© EuroFootball.com
On Friday, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, the draw for the first two qualifying rounds of the 2006/07 Champions League took place. It was revealed that the Lithuanian champion Panevėžys will face the strongest team from Albania last year, "Elbasani", in the first round.
"Ekranas" will start their matches on July 11-12 away, and the return match with the Albanians in Panevėžys will be played a week after the first game. If Panevėžys manages to advance to the second round, they will have to face the Croatian champions, Zagreb's "Dinamo".
Benjaminas Zelkevičius coaches Liepaja's "Metalurgs" team, which includes several Lithuanians, and in the first round, they will play against Kazakhstani team "Aktobe". Another "Lithuanian" club, Tallinn's "TVMK", will travel to Iceland to play against "Hafnarfjördur". A victory in these matches would lead to battles against Warsaw's "Legia" and Kiev's "Dinamo" teams, respectively.
In the second round, Edinburgh's "Hearts", coached by Valdas Ivanauskas and with four Lithuanian national team players, will definitely play. The Scottish club will face Soligorsk's "Shaktyor" from Belarus and the winner of the pair "Široki Brijeg" from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second stage matches will be played on July 25-26 and August 1-2.
On July 28, the draw for the third round will take place. In this round, 18 more clubs will join the 14 winners of the second round, competing for a spot in the main tournament. The 16 strongest teams will earn the right to participate in the prestigious group stage of the Champions League at the end of August.
First qualifying round matchups:
1. "Elbasani" (Albania) - "Ekranas" (Lithuania)
2. "TVMK" (Estonia) - "Hafnarfjördur" (Iceland)
3. "Metalurgs" (Latvia) - "Aktobe" (Kazakhstan)
4. "Myllykosken" (Finland) - "New Saints" (Wales)
5. "Cork" (Ireland) - "Apollon" (Cyprus)
6. "Sioni" (Georgia) - "Baku" (Azerbaijan)
7. "Dudelange" (Luxembourg) - "Rabotnicki" (Macedonia)
8. "Shakhtyor" (Belarus) - "Široki Brijeg" (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
9. "Birkirkara" (Malta) - "Tórshavn" (Faroe Islands)
10. "Linfield" (Northern Ireland) - "Gorica" (Slovenia)
11. "Pyunik" (Armenia) - "Sheriff" (Moldova)
Second qualifying round matchups:
1. Winner of pairing 10 - "Steaua" (Romania)
2. "Levski" (Bulgaria) - Winner of pairing 6
3. "Zürich" (Switzerland) - "Salzburg" (Austria)
4. "Djurgårdens" (Sweden) - "Ružomberok" (Slovakia)
5. "Debreceni" (Hungary) - Winner of pairing 7
6. Winner of pairing 5 - "Crvena Zvezda" (Serbia and Montenegro)
7. "Fenerbahce" (Turkey) - Winner of pairing 9
8. "Mladá Boleslav" (Czech Republic) - "Vålerenga" (Norway)
9. Winner of pairing 11 - "Spartak" (Russia)
10. Winner of pairing 3 - "Dinamo" (Ukraine)
11. Winner of pairing 2 - "Legia" (Poland)
12. "Kobenhavn" (Denmark) - Winner of pairing 4
13. Winner of pairing 1 - "Dinamo" (Croatia)
14. "Hearts" (Scotland) - Winner of pairing 8
