Bohs pitted against Belarus champions

Eircom Premier League champions Bohemians will play Belarus side BATE Borisov in the first qualifying round of the Champions …

Eircom Premier League champions Bohemians will play Belarus side BATE Borisov in the first qualifying round of the Champions League after the draw was made today.

They will play the first leg away on July 16th with the return at Dalymount Park or Tolka Park a week later. Should they safely negotiate the first round, Norwegian champions Rosenborg, who accounted for Shelbourne at the same stage of this competition two seasons ago, await Stephen Kenny's side.

Also in first part of the draw were Irish League champions Glentoran, who will play HJK Helsinki from Finland.

Martin O'Neill's Celtic went into the second stage of the draw because as beaten UEFA Cup finalists, they are seeded despite finishing runners-up in the Scottish League behind Rangers.

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Celtic should have no problems in their opening tie as they are due to play the winner of minnows HN Torshave (Faroe Islands) or Kaunas (Lithuania).

Scottish champions Rangers will go into the third qualifying round, along with Newcastle and Chelsea, who finished third and fourth in English Premiership last season.

Manchester United and Arsenal are among the top seeds and so automatically qualify for the group stages.

The first round games will be played on July 16th and 23rd and the second round matches will be played on July 30th and August 6th.

No country is allowed to have more than four teams in the competition.

Draw for the first and second qualifying round of the 2003/2004 Champions League

First qualifying round
1 Pyunik (Armenia) v KR Reykjavik (Iceland)
2 Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) v Flora Tallinn (Estonia)
3 HB Torshavn (Faroe Islands) v Kaunas (Lithuania)
4 BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Bohemians (Ireland)
5 Vardar Skopje (Macedonia) v Barry Town (Wales)
6 Grevenmacher (Luxembourg) v Leotar (Bosnia)
7 HJK Helsinki (Finland) v Glentoran (Northern Ireland)
8 Sliema Wanderers (Malta) v Skonto Riga (Latvia)
9 Omonia Nicosia (Cyprus) v Irtysh (Kazakhstan)
10 Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) v SK Tirana (Albania)

First leg ties to be played on July 16th. Second leg ties tobe played on July 23rd.

Second qualifying round
MTK Budapest (Hungary) v Winner of match 7
Winner of match 1 v CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)
Winner of match 3 v Celtic (Scotland)
Winner of match 6 v Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
Winner of match 2 v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Zilina (Slovakia) v Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
Winner of match 4 v Rosenborg Trondheim (Norway)
Maribor (Slovenia) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
CSKA Moscow (Russia) v Winner of match 5
Rapid Bucharest (Romania) v Anderlecht (Belgium)
Partizan Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro) v Djurgarden (Sweden)
Wisla Krakow (Poland) v Winner of match 9
Champions of Denmark (TBD) v Winner of match 8
Winner of match 10 v Graz AK (Austria)

First leg ties to be played July 30th. Second leg ties to be played on August 6th.

Direct entry to Champions League
(comprising 16 teams)

AC Milan (Italy) - holders
Juventus (Italy)
Inter Milan (Italy)
Manchester United (England)
Arsenal (England)
Bayern Munich (Germany)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Olympique Lyon (France)
Monaco (France)
Real Madrid (Spain)
Real Sociedad (Spain)
Olympiakos (Greece)
Panathinaikos (Greece)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Besiktas (Turkey)
Porto (Portugal)

Qualified for third qualifying round
(comprising 18 teams)

Lazio (Italy)
Newcastle United (England)
Chelsea (England)
Deportivo Coruna (Spain)
Celta Vigo (Spain)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Olympique Marseille (France)
AEK Athens (Greece)
Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Benfica (Portugal)
Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)
Rangers (Scotland)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
Club Bruges (Belgium)
Austria Vienna (Austria)
Grasshoppers (Switzerland) *

Note:As AC Milan won this season's Champions League final but also finished third in Serie A, their place in the third qualifying round has been re-allocated by UEFA to Grasshoppers