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On Friday at the UEFA headquarters in Switzerland, in the city of Nyon, the draw for the third qualifying round of the Champions League took place, dividing the clubs participating in the tournament into 16 pairs. The Lithuanian champion "Ekranas" would face last year's finalist "Arsenal" in Croatia, while Edinburgh's "Hearts" who overcame the second-round barrier would meet with the Greek club "AEK." Although 46 teams are still competing in the second round and it will not end until Wednesday, as is customary every year, UEFA draws the lots in advance so that the clubs playing from the third round would know their future opponents. Just like "Ekranas," Edinburgh's "Hearts" were among the unseeded clubs, so they could have received very strong opponents, but the Scottish club had better luck and to advance to the main tournament after the "Siroki Brijeg" barrier, they would have to defeat the Athens "AEK" team. Meanwhile, if no surprises occur and "Ekranas" opponent, Zagreb's "Dinamo," advances to the third round, after a stunning victory in the first leg, the path for the Croatian club would lead to London's "Arsenal." A similar situation is with the "Lithuanian" club Liepaja's "Metalurgs," which has almost no chance of beating Kiev's "Dynamo," and the latter's team would likely face "Fenerbahce" in the third round. Meanwhile, Moscow's "Spartak" with I.Dedura, after overcoming Tiraspol's "Sheriff" opposition would play against the strongest Czech team, Liberec's "Slovan" with T.Radzinevicius, while D.Shemberov and Moscow's "CSKA" would face the winner of the pair "Djurgrdens" and Ruzomberok's "MFK." One of the most interesting matches will be between the German "Hamburg" and the Spanish "Osasuna." The 2005 champion "Liverpool" will play against Haifa's "Maccabi," the twice finalist "Valencia" will meet "Zürich," and the winner of the "Red Bull" duel will compete against Lisbon's "Benfica," while "Milan," whose participation in the tournament can only be confirmed or denied by August 2, would most likely face Belgrade's "Crvena Zvezda." The sixteen matches of the third qualifying round will begin on August 8-9 and end on 22-23. The winners of the pairs will advance to the group stage starting in September, where they will be joined by 16 teams that automatically qualify for the main tournament. The Champions League final will take place on May 23, 2007, in Athens. All Champions League third qualifying round pairs: Tiraspol's "Sheriff"/Moscow's "Spartak" - Liberec's "Slovan" Donetsk's "Shakhtar" - "Hafnarfjördur"/Warsaw's "Legia" "Zürich"/Salzburg's "Red Bull" - "Valencia" Sofia's "Levski"/Bolnisi's "Sioni" - Verona's "Chievo" "Hearts"/"Siroki Brijeg" - Athens' "AEK" Moscow's "CSKA" - "Djurgårdens"/Ruzomberok's "MFK" "Milan" - "Cork"/Belgrade's "Crvena Zvezda" Istanbul's "Galatasaray" - "Mlada Boleslav"/"Vålerenga" Liege's "Standard" - "Gorica"/Bucharest's "Steaua" "Austria" - Lisbon's "Benfica" Panevezys' "Ekranas"/Zagreb's "Dinamo" - London's "Arsenal" "Copenhagen"/"MyPa" - Amsterdam's "Ajax" "Hamburg" - "Osasuna" Liepaja's "Metalurgs"/Kiev's "Dynamo" - Istanbul's "Fenerbahce"/Torshavn's "B36" "Liverpool" - Haifa's "Maccabi" "Lille" - "Debrecen"/Skopje's "Rabotnicki"
