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DETAILS OF THE DRAW FOR THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAY-OFF

15/05/2017
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Sevilla FC will be seeded in the draw to take place on 4th August. There will be fifteen teams in the pot, five of whom go directly to the play-off and ten start their campaign in the third qualifying round
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With the draw not set to take place until 4th August, a full picture of how the Champions League play-offs will look has not yet emerged. We do, however, have some potential opponents confirmed.

Sevilla FC, who will be seeded, are one of just two teams who have already booked their place to go straight through to the play-off stage. The other such team is Sporting Lisbon who will not be seeded, and as a result could be drawn against Sevilla. The teams in contention for the other three spots are: Napoli or Roma, Borussia Dortmund or Hoffenheim and Manchester City, Arsenal or Liverpool.

Sporting Lisbon are the only posible opponent confirmed at this stage

As for the remaining five teams, they will be decided in the third qualifying round in the 'league route'. There will be five pairings, meaning 10 teams will contest that round. Nice already have their place confirmed as the third-placed team in Ligue 1, as have a number of league runners-up: Dinamo Kiev (who, if they go through, will be seeded and therefore will not face Sevilla), Young Boys from Switzerland, Steaua from Romania (now called FCSB) and Ajax (although if they win the Europa League they will go straight through to the group phase). The remaining spots will come from the Turkish, Czech, Greek, Russian and Belgian leagues. With this being the case, in with a chance of qualifying for the third qualifying round are Besiktas or Istanbul BB, Zenit (another side who would be seeded) or CSKA, Anderlecht or Bruges (almost certainly Bruges), Slavia Prague or Viktoria Plzen. In Greece, a mini-league between PAOK, Panathinaikos, Panionios and AEK will determine who qualifies, with Manolo Jiménez's AEK having made the best start.

The Champions League play-off, which is considered part of the Champions League by UEFA (the anthem is played, the ball is put in the centre circle, etc.) will be played on 15-16 August and 22-23 August.