Eighty-one teams enter this afternoon's UEFA Cup first round draw from 13.00CET in Monaco knowing they are just one tie from the competition's group stage.
Different routes
All 32 winners from the second qualifying round go into the pots along with the sides who received a bye to the first round and the 15 teams who have been defeated so far in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, with one tie still to be completed. For the draw, the clubs have been split into eight groups of ten, with five seeds in each pool to be drawn against any of the five unseeded sides. The teams that emerge victorious from the two-legged ties, scheduled for 20 September and 4 October, will be divided into eight sections of five, with the first of five group-stage Matchdays on 25 October.
Sevilla defence
Former winners FC Bayern München and Tottenham Hostpur FC, as well as Villarreal CF and FC Girondins de Bordeaux are among the clubs in the hat for the draw to be staged at the Grimaldi Forum. Holders Sevilla FC, who will play AC Milan in the UEFA Super Cup at the Stade Louis II on Friday night, are also involved pending the outcome of the second leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie against AEK Athens FC, which was resecheduled for Monday 3 September following the death of the Spanish side's midfielder Antonio Puerta on Tuesday.
Manchester final
Eight future contenders will not yet take part - that octet join the fray in the last 32 after finishing third in their respective UEFA Champions League groups. All involved will be dreaming of going all the way to the final at the City of Manchester Stadium on 14 May 2008.
| Group 1: Seeded | Unseeded | | Sevilla FC (ESP) / AEK Athens FC (GRE) | FC Groningen (NED) | | AFC Rapid Bucuresti (ROU) | 1. FC Nürnberg (GER) | | FC Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) | FC Midtjylland (DEN) | | Bolton Wanderers FC (ENG) | FC Salzburg (AUT) | | ACF Fiorentina (ITA) | FK Rabotnicki (MKD) |
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| Group 2: Seeded | Unseeded | | Villarreal CF (ESP) | UD Leiria (POR) | | Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) | R. Standard de Liège (BEL) | | FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS) | FC Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) | | Galatasaray SK (TUR) | FC Sion (SUI) | | Everton FC (ENG) | FC BATE Borisov (BLR) |
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| Group 3: Seeded | Unseeded | | Panathinaikos FC (GRE) | Odense BK (DEN) | | FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA) | FC Artmedia Petržalka (SVK) | | AC Sparta Praha (CZE) | FC Zürich (SUI) | | Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) | Kayseri Erciyesspor (TUR) | | Empoli FC (ITA) | Tampere United (FIN) |
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| Group 4: Seeded | Unseeded | | AZ Alkmaar (NED) | Panionios GSS (GRE) | | RSC Anderlecht (BEL) | FC Paços de Ferreira (POR) | | FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (FRA) | SK Rapid Wien (AUT) | | UC Sampdoria (ITA) | Aalborg BK (DEN) | | FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) | BK Häcken (SWE) |
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| Group 5: Seeded | Unseeded | | AFC Ajax (NED) | NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) | | US Città di Palermo (ITA) | FK Mladá Boleslav (CZE) | | Blackburn Rovers FC (ENG) | PFC Lokomotiv Sofia (BUL) | | SC Braga (POR) | Larissa FC (GRE) | | Stade Rennais FC (FRA) | Hammarby (SWE) |
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| Group 6: Seeded | Unseeded | | FC Bayern München (GER) | Toulouse FC (FRA) | | Club Brugge KV (BEL) | CF Os Belenenses (POR) | | SC Heerenveen (NED) | Aberdeen FC (SCO) | | FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) | SK Brann (NOR) | | PFC CSKA Sofia (BUL) | Helsingborgs IF (SWE) |
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| Group 7: Seeded | Unseeded | | FC Basel 1893 (SUI) | PFC Litex Lovech (BUL) | | Real Zaragoza (ESP) | Aris Thessaloniki FC (GRE) | | Hamburger SV (GER) | Vålerenga IF (NOR) | | FK Austria Wien (AUT) | AIK Solna (SWE) | | Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) | FK Sarajevo (BIH) |
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| Group 8: Seeded | Unseeded | | RC Lens (FRA) | FC København (DEN) | | Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) | FC Twente (NED) | | FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti (ROU) | Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski (POL) | | Getafe CF (ESP) | Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP) | | FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) | IF Elfsborg (SWE) |
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