Photo by Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
Manchester United will have to go through Club Brugge to book a spot in the Champions League group stages.
The matchup pitting the English and Belgian sides was one of 10 drawn on Friday morning, with Spanish side Valencia’s matchup with French powerhouse Monaco proving to be one of the more promising ties.
Italy’s Lazio has been drawn to face Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting CP gets CSKA Moscow and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk gets Austria’s Rapid Wien.
Matchup will be played on August 18-19 and August 25-26. Teams that are defeated in the two-game playoff will be entered into the Europa League group stages.
In addition, the Europa League draw was also held Friday morning with matches to be played on August 20 and 27.
Take a look at the full list of matchups below:
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW
NON-CHAMPIONS ROUTE
Lazio vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Manchester United vs. Club Brugge
Rapid Wien vs. Shakhtar Donetsk
Valencia vs. Monaco
Sporting Lisbon vs. CSKA Moscow
CHAMPIONS ROUTE
FK Astana (KAZ) vs. APOEL Nicosia (CYP)
Skenderbeu Korce (ALB) vs. Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Celtic (SCO) vs. Malmo (SWE)
FC Basel (SUI) vs. Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR)
BATE Borisov (BLR) vs. Partizan Belgrade (SRB)
EUROPA LEAGUE DRAW
Altach (AUT) v Belenenses (POR)
Steaua Bucureşti (ROU) v Rosenborg (NOR)
Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) v Vojvodina (SRB)
Jablonec (CZE) v Ajax (NED)
Molde (NOR) v Standard Liège (BEL)
Žilina (SVK) v Athletic Club (ESP)
Zorya Luhansk (UKR) v Legia Warszawa (POL)
Milsami Orhei (MDA) v Saint-Étienne (FRA)
Young Boys (SUI) v Qarabağ (AZE)
PAOK (GRE) v Brøndby (DEN)
Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA) v Kairat Almaty (KAZ)
Dinamo Minsk (BLR) v FC Salzburg (AUT)
Slovan Liberec (CZE) v Hajduk Split (CRO)
Panathinaikos (GRE) v Qäbälä (AZE)
Astra Giurgiu (ROU) v AZ Alkmaar (NED)
FC Krasnodar (RUS) v HJK Helsinki (FIN)
Lech Poznań (POL) v Videoton (HUN)
Rabotnicki (MKD) v Rubin Kazan (RUS)
Atromitos (GRE) v Fenerbahçe (TUR)
Southampton (ENG) v Midtjylland (DEN)
Odds BK (NOR) v Borussia Dortmund (GER)
FC Thun (SUI) v Sparta Praha (CZE)
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What do you think of the two draws? Which teams do you see as favorites to advance?
Share your thoughts below.
Here’s to Partizan Belgrade going through to the group stage, and to Malmo eliminating Celtic.
Valencia v. Monaco should be a great match-up as well.
I won’t be surprised if the Albanians tip over Dinamo Zagreb…