Skip to main content
CNN.com International
The Web    CNN.com      Powered by
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Football

Madrid and United avoid tough ties


story.ferguson.afp.jpg
Sir Alex Ferguson will be happy with Manchester United's Champions League draw

NYON, Switzerland -- Former European champions Real Madrid and Manchester United avoided dangerous floaters Benfica and Basel in the draw for the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Belgian champions Anderlecht were paired with Benfica, European champions twice in the 1960s.

Inter Milan, who also won the European Cup twice in that decade, were handed the tricky task of facing Swiss champions Basel.

Real Madrid, nine times champions but forced to qualify after finishing fourth following a disappointing Spanish league programme, almost certainly face a trip to Poland.

They were drawn to meet the winners of the second qualifying round tie between WIT Georgia Tbilisi of Georgia or Wisla Krakow of Poland who are virtually certain of their place after beating WIT 8-2 in the first leg in Tbilisi on Tuesday.

Real were particularly relieved to avoid Benfica, who were coached last season by Jose Antonio Camacho, now the Real manager.

"We thought we were going to get drawn against Benfica because that's just the sort of thing football throws up," said Real spokesman Amancio Amaro.

However, he added: "We can't be too confident with Wisla because Polish football is difficult."

Manchester United, who finished third in the English Premier League last season, will meet either Slovakian champions Zilina or Romanian champions Dinamo Bucharest following the draw at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon.

Dinamo won the first leg 1-0 away this week, but United, like Real Madrid, should have little trouble in coming through their fixture.

Monaco, who lost last season's Champions League final to Porto, will face either Nova Gorica of Slovenia or FC Copenhagen of Denmark in their tie, with the Danish champions the likely opponents after winning the first leg 2-1 away on Tuesday.

The second legs of the second qualifying round ties will be played next Tuesday and Wednesday, while the third qualifying round ties take place on August 10 and 11 and August 24 and 25.

The winners of the 16 ties go into the competition proper, while the 16 losers drop into the UEFA Cup.

Four-time European Cup winners Liverpool face Austrian champions Graz AK, while another former European champion Juventus will meet either Djurgarden of Sweden or Kaunas of Lithuania who drew 0-0 in their first leg in Stockholm.

Another intriguing tie brings together Bayer Leverkusen of Germany, who lost the 2002 final to Real Madrid in Glasgow, and Banik Ostrava of the Czech Republic, whose squad includes a number of players from the Czech team which made such a fine impression at Euro 2004 last month.

The competition proper begins on September 14 and 15. This season's Champions League final is in Istanbul on May 25.

UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round drawn Friday:

Graz AK (Aut) v Liverpool (Eng)

Juventus (It) v Djurgardens (Swe) or Kaunas (Lit)

KF Tirana (Alb) or Ferencvaros (Hun) v APOEL (Cyp) or Sparta Prague (Cze)

Rosenborg (Nor) or Sheriff Tiraspol (Mol) v Maccabi Haifa (Isr)

Bayer Leverkusen (Ger) v Banik Ostrava (Cze)

Neftchi Bakou (Aze) or CSKA Moscow (Rus) v Glasgow Rangers (Sco)

Pyunik Erevan (Arm) or Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) v Club Brugge (Bel) or Lokomotiv Plovdiv (Bul)

Dynamo Kiev (Ukr) v Skonto Riga (Lat) or Trabzonspor (Tur)

Young Boys (Swi) or Red Star Belgrade (S/M) v PSV Eindhoven (Net)

Zilina (Svk) or Dinamo Bucharest (Rom) v Manchester United (Eng)

FC Basel (Swi) v Inter Milan (It)

Benfica (Por) v Anderlecht (Bel)

Deportivo La Coruna (Sp) v Hajduk Split (Cro) or Shelbourne (Ire)

PAOK Salonika (Gre) v HJK Helsinki (Fin) or Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Isr)

Gorica (Slv) or FC Copenhagen (Den) v Monaco (Fr)

WIT Georgia (Geo) or Wisla Krakow (Pol) v Real Madrid (Sp)

First leg: 10/11 August 2004

Second leg: 24/25 August 2004


Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Trapattoni new VfB Stuttgart coach
Top Stories
EU 'crisis' after summit failure
 
 
 
 

CNN US
On CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNN AvantGo CNNtext Ad info Preferences
SEARCH
   The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
© 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.
 Premium content icon Denotes premium content.