 aggregate winners against KVC Westerlo of Belgium last time out. Atlético will be without Greek forward Themistoklis Nikolaidis who scored six goals in 22 league games last season, but has since retired from football to become the new owner of AEK Athens FC.

Spartak need morale-boost
Finally, FC Spartak Moskva face a tough task when they visit Villarreal CF, but will be hoping for a change of fortunes. They lie third from bottom in the Russian Premier-Liga, and a good result here might just kick-start their season.