SPORTS
UEFA Champions League play-off draw made
Baku, August 7, AZERTAC
Manchester United and Valencia will face Club Brugge and Monaco respectively in the UEFA Champions League after the draw for the play-off round was held in Nyon, according to uefa.com
Both United and Valencia missed out on European competition in 2014/15, when Monaco reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Bayer Leverkusen and Shakhtar were both eliminated in the round of 16 last season and start their latest campaigns against Lazio and Rapid Wien respectively while the league route is completed by Sporting CP against CSKA Moskva, a repeat of the 2005 UEFA Cup final.
In the champions route, the highlight is the tie between Celtic, the first British club to lift the trophy in 1967, and Malmö, runners-up in 1979.
Play-off draw results are as follows:
League route:
Lazio (ITA) v Bayer Leverkusen (GER) – 18 & 26 August
Manchester United (ENG) v Club Brugge (BEL) – 18 & 26 August
Sporting CP (POR) v CSKA Moskva (RUS) – 18 & 26 August
Rapid Wien (AUT) v Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) – 19 & 25 August
Valencia (ESP) v AS Monaco (FRA) – 19 & 25 August
Champions route:
Astana (KAZ) v APOEL (CYP) – 18 & 26 August
Skënderbeu (ALB) v Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) – 19 & 25 August
Celtic (SCO) v Malmö (SWE) – 19 & 25 August
FC Basel (SUI) v Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) – 19 & 25 August
BATE Borisov (BLR) v Partizan (SRB) – 18 & 26 August.