Bohemians will face either Belgian side Anderlecht or Moldova's Sheriff Tiraspol if they can overcome Swedish champions Halmstads in the Champions League. The Irish double winners might have hoped for a more lucrative tie against some of the European giants in the third qualifying round draw, which was made at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland today. The winners of the ties will enter the group stages of the Champions League proper.
Scottish treble winners Celtic have been drawn against four times European champions Ajax in what must be the tie of the round. Despite last lifting the trophy only six years ago, the Dutch club have been in decline in recent years, finishing 22 points behind champions PSV Eindhoven last season. In contrast, Celtic romped to the Scottish title last season.
Liverpool have received a relatively comfortable draw, facing either Finnish side Haka Valkeakoski or Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa. The UEFA Cup holders have never played an Israeli side in Europe, but have beaten several Finnish clubs and will be able to find out more about the team from their Finnish stars, Sami Hyypia and Jari Litmanen.
The draw in full
Bohemians or Halmstad v Anderlecht or Sheriff Tiraspol
Ajax v Celtic
FC Haka or Maccabi Haifa v Liverpool
Porto or Barry Town v Grasshoppers
NK Maribor or Rangers v Fenerbache
Galatasaray or KS Vllaznia v Levski Sofia or SK Brann
Omonia Nicosia or Crvena Zvezda v Bayer Leverkusen
Shakhtar Donetsk or Lugano v Borussia Dortmund
Skonto Riga or Wisla Krakow v Barcelona
Lokomotiv Moscow v Tirol Insbruck
Slavia Mozyr or Inter Bratislava v Rosenborg
Slavia Prague v Panathinaikos
Parma v Lille
Steaua Bucharest or Sloga Jugomagnat v Dynamo Kiev
Torpedo Kutaisi or FC Copenhagen v Lazio
Ferencvaros or Hajduk Split v Mallorca
First leg matches to be played 7/8 August
Second leg matches to be played 21/22 August
Filed by Greg McKevitt
