CELTIC
A tie against the Norwegian champions, Molde, is the draw Celtic hope to avoid when they learn their Champions League third qualifying round opponents this morning.
The SPL champions know there are only 10 teams they can face after Uefa split the draw into two pots yesterday. Realistically, the number is even fewer than that because the 10 are involved in second-round ties which in some cases look over already.
Molde are managed by the former Manchester United player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the reigning champions are currently second in the Norwegian Tippeligaen after 15 games. They will travel to face Ventspils in midweek defending their 3-0 first leg lead.
Celtic, who are seeded, will be drawn against the winners of one of these second- round ties (first-leg score in brackets) when the draw is made at 11am:
Ulisses (Armenia) v Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) (0-1)
Molde FK (Norway) v Ventspils (Latvia) (3-0)
HJK Helsinki (Finland) v Reykjavik (Iceland) (7-0)
AEL Limassol (Cyprus) v Linfield (N Ireland) (3-0)
Neftci PFK (Azerbaijan) v FC Zestafoni (Georgia) (3-0)
The second legs of those ties are played next midweek. The third-round ties will be on July 31/August 1 and August 7/8.
MOTHERWELL
Scotland's other Champions League representatives, Motherwell, are in the non-champions path of the draw and already know they will face one of the following four clubs:
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
Dynamo finished second behind Shakhtar Donetsk in their league championship. They played their last competitive game in May. Their star player is Andriy Shevchenko.
Panthinaikos (Greece)
Motherwell would take some encouragement from the fact the Greek championship does not start until August 24 if they draw the Athens club. They were runners-up to Olympiakos last season.
FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
Rivals Nordsjaelland took FC Copenhagen's title and were rewarded with automatic entry to the Champions League group stage. The Danish season began last weekend.
Fenerbahce (Turkey)
The Turkish league season has yet to begin but the challenge the Istanbul club would present to Motherwell would be formidable. They signed Dirk Kuyt from Liverpool during the close season.
DUNDEE UNITED
The Tannadice side will enter the Europa League at the third qualifying round and, as non-seeds, they could be paired with Barclays Premier League side Liverpool.
Uefa divided the draw into groups yesterday and the seeded clubs United could face are the aforementioned Merseysiders, Dynamo Moscow (Russia), Bursaspor (Turkey), Steaua Bucharest (Romania), and the winners of Young Boys of Berne (Switzerland) v Zimbru Chisinau (Moldova) or ND Mura 05 (Slovenia) v CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria).
ST JOHNSTONE
St Johnstone, who lost 2-0 in first leg action against Eskisehirspor in Turkey last night (second leg next Thursday), also know they would face one of 10 clubs in the event they reach the third qualifying round.
They are also unseeded and will be drawn against Marseille, Sparta Prague, or the winners of each of the following four ties: Khazar Lankaran (Azerbeijan) v Lech Poznan (Poland), Naftan Novopolotsk (Belarus) v Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Differdange 03 (Luxembourg) v Gent (Belgium) and Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) v FK Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina).
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