Sun, Aug 01, 2004 page23

• Draws for Champions League out

  • AP
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  Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United and Liverpool were handed favorable draws in the third and final qualifying round of the Champions League on Friday, avoiding Benfica and Basel.

  Nine-time winner Real, eliminated in the quarterfinals last season, will likely play Poland's Wisla Krakow, which has an 8-2 first-leg lead over Georgia Tbilisi in second-round qualifying.

  "Wisla are a strong team because we have bought Poland's best players, but Real Madrid are stronger because they have bought the world's best players," Wisla 'keeper Radoslaw Majdan said. "But in every game, even against Real Madrid, we play to win."

  Juventus, the 1996 champion and finalist four times in the last eight years, faces Sweden's Djurgarden or Lithuania's Kaunas.

  "They are both very strong from the physical point of view, and we cannot afford to underestimate them," Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi said. "This game is too important for us."

  Manchester United, which won in 1999 and has appeared in the quarterfinals seven of the last eight seasons, takes on either Slovakia's MSK Zilina or Romania's Dinamo Bucharest. Bucharest has a 1-0 lead against Zilina heading into the second leg.

  "United are one of the most successful teams of the last few years and one of the top three teams in Europe," Dinamo coach Ioan Andone said. "What can I say after such a draw? Only that we shall do our best."

  Four-time winner Liverpool plays Austrian champion Grazer AK. All four big clubs, who were seeded, faced qualifying after not finishing in the top two in their respective domestic leagues.

  Inter Milan, a two-time winner in the '60s, meets Swiss champion Basel, considered a dangerous floater.

  "They won the Swiss league and are more prepared than us from the physical point of view as their league has already started," Inter president Giacinto Facchetti said. "They are surely one of the most difficult opponents we could have faced."

  Portugal's Benfica, also a two-time winner in the 1960s, plays Belgian champion Anderlecht in another intriguing tie. Benfica recently hired Italy's former national coach, Giovanni Trapattoni.

  "Benfica have reinforced ahead of the new season as our goal to stay in the competition as long as possible," Benfica managing director Jose Veiga said.

  First-leg matches will be played Aug. 10-11, and second legs are on Aug. 24-25. The second leg of second-round qualifying is this Wednesday.

  Sixteen teams will enter the main draw, with defending champion FC Porto, 2003 winner AC Milan, English champion Arsenal, Spanish champion Valencia and Germany's Bayern Munich among clubs automatically in. The third-round losers play in the UEFA Cup.

  In other pairings, last year's finalist, Monaco, is matched up with either Slovenia's Gorica or Denmark's FC Copenhagen.

  Spain's Deportivo La Coruna, a semifinalist in 2003-2004, will play either Croatia's Hadjuk Split or Ireland's Shelbourne.

  Bayer Leverkeusen, 2002 finalist, plays Czech side Banik Ostrava, which features Czech striker Marik Heinze. Heinze starred at this year's European Championship.

  Dynamo Kiev, 1999 semifinalist, and Norwegians Rosenborg, in the competition nine of the last 10 years, also feature.

  Group matches begin in mid-September, and the final is May 25 in Istanbul.

  Steaua Bucharest, which won the European Cup in 1986, and Partizan Belgrade, in the Champions League last year, were among 64 teams drawn in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

  Steaua plays Serbia-Montenegro's Zeleznik, and Partizan meets Romania's Otelul Galati. The first legs are on Aug. 12, and the second legs are Aug. 26.
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